Olympian Kikkan Randall Running NYC Marathon Months After Beating Breast Cancer – runnersworld.com

At the beginning of 2018, Kikkan Randall was on top of the world as she retired. After winning the first-ever women’s Olympic medal—gold, to boot—at the 2018 Olympics in the cross-country skiing team sprint, Randall had many options stretching in front of her.

After a lifetime in the sport, she had plans for various adventures and pursuits. Randall and a few other teammates on the verge of retirement even planned on running the 2018 New York City Marathon together for , a charity created by nine-time NYC Marathon champion Grete Waitz that promotes physical activity as a vital part of cancer treatment.

Randall worked with the organization for years while competing annually in Oslo, Norway,—where Waitz is from—so she accepted a bid from them to run the marathon that November.

However, a month later, she had to call them back.

“Literally a couple weeks after I made my decision is when I got my diagnosis,” Randall told Runner’s World. “I had to call them back and say, ‘Well, you won’t believe this, but our connection just got a lot stronger.’”

Randall was diagnosed with breast cancer—more specifically, stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, the most common form of breast cancer.

Her whole life was put on hold as she had to navigate the treatment that came with the disease, including rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. But, as she learned by working with AKTIV, she didn’t have to sit still and wait to see what happened.

“Every year we’d come through Oslo, we would get to go work out with these patients, and it was always incredibly inspirational because here these people are up against really tough challenges, not feeling great and yet they’re coming together to exercise and that’s making them feel better,” Randall said. “So, when I got my diagnosis, it was like front of mind that, okay, I need to stay active through this. It’s going to make my treatment more effective. It’s going to help me deal with this.”

Randall committed to that challenge and created a 10-minute rule for herself. That meant forcing herself to do something active for at least 10 minutes a day—whether it was a long walk around the block or a slow run. If she still felt fatigued or beat up by treatment afterward, that was her body telling her to rest, and she would.

But, if she felt she could keep going, she’d keep going.

That’s not to say Randall didn’t feel fatigued or tired from her chemotherapy sessions, which she rode her bike to. Staying active was more a way to fight back against the belief that she couldn’t do anything while in treatment.

“I was out there doing something I could control,” she said. “I don’t think we talk enough about what we can do and how to facilitate like, oh maybe a little different way of doing it, but something to keep moving.”

In January 2019, Randall was cleared of her cancer, though she still has to check-in every so often to make sure. With the all-clear from doctors, she decided she wanted to fully return to her active lifestyle.

One of the first things on her list was taking on the New York City Marathon.

“I got to take in the whole race atmosphere last year,” Randall said about her experience cheering on her teammates who ran last year. “I said to myself then, ‘Oh yeah. I’m coming back.’”

Running has always had a special place in Randall’s heart. As a young athlete growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, she initially thought she’d run in college and maybe beyond. Her mom played a large part in that dream.

Randall’s mom, Deborah, was a marathoner, running her first in seventh grade at the Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks, Alaska, while wearing . She also was a force at the Mount Marathon, the infamous 5K race in Seward, Alaska, that climbs up 2,675 feet of elevation over 0.9 miles before descending back into town on the Fourth of July. Deborah won it three times in the 1970s.

Randall used running as she for her Olympic sport, and even lived up to the family legacy by winning Mount Marathon in 2011.

“Winning that race is almost more important than being an Olympian or winning an Olympic medal,” Randall said. “It was kind of that one monkey on my back, well, I may have gone to the Olympics and stuff, but until you win Mount Marathon, you don’t have bragging rights in this family. So, 2011, I finally won the race, and it was nice to be able to like, whew, I’m done with Mount Marathon now.”

A full 26.2 was going to be a little tougher for Randall, who has never tackled the distance. The duration of exertion was what worried her the most when she started training. On top of that, she also needed to learn how to fuel and get used to the pounding of her knees into the ground.

But training has gone well. Randall is feeling strong heading into the race this weekend, coming in with a longest run of 22 miles. She even completed a couple long runs on cruise ships she was speaking on—.

Plus, she had the help of her high school running coach—who made a training plan for her—and Joan Benoit Samuelson, who she met at a party in Maine after the 2018 Olympics. The two compared Olympic medals at the event.

“I tease [Samuelson] that she had to run a whole marathon for that and I had to ski 10K, but she’s been a great resource because I’ve been able to bounce ideas, training off of her, and all of that kind of stuff,” Randall said. “She was a really close friend of Grete’s, so I think that will be cool to have her there too.”

Randall won’t be alone on race day. Her teammates and , who both ran last year, will return to help Randall with her first marathon. She hopes to finish it in around three hours.

“I think that it’s pretty cool to have teammates running,” Randall said. “I’m pretty sure at least one of them would probably not have come back and run it this year, but because I’m doing it, then she was wanting to be supportive, so she’s gonna do it this year.”

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One thing she isn’t sure about yet is if she’ll wear glitter and face paint for the race. The combination is inspiration from her Olympic teammate —they both used it for motivation on their way to winning gold.

“I mean, our team certainly found power in those socks and the glitter,” Randall said. “So, if I’m going to get through a challenge like 26 miles, I should probably pull out all of the things that have always worked.”

Red and white striped socks were also a big part of Team USA’s women’s cross-country ski team in 2018. However, Randall will wear her “It’s going to be ok” socks, which she created during her treatment. They are made by in Vermont, and $2 of every pair sold go to AKTIV Against Cancer. They can be fond at .

Gear & News Editor Drew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand.