Sixteen rounds of chemotherapy didn’t stop Erika Aleman from completing this year’s Chicago Marathon in her hometown.
Aleman, 43, was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer of March of this year, as she was training for her thirteenth marathon.
The single mom of two said when doctors discovered the cancer after Aleman found a lump in her breast, she felt like she lost control of her life – and that she would have to forgo running, which has served as a form of therapy for her over the years.
“I didn’t know if I was going to survive … I honestly thought that I was dying. I was waiting to tell my girls [Marcia, 21, and Abby, 16], ‘your mom is going to die’ … it was horrible.”
Aleman recounted going home that day, looking at herself in the mirror and making a promise to herself that she wouldn’t give up. “I needed to prove to [my daughters] that I was going to be OK, and I was going to fight it and was mentally able and capable to fight this.”
She decided in that moment that she would also continue running while going through cancer treatment. “Exercise is the best medicine for your body - especially when you go through chemo. It helps ease the side effects,” Aleman said, “Running helped me gain a certain control of my life.”
Through 16 rounds of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and immunotherapy at the Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Medicine, Aleman said she didn’t stop running. And on Sunday, she completed the Chicago Marathon in six hours and seven minutes.
Even though it was her slowest marathon, Aleman said it was her best. “Finishing this marathon was my biggest accomplishment. It was my slowest…but this time I ran with my heart.”
Anytime the race got challenging, Aleman would focus on taking on the course one mile at a time. And when she completed the 26.2 miles, she felt so much gratitude for her support group and her own perseverance “Crossing the [finish] line, with the meaning, with all those people with me, it felt very special,” she said.
Aleman’s journey is far from over. On Friday, just five days after finishing the race, Aleman will undergo a bilateral mastectomy as the next phase of her treatment.
As Aleman prepares for her surgery on Friday, she candidly said, “I’m very scared,” But she quickly added, “It is what it is, and I have to go through it to get better.”
The American Cancer Society's estimates about 287,850 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2022. The organization also says that about 13 percent of all women in the United States are at risk developing breast cancer sometime in their life.
Aleman, who works as a nanny, has always been a runner. She ran her first marathon in 2015. “Since the day I started running, I knew running was the only place I could be inside my own head,” Aleman said, “Anytime I had any problems or any worries, I just grabbed my gym shoes and went … it helped me relax.”
Training this time around was significantly more challenging. “Every day while I was doing my chemotherapy, I felt like I couldn’t keep going … but I kept pushing myself and I would walk just one block. And then I would add another block and so on.”
She recalled, “I had those bad days where I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t put my shoes on or anything.”
When she was in her darkest moments, Aleman said she would look in the mirror and tell herself, “This is temporary, this is gonna pass. You need to get up and fight. This is part of the process.”
Aleman said there were plenty of days where she looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize herself. “I remember at the beginning I avoided looking in the mirror. I just didn’t want to see me … I would lie if I told you [losing my hair and thoughts of the upcoming mastectomy] didn’t affect me. There were days I was looking at the mirror and I felt like a monster,” Aleman said, “Who is this? No hair and no eyebrows.”
Aleman said she found support in her friends and family, as well as her running community and “pink sisters,” a group of other women from Chicago and around the country also fighting breast cancer.
“When I came to the support group and saw that there are many women fighting and feeling the same way that I’m feeling. It helped me realize I’m not alone,” she said.
And she has no plans to stop running anytime soon. Aleman said she hopes to run the iconic — and highly competitive — Boston Marathon next and will start training as soon as she is able to.
“I’m alive. I’m getting healthier. I’m not going to stay stuck here forever,” said Aleman. “I’m going to have my surgery and get my life back.”