Cancer won't keep Scottsdale woman from marathon

Weeks after her Aug. 23 surgery to remove a golf ball-size tumor from her brain and the five sessions of radiation treatment that followed, Nona Cerveny would wake up in the middle of the night and imagine going for a run.

"I would think, 'Maybe I can get out now,' " she said.

She went for a short jog in October, while undergoing chemotherapy, even though her doctors hadn't officially cleared her to do so.

"It was just up and down my street because I knew I wouldn't get caught that way," she said. "You know, it was a start, but I didn't think my feet would still be this slow by now. I'm not moving real fast."

But she is moving, and just in time to keep a date with one of the loves of her life — the Boston Marathon — on Monday, April 20.

Cerveny first ran at Boston in 1986 because some of her friends in the First Lap Running Club in Cumberland, R.I., were running it. She hasn't missed one since, continuing her streak after moving to Scottsdale 10 years ago.

In fact, when Andrea Hatch snapped a 36-year streak by not running Boston in 2014, Cerveny's 29 runs in a row became the longest active streak among women there.

Even before her cancer diagnosis, Cerveny had decided to make 2015 her final Boston Marathon.

"I had planned on running it this year because I wanted to end on an even number," she said. "I really wanted it to be my last one."

The fateful day last August when Cerveny's daughter said something seemed wrong with her threatened to end more than just her Boston streak.

Cerveny had been feeling unusually tired and had seen her doctor about it. As soon as her daughter, Tara Moscaritolo, saw her on Aug. 22, she feared it was something serious. Moscaritolo is a former pediatric occupational therapist at Barrow Neurological Institute who now works in Colorado, and she recognized warning signs.

"She took me to the St. Joseph's neurology people because she thought that it was neurological," Cerveny said. "She knew something was wrong."

After walking five miles with friends on Aug. 23, she went to St. Joseph's, where a scan revealed the tumor. Cerveny underwent surgery that night. A pathology report determined that the cancer had originated in her intestine, though no tumor has been found there.

The next step was radiation treatment, which Cerveny received three times in the first week. There were two more treatments the following week. Then a port was placed in her chest to infuse her with chemotherapy medications.

"The chemo really zapped me out," she said. "The radiation, I was OK with. It seemed I could deal with that."

Cerveny received chemo treatments every 12 days until Feb. 24, first in three-hour sessions at the hospital, then taking home an infusion pump. She was cleared to begin running on Nov. 11, early in her chemo phase.

"I had the pump for six treatments," she said. "I was running with the pump. For the last four, they took the pump away."

Because of the effects of brain surgery and cancer treatment, she was not able to drive. She often relied upon her friends in the running community, especially the Mummy Mountain Runners.

"It's been unbelievable the amount of support," she said. "People have been so generous with their time, running me around to appointments. It's been overwhelming at times."

Recently, they gathered at their usual coffee spot, Goldman's Deli in Scottsdale, and presented Cerveny with a cake decorated with flowers in the Boston Marathon's familiar blue-and-yellow color scheme, wishing her well at her 30th race.

Many marathons ago, Cerveny ran the 26.2 miles in a personal best of 3 hours, 21 minutes. But she says that even finishing is no sure thing now.

She hasn't run a race of any distance since last year's Boston Marathon and has done only one long training run of more than 15 miles, a single 20-miler.

"It's going to be scary," she said. "I mean, I'm just hoping I can make it. I don't feel anything like I have in the past when I've trained for it. It's going to be up in the air. I don't know if I can finish or not. My goal is to finish."

With her normal fitness, building up to Boston would be a routine task. However, this is unknown territory. Initially, Cerveny started following a plan a friend had told her about that is supposed to prepare someone for a marathon in 30 days.

She has settled into a schedule of running four to five miles each Monday and Wednesday, with a longer run on Saturday.

"It's the run-when-you-feel-like-it training program," she said, laughing. "It's been working good for me."

While finishing would be enough for her, there is a cut-off time to consider. After the last runner crosses the start line, all runners have six hours to finish.

"I want to get my 30th medal, so I was concerned about that," Cerveny said.

Race organizers are allowing her to start at 8:50 a.m. That should give her about 8 hours, 40 minutes to finish. She hopes to maintain a 19-minute pace, which translates to 8 hours, 18 minutes.

The Boston Athletic Association, which owns and manages the race, also is allowing her daughter to run with her.

"She doesn't want me to run alone," Cerveny said. "She doesn't trust me."

Her friend Cheryl Perkins, who used to accompany her late husband Bill when he ran Boston, said she has no doubt Cerveny will finish. Perkins remembers an occupational therapist asking Cerveny about her goals for their sessions.

"She said she just wanted to get back to running," Perkins said. "She is determined. It takes such guts and courage to do this."

Cerveny is fairly certain of one thing. There won't be a 31st Boston Marathon in her plans.

"I want it to be my last one because I want to ski and play tennis and golf," she said. "I had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee and if I keep running, I won't be able to do those things. The knee guy said the next thing is knee replacement. I know they've improved on (joint-replacement surgery) a lot, but nobody looks forward to that."

It might have been easy enough for her to accept 29 finishes and know that she once held the longest streak, but Cerveny is determined to go out on her terms. Or, at least as close to her terms as possible.

"I was hoping to get there running strong for my last one," she said. "But with all the chemo and steroids, I've gained 30 pounds. I'm definitely heavier and it's uncomfortable.

"The (neurologist) told me it will be another six months to a year before I start feeling normal. I don't feel my running coming back yet, and it's very frustrating. I think it has a lot to do with the weight and maybe just getting all of the (chemo) stuff out of my system.

"My heart has always been in distance running. I love running marathons. I'm definitely a long-distance runner. I just don't look like one right now."