Inspired by Family & Friendship, Runner Takes to the Road for North Shore Cancer RUN

This Sunday, the 4th Annual North Shore Cancer RUN will take place at Cove Community Center in Beverly. This year’s event is a bit of a departure from the last three RUNs, which were incorporated into the North Shore Cancer WALK each spring. This is the first year the RUN will be held as a standalone, autumn event.

For Rich Tabbut, who is captain of the Team Wicked Nation for this year’s Cancer RUN, he plans to use the day as a chance to honor some very important people in his life who have been impacted by cancer.

“Team Wicked was instrumental in starting the North Shore Cancer RUN four years ago as part of the annual Cancer WALK fundraising and activities” Tabbut says. “Originally, I was planning to participate in the inaugural RUN in honor of my mother-in-law, Mary Duffy. She was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December, 1991.

“We thought she successfully beat that cancer, but in the summer of 1995, she had a relapse and died just before Christmas that year. My daughter was one year old at the time of her diagnosis and only got to know her grandmother for a few more years after that. It was very important for me to honor Mary, and the Cancer RUN seemed like such a perfect way to do that.”

For Tabbut, running has always been part of his life. He has been part of the Wicked Running Club for years, and before that was heavily involved with the North Shore Striders. While running is often an individual endeavor, running clubs have helped Tabbut forge very strong friendships. One such relationship he is thankful for is the one with his friend Gary Freedman.

“The scope of my participation in the North Shore Cancer RUN expanded when I found out that my dear friend Gary was undergoing treatment for cancer,” Tabbut recalls. “He is a very private person by nature, so much so that when I asked if he’d be doing the first Cancer RUN, he said he was going to do his best, but would have to see because he was undergoing chemo. I had no idea, and many people close to him didn’t either. Right then, I knew I had to support him and run in his honor as well. I was thrilled to raise over $2,000 that year.”

Tabbut finds true inspiration through Freedman. “Not only did Gary participate in the first North Shore Cancer RUN by running and walking the 5K course, but he then walked the entire WALK course right afterward, which is 10K. This is a man who has had a notable running career, including 26 Boston Marathons, and yet, I can think of nothing more impressive than seeing him out on that course that day.”

Tabbut finds Freedman’s dedication a true reminder of why he run, not only in general, but also to raise money for such important causes like the North Shore Medical Center and North Shore Cancer Center.

“Team Wicked Nation’s dedication to North Shore Cancer RUN is so important to me,” Tabbut says. “Each step I run takes on greater meaning when I think about Mary and Gary, as well as the countless other people who have fought cancer. Doing the RUN is my small way of contributing, and it’s something I feel very fortunate to be a part of.”

Participants in the North Shore Cancer RUN are running to raise money for outstanding cancer care at the oncology unit at North Shore Medical Center at Salem Hospital and Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center in Danvers. The Cancer RUN will take place at Cove Community Center in Beverly on November 10 at 8am. There will be a 5K and 10K course. For more information or to register, please visit www.northshorecancerrun.org.

To donate to Rich Tabbut's fundraising efforts for North Shore Cancer RUN, please visit:

http://nsmcgiving.partners.org/page.aspx?pid=563&tab=0&frsid=10391