Personal Best: Running for life and sarcoma
By: David Liepman
Special to The Examiner
March 22, 2009
 |
| Fearless: Nathalie Criou’s near death experience helped ready her for a fight against Sarcoma, a rare type of cancer. (Special to The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — After being rammed by an 80-ton sperm whale, Nathalie Criou’s boat had capsized.
Criou and her crew were delivering a sailboat from Hawaii to San Francisco in the summer of 2006 when the boat sank. Adrift for a day on a life raft in shark-infested waters, Criou had no idea that this experience would prepare her for an even greater challenge.
Four months after being saved at sea, the native of Normandy, France, was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare, hard-to-detect and hard-to-treat form of cancer found in the body’s connective tissues.
“That [capsize] experience prepared me for the cancer fight,” Criou said. “These kinds of near-death experiences give you a new perspective. You take every day as they come. All of these events focus you on the present. You live more fully, rather than dreaming about better lives in the future. Life has changed for the better.”
The BeatSarcoma Fun Run on March 29 is the namesake event for the nonprofit that Criou founded in July 2007.
“I was bored. I was in bed 24 hours a day,” the 34-year-old resident of San Francisco’s Bernal Heights said. “The other reason [for the organization] was there didn’t seem to be anything active in the area. A lot of patients felt lonely. There was not a lot of local support.”
Children and young adults are commonly the victims of sarcoma, with rare cases being found past the age of 35.
Sarcoma accounts for 20 percent of all childhood cancers.
“We opened up a kids’ category this year,” Criou said. “We have prizes, children’s books, medals for all child finishers.”
In addition to sarcoma survivors, their families and those who run to honor the memory of sarcoma victims, next Sunday’s 5K race will also attract some of San Francisco’s elite runners. Those taking two turns around the course, the 10K runners, will have a half-hour head start at the Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers starting line.
Criou, having beaten Sarcoma, finished in 75th place out of the field of 260 in last year’s inaugural 5K race, with a time of 28 minutes, 57 seconds.
“I like sports in general, but sailing is my competitive sport,” Criou said.
When she isn’t on the job as a product manager at Google, the BeatSarcoma president and her dedicated board of directors are busy planning this summer’s second annual Sarcoma Cup on San Francisco Bay.
It was Nick Barran’s 40-foot yacht that ended up on the ocean floor that fateful day in 2006. He documented the experience in an article for Cruising World Magazine and donated 100 percent of the proceeds to BeatSarcoma.
With donations such as Barran’s, combined with the monies raised from the BeatSarcoma Fun Run and the Sarcoma Cup, this virulent disease may no longer be termed the “forgotten cancer.”
BeatSarcoma Fun Run
WHAT: 5K for runners, walkers, strollers; 10K for runners
WHEN: March 29; start 8:30 a.m. for 10K and 9 a.m. for 5K
COURSE: Golden Gate Park, Conservatory of Flowers around Stow Lake and back
INCLUDES: Free T-shirts to all finishers, free massages available, kids category and prizes-medals for top finishers
REGISTRATION: $25
Source: beatsarcoma.org
