Simple things motivated Kelsey Greenwood on her 5 a.m. weekly runs: watching the sunrise, hearing the birds chirp, waving “hi” to other runners, and spotting the number two.
The number two is Greenwood’s lucky number. It was the number of her dad’s favorite NASCAR driver, Rusty Wallace. When she ran and saw someone in a number-two jersey or a license plate number that’s all twos, she thought of her dad. It felt like he was supporting her during her training leading up to the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 8.
Greenwood, a University of Iowa student, ran the marathon for a second year this month with Dance Marathon, a UI student organization that supports families with kids fighting cancer. Like the rest of the Dance Marathon runners, she ran for the kids.
However, Greenwood also ran for her dad who died of lung cancer before she entered high school.
“I knew what my dad went through — and us as a family — and I couldn’t imagine the kids and what they were going through, especially at a young age,” Greenwood said. “So the two became intertwined in my mind, and so I really can’t separate them.”
Greenwood’s dad inspired her to join Dance Marathon her freshman year at the UI. After watching her dad go through treatment, she knew she wanted to be a support for other families going through it too.
She understands the confusion and remembers the constant questions as a family member, such as “Why my dad?” and “What did my dad do wrong?”
While she knows the struggle of losing a loved one to cancer, Greenwood said she’s still growing as she continues with Dance Marathon through the connections she’s made with families.
“When I entered, I was very single-minded. I thought everybody had the same experience — you’re devastated that a loved one or yourself has cancer, and then you go through treatment, and it either works or it doesn’t,” Greenwood said.
Her dad never made it to remission, so watching some families go back and forth with treatment has given her a new perspective and drawn her back to do more. So, when she saw the promotional video for “Dance Marathon the Marathon,” it didn’t take much convincing for her to sign up.
“I know the people who ran it before ran it to inspire kids and families that they could do anything that they put their mind to,” Greenwood said. “I want to be a part of that, that sounds like a great reason to get involved, do something extra in Dance Marathon that I’ve never done before.”
Even before she started training last year, she knew she’d be running it again as a senior. The training this year was more challenging as she balanced an internship and medical school applications as she considers going into pediatrics one day.
However, the excitement of the day gave her the extra push to hit 26.2 miles on race day.
The thousands of supporters lining the streets, shouting her name which she wrote on her bib, and handing out candy and Gatorade gave her that push. However, her main source of encouragement came from her mom.
She mapped out Greenwood’s pace to catch her at five different points in the marathon, showing up right as Greenwood started to slow down.
“We stopped and talked for a little bit, and she was like, ‘It’s OK if you have to walk, you’re still making good time. It doesn’t matter how you cross the finish line, just remember what you’re doing it for,’” Greenwood said. “She started crying when she said that, so I wanted to start crying, so it was just a very bittersweet moment.”
To remember why she was running, she had a temporary tattoo of the 26 “mile marker families” — families supported by Dance Marathon who recorded videos for her to watch after each mile.
One of the families Greenwood met through Dance Marathon was on the list — she made sure to run that entire mile.
For Greenwood, it was all worth it when she crossed the finish line and she got to sign her “why” for running on the community wall: for the kiddos and her dad.