Running for Donna and a cure, with Donna (Printed Jan. 11, 2008)
By Nate Jones
Staff Writer
While the 26.2 mile “With Donna” Marathon isn’t titled for Scarborough’s Donna Pierce, it is Pierce’s cancer experience that has inspired Deirdre Catlett to run. Catlett said both the name and the purpose of the race make the event a perfect opportunity for her to express her “thanks for such a graceful person.”
On Feb. 17, Catlett, a Biddeford resident, will be running in the inaugural “26.2 ‘With Donna’ Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer” in Jacksonville, Fla., for her friend Pierce. Pierce and Catlett met at the East Pointe Church in Scarborough in March 2004. Through their husbands and their church, the two women “became family” over the years, Catlett said.
Catlett, an active mother of three, said her initial attraction to the “With Donna” race was for personal reasons.
“In July I made a list of things I wanted to do before I die,” Catlett said. In addition to writing a children’s book, Catlett said she had a desire to participate in a marathon for charity.
“Running a marathon is the one thing that doesn’t get easier the older you get,” Catlett said.
Catlett has previously participated in a half marathon in Portland, where she raised $1,500, and a triathlon in Portland where she raised $2500. Unlike these “Team in Training” program events, sponsored by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in which 75 percent of proceeds benefit breast cancer research, Catlett said, the “With Donna” race donates 100 percent of money raised. Catlett said when she initially discovered the race, the short training timetable and Florida location discouraged her from signing up. She began searching for a more local race with a later start date.
Then Catlett received a phone call in September from Beth Taube, the wife of East Pointe’s pastor Scott Taube. Taube informed Catlett that Pierce had been diagnosed with breast cancer at Maine Medical Center in Scarborough.
“It was like I had been kicked in the gut,” Catlett said. “There were no ifs ands or buts then – I was going to run.”
Since her diagnosis Pierce has undergone several rounds of chemotherapy and will be having surgery at the end of this month. Catlett said she admires how her friend has dealt with the events “so gracefully” and that Pierce’s attitude has made her reevaluate many of her own feelings about life and faith. Pierce said the amount of support she is receiving is nothing short of biblical, as she describes her fellow churchgoers and friends like Catlett as “flesh doing God’s work.”
Pierce described Catlett’s participation in the “With Donna” marathon as a form of “self-torture” as Catlett wakes early every morning to train, running up to 20 miles in a single day in preparation for the event.
“I’m a pretty competitive person,” Catlett said, and could easily recall past races she had run to compare times with her husband. However, for the “With Donna” race, Catlett said she wouldn’t be surprised to find herself simply “walking and talking” with the other participants, 79 percent of whom are women.
“All of them have similar stories,” Catlett said, as she has been reading the many individual accounts on the event Web site, www.breastcancermarathon.com/index.html.
Although the “With Donna” race does not require its participants to raise money, Catlett said she felt compelled to tell others about Pierce’s cancer, and raised more than $1,000 in the first 24 hours of accepting donations. In addition to the funds raised by Catlett’s participation in the race, the East Pointe church has arranged for Pierce to receive six months of home- cooked meals, delivered to her door.
“Within three or four days we had so many people calling to donate,” said Taube, who helped set up donation calls for Pierce, “She would be the first on at your door, so it was easy to do for her.”
“All the negatives are pale in comparison to the positives,” said Pierce, who admitted she was surprised by the overwhelming response to her diagnosis. Pierce said at first it was hard to accept all of the care,
“But I learned to deal with it,” she said.
Catlett will not be the only Mainer to fly out to Jacksonville for the event as Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, the founder of Cape Elizabeth’s Beach to Beacon race, will be participating in the half marathon, Jason Wolf, Samuelson’s spokesperson said.
To donate or learn more contact the Scarborough East Pointe Church 207-510-6444 or visit Catlett’s donation Web site at www.active.com/donate/DonnaMarathon/DCatlett.
Staff Writer
While the 26.2 mile “With Donna” Marathon isn’t titled for Scarborough’s Donna Pierce, it is Pierce’s cancer experience that has inspired Deirdre Catlett to run. Catlett said both the name and the purpose of the race make the event a perfect opportunity for her to express her “thanks for such a graceful person.”
On Feb. 17, Catlett, a Biddeford resident, will be running in the inaugural “26.2 ‘With Donna’ Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer” in Jacksonville, Fla., for her friend Pierce. Pierce and Catlett met at the East Pointe Church in Scarborough in March 2004. Through their husbands and their church, the two women “became family” over the years, Catlett said.
Catlett, an active mother of three, said her initial attraction to the “With Donna” race was for personal reasons.
“In July I made a list of things I wanted to do before I die,” Catlett said. In addition to writing a children’s book, Catlett said she had a desire to participate in a marathon for charity.
“Running a marathon is the one thing that doesn’t get easier the older you get,” Catlett said.
Catlett has previously participated in a half marathon in Portland, where she raised $1,500, and a triathlon in Portland where she raised $2500. Unlike these “Team in Training” program events, sponsored by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in which 75 percent of proceeds benefit breast cancer research, Catlett said, the “With Donna” race donates 100 percent of money raised. Catlett said when she initially discovered the race, the short training timetable and Florida location discouraged her from signing up. She began searching for a more local race with a later start date.
Then Catlett received a phone call in September from Beth Taube, the wife of East Pointe’s pastor Scott Taube. Taube informed Catlett that Pierce had been diagnosed with breast cancer at Maine Medical Center in Scarborough.
“It was like I had been kicked in the gut,” Catlett said. “There were no ifs ands or buts then – I was going to run.”
Since her diagnosis Pierce has undergone several rounds of chemotherapy and will be having surgery at the end of this month. Catlett said she admires how her friend has dealt with the events “so gracefully” and that Pierce’s attitude has made her reevaluate many of her own feelings about life and faith. Pierce said the amount of support she is receiving is nothing short of biblical, as she describes her fellow churchgoers and friends like Catlett as “flesh doing God’s work.”
Pierce described Catlett’s participation in the “With Donna” marathon as a form of “self-torture” as Catlett wakes early every morning to train, running up to 20 miles in a single day in preparation for the event.
“I’m a pretty competitive person,” Catlett said, and could easily recall past races she had run to compare times with her husband. However, for the “With Donna” race, Catlett said she wouldn’t be surprised to find herself simply “walking and talking” with the other participants, 79 percent of whom are women.
“All of them have similar stories,” Catlett said, as she has been reading the many individual accounts on the event Web site, www.breastcancermarathon.com/index.html.
Although the “With Donna” race does not require its participants to raise money, Catlett said she felt compelled to tell others about Pierce’s cancer, and raised more than $1,000 in the first 24 hours of accepting donations. In addition to the funds raised by Catlett’s participation in the race, the East Pointe church has arranged for Pierce to receive six months of home- cooked meals, delivered to her door.
“Within three or four days we had so many people calling to donate,” said Taube, who helped set up donation calls for Pierce, “She would be the first on at your door, so it was easy to do for her.”
“All the negatives are pale in comparison to the positives,” said Pierce, who admitted she was surprised by the overwhelming response to her diagnosis. Pierce said at first it was hard to accept all of the care,
“But I learned to deal with it,” she said.
Catlett will not be the only Mainer to fly out to Jacksonville for the event as Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, the founder of Cape Elizabeth’s Beach to Beacon race, will be participating in the half marathon, Jason Wolf, Samuelson’s spokesperson said.
To donate or learn more contact the Scarborough East Pointe Church 207-510-6444 or visit Catlett’s donation Web site at www.active.com/donate/DonnaMarathon/DCatlett.
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