Bolingbrook Church Members Hope to Raise $40,000 by Running Marathons

resident Beckie Fry wants to make one thing clear. 

“I’m not a runner,” the 47-year-old mom and breast cancer survivor said.

But that’s not stopping her from taking on the 16^th annual Chicago Half Marathon and Hyundai Hope on Wheels 5K.

Fry will join 50 others as they take part in the Sept. 9 half-marathon to raise money for Team World Vision, a non-profit that works to help children in Africa and Haiti.

The runners are members of four Bolingbrook churches, , , and -- will run in the Chicago Half-Marathon or Marathon this fall. 

The team, which trains together each week, hopes to raise $40,000 for a water harvesting project in its sister community in Tanzania. More than 40 people raised $33,000 last year for the project. 

Breast cancer survivor, first-time half-marathon runner

Just as her lack of running experience didn’t deter her from getting involved with Team World Vision, Fry’s cancer diagnosis didn’t stop her from training for the half-marathon.

Fry was diagnosed with the disease in December 2011. She underwent a lumpectomy, followed by three months of radiation.

“Our church has a large group from Team World Vision,” Fry said. “Halfway through my radiation, they started promoting it.”

Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Fry checked with her doctors, who gave her the go-ahead to start running.

For more information on Team World Vision or to make a donation to Fry’s team, visit her half-marathon website.

“I’m not a runner, I don’t look like a runner, but I thought, ‘OK, well, that’s exercise,’” she said. “They said, keep it up, this is really good for you.”

She soon found that training with fellow Team World Vision members made her feel better. “It actually really helped with the side effects” of the radiation,” Fry said.

Despite having no experience as a runner, Fry said she’s enjoying training with her fellow church members, who meet once a week.

“They have the ‘I’ve never run before’ plan,” she said, explaining she alternates running and walking as she builds up her endurance. “I’ve been doing it since February. It’s totally fun.”

Fry and her teammates ran their longest distance to date last weekend, hitting the 11-mile mark.

“Our goal was just to finish,” she said, laughing. “We didn’t care how long we took to get it done.”

Aside from its fitness benefits, running has had another positive impact on Fry, who was declared cancer-free in July.

“Because this cancer thing can consume your brain all the time, this takes the place of it,” she said. “I haven’t really dwelt on the cancer. I haven’t really head time to think about the cancer.”

Four years of running together

 members have run marathons or half-marathons to raise money for the past four years. It all started when Children's Director Dave Fischer started running six years ago.

Four years ago, after hearing a presentation from Team World Vision, he decided to run to raise funds for the organization. His wife and another church member joined him in running the Chicago Marathon. The three of them raised $3,500. 

The next year, the group grew to 25 and set the goal to raise $13,000 -- enough to fund a well project in Africa. They raised $16,500. Every year since, the money has been allocated specifically for the churches' sister community in Tanzania. 

As the group has grown, the runners have grown closer together, Fischer said. 

"It's a byproduct of running for hours together," Fischer said. "Doing a 16-mile training run by yourself can be pretty miserable."

The runners need encouragement from each other, he said.

"If you have at least one other person to run with, it makes such a difference," Fischer said. "You share lots of conversation. If you can last 16 miles with somebody you pretty much know somebody really well."