Junior duo trains for Chicago Marathon to benefit American Cancer Society

Two IU juniors are running for the lives of their loved ones.

Blair Combs and Brandyn Cloyd will run a 26.2-mile marathon in support of cancer research and the people in their lives it has affected.

Cloyd was affected personally when a family friend contracted a rare type of crippling cancer.

Cloyd had run a marathon in the past, so when he discovered the American Cancer Society’s Charity Athlete Program, he decided it was a perfect opportunity.

“When I counted the number of people that I know personally that have had cancer, have it now or have been lost to it, I came up with around 20 individuals,” Cloyd said.
“In the last three months, I have had an uncle with prostate cancer, an aunt with cancer and lost my high school chemistry teacher to brain cancer.”

Combs and Cloyd are running in the Oct. 11 Chicago Marathon through the program, which has been in existence since 1996, recruiting more than 6,000 participants and raising $7 million for cancer research.

Each of them has different motivations for running in the event.

Cloyd’s primary motivation comes from a family friend, Ryan Berry.

Berry is a baseball coach in Cloyd’s hometown of Muncie. Berry’s wife is an elementary school teacher and had both Cloyd and Combs in class.

Berry’s cancer is a rare form of internal melanoma. This type of cancer usually affects the skin, but has mutated to begin attacking Berry’s spine and could move on to attack organs in the body.

Berry has received treatment from the IU Hospital in Indianapolis, and is currently receiving treatment in Minnesota.

The process requires doctors to replace nerve tissue in the spine by removing pieces from the leg. The affects of this treatment are crippling.  

“Like someone with a degenerative nerve disorder, he sometimes falls sporadically for no reason, except his legs can’t register the movement,” Cloyd said.

The removal of nerve endings from the legs weakens the ability of the brain to communicate with the legs.

Anyone who has ever played sports can only imagine having to face this type of difficulty. It is especially upsetting when recalling Berry’s role as a baseball coach, Cloyd said.

As motivating as this story is for Cloyd, the other stories he has personally experienced created that much more determination, and brought him into the fold.
He then got in contact with Combs.

Combs said he normally would have scoffed at the idea of running the Chicago Marathon, but when Cloyd explained the rationale behind it, Combs was immediately convinced.

“Running 10 miles for training seemed tedious before, but with the memories and thoughts of the people suffering, the process is more rewarding,” Combs said.

This, however, was just the first step.

Combs and Cloyd have now begun the process of gathering donations. Each runner in the American Cancer Society program must raise at least $1,000 to run.

They were both skeptical of their ability to raise the funds at first; however, Cloyd has already been able to surpass his goal of $1,000, and he is now looking to raise $3,000.

Combs has been successful and is expecting to raise his original goal as well.

Although their fundraising has surpassed their goals, both runners are still motivated to do more.

Cloyd and Combs are sponsoring a fundraiser Sept. 21 at BuffaLouie’s, where a portion of all the purchases will be donated to their effort.

They have also set up pages on their Facebook profiles and through www.CharityRunner.org.

“I thought 1,000 was a lot of money,” Cloyd said, “but we both have noticed that people are eager to donate to a worthy cause.”

Though the marathon is an opportunity for Cloyd and Combs to raise awareness and money, Cloyd sees it as a chance to represent a bigger cause.

“If I could save one life for every 26.2 miles I run, then I wouldn’t ever stop,” Cloyd said. “I would sleep, eat, run and repeat. I wish that were the case, but it isn’t, and that is why I am doing this.”