Challenge Cancer 5k: fill your 'excerise prescription'

By Jeshua Erickson

Published Friday, June 27, 2008

Last Saturday I ran the 4th Annual Challenge Cancer 5k at Como Park in St. Paul. I got 4th overall. What surprised me most was my time: 18:48, which is a pace of 6:04 per mile (5:55 first mile, 6:21 second mile, and a 5:55 last mile). I had hoped to run 19:30 or better.

The focus of the race was to think about exercise as part of what folks need to overcome or prevent cancer. Gary Westlund, the race organizer, calls it the "exercise prescription."

Here's a quote from the "Charities Challenge" website, which summarizes, in part, Westlund's vision:

"Appropriate Rx Exercise is a powerful help to many cancer patients who want to improve their daily quality of life by staying physically active through, and well beyond, their very challenging cancer therapies. Rx Exercise has helped many cancer survivors to make strong comebacks from their cancer challenges, to become 'More than Survivors'."

I don't have cancer, nor am I a cancer survivor, but I was thoroughly inspired what Westlund said at the race and the encouragement he gave all the runners who participated. We should all do whatever we can to support cancer survivors and those who are currently fighting cancer...and encourage each other to keep our bodies healthy in order to fill our "exercise prescription."