Personal Profiles
July 30, 2008
No bike, no problem for Dan Rose, the 200-mile man
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor runs the Pan-Mass Challenge route to raise funds for Dana-Farber
Once he crossed the PMC Bridge as a patient; now Dan Rose is covering the 190-mile PMC course as a runner.
"I don't like running," says Dan Rose, which begs a logical next question for the wiry 31-year-old cancer survivor: What's a guy doing traversing the entire 190-mile course of the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) bike-a-thon this week on his feet rather than wheels?
"It's a means to an end — the best way I have to help try and stop cancer and hopefully motivate other patients," says Rose, a Taunton, Mass., native who was treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2003–2004. Starting this morning at 5 a.m., Rose plans to run non-stop for 50 hours straight from Sturbridge to Provincetown, plus 10 extra miles for good measure, raising money for research and patient care along the way. (A day after he finishes, cyclists will take to the same roads for the 29th annual PMC on Aug. 2–3.)
His parents, brother, and wife will take shifts "refueling" him every five miles with specialized gels and bars high in proteins, carbohydrates, and amino acids, but otherwise Rose will be passing the time alone. An experienced ultramarathoner who already has several 100-mile races to his credit, he says he often sings and talks to himself during these punishing feats. This time, however, he'll also be thinking of friends who have died of cancer or are still battling the disease.
"Dan is an amazing and inspiring individual, who's showing how someone can get through treatment and do something incredible to bring awareness and support to the cause," says Mary Ann McChesney, coordinator of Dana-Farber's Running the Race Against Cancer program. Through this initiative, people taking on courses of any distance can raise money for Dana-Farber.
"The Marathon and Running Programs office is here to support individuals like Dan — our first ultramarathoner — as well as those running marathons or 5K races — or any distance — in their own backyards."
Rose's athletic feat — the equivalent of running more than seven marathons back-to-back — is even more impressive when one considers he plans to cover the first 100 miles in nine minutes each. But for his wife of two months, pride in his achievement comes more from the cause than the calluses.
Dan Rose's wife, Elizabeth, and other family members are aiding him on his journey.
"This place [Dana-Farber] is sacred to him," says Elizabeth Rose, who accompanied her husband to his four-year check-up at Dana-Farber on Tuesday. "It's the brains and the heart that I'm proud of, not the athlete. Some people tell me my husband is crazy, but I say he's dedicated."
Although he says he was a decent miler in high school, Rose had just one marathon to his credit and had not run at all in six years when he decided to tackle the Portland (Maine) Marathon in 2003. He noticed a lump in his neck while training, but didn't bother calling his doctor until the day after finishing the race in 3 hours and 17 minutes. "I figured it was a cyst, and didn't want to bother with it," he says.
It turned out to be an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which required surgery at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center as well as chemotherapy. The experience, while frightening, inspired him to continue challenging himself athletically. "As I walked out the door of the hospital after my last treatment, I said to myself, 'I don't have much money, but I have my legs. I'm going to run another marathon for Dana-Farber and beat my old time.'"
He joined the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team, which raises funds for Dana-Farber's Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, and finished the 2005 Boston Marathon in 3 hours and 12 minutes while collecting more than $6,300. Then, after moving to Washington, D.C., he got the ultramarathoning bug. The week before he and Elizabeth got married in May, he ran a 100-mile race; the week they got back from their honeymoon, he ran another.
This latest challenge, however, is twice the distance he's ever gone before. Since getting permission from Dana-Farber to run the PMC course he's set up a blog so people can make donations and track his grueling training regimen (which at one point included running 26 miles for four straight days). During his run, it is being updated with his progress.
"I don't know how things are going to go," he said Tuesday, joking that, "I'll probably be fine for 100 miles, but then the wheels will fall off the cart — and the cart will fall apart." Asked if she planned to give him a gift at the finish line, Elizabeth just smiled and looked at her 200-mile man. "His gift is being here today for a clean check-up."
To follow Rose's progress on his blog, go to http://run192.blogspot.com
— Saul Wisnia
saul_wisnia@dfci.harvard.edu
