Williamsville woman takes on Team Cure marathon
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter

Zimdahl

Last year, Shelby Zimdahl ran in the Roswell Park Team Cure Challenge half-marathon in Orlando in January. Four months later, she did the same thing in Buffalo, improving on her time by nine seconds.

"Clearly, the more I train, the faster and more bearable it gets," the Williamsville resident said.

This year, Zimdahl will take on a bigger challenge - a full marathon for the Team Cure Challenge, which will be held June 1 in San Diego.

Zimdahl participates with Team Cure in memory of her uncle, who was also an avid runner and battled tongue cancer, along with other illnesses.

"Cancer took a serious toll on his body," Zimdahl said. "He had his salivary glands removed, so every hour he had to wake himself up to drink a glass of water and could no longer eat solid foods. It was tough to see him constantly struggle, but he kept holding on for the sake of his wife and young children. I run in memory of his strength and courage."

Zimdahl, who is a Williamsville East High School and Syracuse University graduate, has been focusing on her fundraising and training for the marathon that is less than six months away.

Roswell Park provides trainers, airfare, hotel accommodations, nutrition tips, transportation and registration fees for all participants. Zimdahl and her fellow runners need concentrate only on their training and fundraising efforts.

"I actually just wrote my letter to send out to friends, family and neighbors. I hope to send it out within the next two weeks," she said. "I'm going to ask local bars to let me sell 50/50 raffle tickets during happy hour and host an event where I auction off memorabilia. I hope to raise $10,000 this time around."

Last year, Zimdahl raised close to $16,000 for Roswell. She hopes that her participation will inspire others to give back to Roswell.

"Every time I tell my story I can tell I touched that person," she said. "Hopefully that is reason enough to get them to volunteer, donate or join Team Cure themselves."

She also hopes that her story will inspire other runners to participate.

"I hope that people see from my story that anyone can do this," she said, noting that she was not a runner before participating with Team Cure. "I hope runners out there see that they can train for races and make more of a difference than the registration fee they paid to participate."

And as far as the future, Zimdahl is not done with Team Cure or Roswell.

"Ask me today, and I'll say I plan to run one marathon and go back to half-marathons. Ask me after my race is over, and my answer may be different," she said. "Regardless, I'm not done. Roswell is a great place. Like their commercials say - they hope to cure cancer and all lose their jobs. They're dedicated, and I truly believe the cure is in our near future if we all help the research team out by stepping up and taking on challenges like this."

To donate to Zimdahl's efforts, call 845-8788, search her name at www.teamcure.com, or mail donations payable to Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, Attn: Team Cure Challenge, Elm & Carlton Streets, Buffalo, NY 14263 and put her name in the memo section of the check.

To participate in any more of this year's Team Cure Challenges, it is necessary to attend the last information session at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31 at Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Research Studies Center, Gaylord Cary Room, located across the street from the main entrance to the hospital.