Running For a Cause

The JackRabbit Battle of Brooklyn 10-miler takes place in Prospect Park this Sunday at 8:00am, and several of the participants will be running to help battle against an even more imposing obstacle: cancer.

The NYC chapter of Team In Training, the world’s largest endurance sports training program, will have several groups from throughout the five boroughs participating in the event. They will be using the race to help prepare for the Nike Women's Marathon/Half Marathon in San Francisco on October 16, while also trying to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“There’s been a huge history of cancer in my family ranging from breast to colon to throat, so it’s definitely a cause which is close to me,” said Gladys Morris of Manhattan, one of the runners who will be participating in the race. 

The JackRabbit Battle of Brooklyn 10-miler consists of three loops of Prospect Park, taking runners past several of the sites where the original Battle of Brooklyn was fought.

While many of the more than 50 runners in her Team In Training group are seasoned marathon competitors, there are plenty of others like Morris who are complete beginners.

“We ran the lower loop in Central Park (1.7 miles) twice during the first practice and I thought I was going to die,” said Morris. “The fact that there were other people in the same boat as me definitely helped though.”

To prepare for the race, team members met twice a week with coaches for group practices, then ran on their own for two days and cross-trained for another two days each week.

The support system of a team is what has led to many of the novice runners ultimately getting into prime shape within a matter of months.

“Because you’re doing this as a group, it motivates you to keep going,” said Morris. “I would have quit in the beginning if I were doing this by myself.”

Over the last several weeks, Morris has worked her way up with the rest of the group, having just completed her first 10-mile run in practice yesterday. 

In addition to building up their endurance, the team members are also looking to build up their donation base for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Most of the runners have pledged to raise anywhere from $2,000-3,000, with Morris setting a personal goal of $2,700 to raise by the time she runs in San Francisco this October. As of press time, she has raised $564.

Perhaps just as importantly, Morris’s participation in the event has inspired both herself and her loved ones. Her mother has recently lost 30 pounds and goes on walks with her around the neighborhood, while Morris has developed a passion for the sport that she intends to continue well after the Battle of Brookly ends.

“It feels weird when I don’t go running now,” said Morris. “There are leukemia and lymphoma survivors on my team running the race who also do full marathons. I look at them and think if they can survive cancer and run a marathon, what’s my excuse?”