Runner's World Covers: Outrunning Cancer

We dedicated the July 2011 issue to investigating the link between running and the fight to defeat cancer—a disease that will kill 570,000 Americans this year. We called our special report "Outrunning Cancer."

We produced eight different covers for this issue. A few of the subjects are celebrities; some are fast; others are back-of-the-packers. All are cancer survivors. Covers featuring the seven athletes that follow all went to newsstands in equal numbers; subscribers received a second shot of Olympic hopeful Serena Burla (left).

Runners fight back. They also give back. That's why last year, runners raised more than $650 million to fund cancer charities. For the first time, we're stepping up our own efforts by partnering with Crowdrise.com to make outrunning cancer a team effort—and easier than ever. Join the fight to outrun cancer by donating or fund-raising for cancer charities with a running connection at http://www.crowdrise.com/runnersworld

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

Serena Burla, 28, sarcoma survivor and Olympic hopeful

Angela Alleyne joined Team in Training in Brooklyn last year because, she says, "they promised to turn a woman who could barely run for the bus into a woman who could run a marathon." When she began training for New York, though, she developed a nagging hip injury. An MRI revealed a mass the size of an egg. "That was the first time I heard the word sarcoma," she says. "I asked my doctors if I could keep training and have surgery after my marathon." With their blessing, she did just that, finishing in 6:05. "The memory of the strength and stamina it took to run a marathon buoyed me through my surgery and recovery," she says. Alleyne hopes to start running again this summer, and wants to enter the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon in December. "Sarcoma is often painless and can go undiagnosed for years," she says. "If I didn't decide to run New York, I don't know if I would've discovered my cancer. Running literally saved my life."

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

CA Notice at Collection

Armstrong's fight with cancer is public and pugnacious. And don't think that retirement from cycling, grand-jury investigations, or training for the Chicago Marathon this fall will change that. Click here to read more.

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

Jennifer Andress, 42, breast cancer survivor

Runners World Covers: Outrunning Cancer, a former "Survivor" winner and our subject of July's "I'm a Runner."

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

Runners World Covers: Outrunning Cancer

Amy Dodson lost her left leg below the knee to sarcoma when she was just 19. Two years later, a cancerous lung was removed. Disabled? Running on a carbon-fiber prosthetic leg, Amy has a marathon PR of 3:35, is a four-time national half-marathon champion, has done two Ironmans, and is a two-time ITU World Paratriathlon champ. This month, she'll run her first Western States 100, among the toughest races on Earth. "One of the great ironies of my life is that because of my childhood cancer, I couldn't run with two legs," says Amy, who lives and trains in Sahuarita, Arizona. "But freed from the pain, with one leg and one lung, I can run forever. Cancer may have ravaged my body, but running saved my soul."

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

Lyle Jacon, 48, lymphoma survivor

Jennifer Andress was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 35 and 24 weeks pregnant. She had a mastectomy and six lymph nodes removed. After her son, Will, was born, she underwent five weeks of radiation. A runner since she was 11, Andress resumed training once she had recovered. She did two marathons last year, one a 3:43 at the Mercedes Marathon in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, that qualified her for Boston, where she finished in 3:46. "In the past few years, running has become so important to me," she says. "I'm obsessed with my training and my group, and I'm taking better care of myself now. Better diet, more purpose in what I do."

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

Lyle Jacon, 48, lymphoma survivor

Lyle Jacon was always fit and athletic, so he didn't think much of the "big honkin' lump" he found on his right clavicle in 2001. But when it didn't go away, he got it checked out. Result: Stage 2 Hodgkin's lymphoma. "My initial response was 'F' this cancer," he says. "I decided to fight. My workouts went from three to five a week, and I went to a Team in Training meeting to see how I could help." After chemo he signed up for the 2004 Disney Marathon, then seven others in the next six years. At 46, he ran a 2:59 PR at the 2009 Spacecoast Marathon. Since then he's also coached TNT runners in Tampa, where he lives. "Cancer woke me up," he says. "It led me to TNT, and my life is better because of it."

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer

CA Notice at Collection

Burla recently ran a personal best of 2:35:08 at the Prague Marathon and was the runner-up at January's U.S. Half-Marathon Championships in 1:11:38.

She Raced 18 Horses in an Ultramarathonand Won.

Cover Photographs by Michael Lavine

Influencer Apologizes for E-Bikes on NYC Course runnersworld.com/outrunningcancer