Nurse battling brain cancer runs SF half-marathon

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A Sioux Falls woman is not letting cancer get in the way of her passion for running. In early July, we introduced you to Sara Beck, a nurse at Sanford Health who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year. Her goal then was to run the Sioux Falls half-marathon, and on Sunday, she made that dream a reality.

Beck is still in the midst of her battle with cancer.

“Just kind of in the phases of just the oral chemo, and we’ll do that for six months, potentially twelve,” Beck said.

But that didn’t stop her from running in the Sioux Falls half-marathon Sunday.

“This means the world to me. That’s kind of part of the reason that I wanted to run because there’s a day that I might not be able to run, so if I can run every day up until then, I’m going to do it,” Beck said.

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Although it did not get as hot as forecasted today, Beck was ready for the humidity.

“Honestly, I feel like I’ve ran in humid weather earlier in the summer anyway, so it’s just a matter of making sure that I drink plenty during and then after,” Beck said.

Thankfully, Beck convinced some of her coworkers to run with her to help her get through the challenges.

“It’s amazing. It’s not something I planned on doing. Sarah is the kind of person that just voiced her goal. ‘I’m going to do this, who wants to join me?’ She’s not someone you normally say no to. She just is energetic and has the type of personality that you just have to join her,” Beck’s coworker, Carrie Lebrun said.

And Beck’s attitude during her cancer journey has helped her make quite an impact on the people around her.

“She’s just a powerful person. So much energy, really a zest for life. The fact that she got all of us to do it says a lot about her. I don’t know if there’s anyone quite as determined as her,” Lebrun said.

Beck completed the half-marathon in with a time of two hours and 34 minutes.