MOUNT VERNON – Nicole Whyte will spend today running 100 miles to raise funds and awareness for brain cancer research, using the inspiration of her brother-in-law, Josh Kirby, and help from other family members to keep going.
She chose the High Lea 6/12/24 hour race in Richfield because it’s in the month of May, which is Brain Cancer Awareness Month. It’s an almost 3-mile hilly course and she’ll need to run 34 loops to complete 100 miles.
“But my inspiration has certainly come from my brother-in-law who's in a fight for his life and, fighting against the odds basically,” Whyte said.
She has never been a runner before this, and the only previous run was a 5K, during which Whyte’s pretty sure she had to stop and walk for part of it. But she’s been training for seven months with the help of her coach, Sarah Foreman.
Her sister, Missy – Josh’s wife – has trained with her and plans to run alongside her on and off during the first 12 hours. Josh and Missy Kirby’s sons, Wyatt, Logan and Tucker, are going to be pacers, along with a couple of their girlfriends and a nephew. Her other sister, their mother and father, Karen and Mike Beudain, and other people will camp out at the start/finish line to keep her hydrated and give her proper nutrition.
“My goal was to do something that would draw people's attention and basically get them to ask, ‘Why would you do that?’” she said.
The family knew very little about brain cancer and glioblastomas (GBM) prior to her brother-in-law’s diagnosis. Then they learned about the lack of focus, funding and research on this type of cancer.
“Josh has one of the most serious, serious brain cancers; it’s deep in the thalamus. It’s inoperable,” Whyte said.
She chose to support Stache Strong, whose CEO, Colin Gerner, lost this 30-year-old brother to GBM, and had already raised $14,000.
“It’s very touching for me that she's dedicated herself to raising funds for brain cancer research," her mother, Karen, said. "It's something that I think we've instilled in our three girls that we have."
Beaudin and her husband, Mike, were in Arizona starting their retirement. They had sold everything and bought an RV, and had a year and a half of travel plans to different states.
“When we heard about Josh, we immediately canceled everything and stopped what we were doing and headed to Ohio,” she said.
Her daughter Nicole flew out first, and she followed on April 17. They got what they needed rolling to help Josh, Missy and their sons.
“It was no question what we needed to do," Beaudin said. "We just needed to be here and we’ve been here ever since."
They developed a family calendar to schedule time spent with Josh day and night at The Landings of Westerville, a skilled nursing center, where he was taken after a brain bleed.
Josh’s tumor was shrunk by chemo and radiation. But a brain bleed sent him to the hospital and then back to the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. He also suffered a stroke, which affected his left side and made communication initially impossible.
But he’s still here, Beaudin said.
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