Thriver Dawn Bokan & The Pittsburgh Half Marathon
To most, running a half marathon seems like an absurd way to spend your time. Months of physical training, motivation to put your body to work in ways that it’s not necessarily accustomed to, let alone motivating yourself mentally to run 13.1 miles, it’s a little more than a challenge for a healthy body.. But imagine adding chemotherapy treatments to that schedule as well. That was reality this year for Dawn Bokan.
In 2021, Dawn was diagnosed with Stage 2B Triple Negative Breast Cancer. “I found the lump myself during a self exam,” Dawn said when asked about her diagnosis. “It was recommended that I undergo genetic testing and that’s when she found out she was BRCA1 positive.” When asked about her treatment for her initial cancer diagnosis, Dawn said, “I had a double mastectomy with expanders, to prepare for future reconstruction. I had 6 rounds of carbo/taxol, then doxorubicin, otherwise known as the Red Devil.” As if that was Dawn’s only battle with cancer, it was just the first fight. “Since I’m BRCA1 positive, it puts me at a higher risk for female cancers. I went for a prophylactic hysterectomy in February this year, never expecting to hear the word cancer again. But that’s when they found ovarian cancer. In March, I had an oophorectomy, and now I’m back in chemotherapy, with carbo/taxol for 6 rounds.” If everything goes according to her medical plan, Dawn’s chemo journey will end in July.
As if chemotherapy wasn’t hard enough, Dawn decided she was going to participate in her first half marathon while doing it. “Cancer has taken so many things from me in the last three years, I wanted to be able to be proud of myself for doing this and not letting cancer take this from me too..” Dawn walked her first 5K last fall with her husband and daughter, but this is a new challenge that she wanted to take on with her family. In 2023, Dawn’s daughter participated in the Pittsburgh Marathon. When Dawn went to the Health and Wellness Expo with her daughter and husband, she got the “marathon buzz” seeing how many people were driven and motivated to participate in the race, that she decided she was going to join in the race the following year, and not let cancer stop her from doing it. What would motivate someone who is going through chemotherapy to want to participate in a half marathon? Ironically, cancer. “I don’t want cancer to ruin this for me. I signed up well before I was diagnosed and definitely planned on training a lot more than I was able to, due to my surgeries and 12 weeks of rest, but I wasn’t going to let this stop me.”
While a half marathon is challenging in itself, Dawn met her own obstacles on the race route. When asked about any moments that stand out during the race, it was the rollercoaster of self doubt. “There were a lot of questions about my decision to do this after surgeries and chemo. What was I thinking?!” Something that helped combat the moments of self doubt were the spectators, motivating her to keep going. “There were two moments I actually stopped and sat down in tears, wanting to quit. It was harder than I imagined. I was at the back of the walkers and I wanted to stop, but along the route, so many people were shouting and cheering me on.”
Another thing that kept Dawn motivated was 412Thrive. When asked about why she loves 412Thrive, Dawn said, “The support, hands down. Knowing there are women that are going through the same things and always there to listen.” Being just a phone call or a Facebook message away from someone who knows what you’re going through makes the biggest difference when dealing with cancer. “I’m so glad I was put in touch with 412Thrive when I was first diagnosed. I had no idea what to expect with everything that I was facing, but I knew where to reach out for answers.”
After all of the struggles and the rollercoaster of emotions during the race, Dawn said 100% she will be back again next year, ready to take on that half marathon yet again.
There is still time to donate to our 412Thrive Pittsburgh Marathon team. The deadline is May 31st. You can donate now by clicking here.