Issie's Quest: 60 Marathons by Age 60

Issie Pelc began running rather late in life.

It was initially part of a plan to improve his overall fitness, and get back into shape, but he quickly moved on from running a 10k in 1998 to a half marathon a few months later, ultimately running his first full marathon in 1999. Pelc has been hooked on running ever since.

Seven years ago, Pelc’s wife Shelley was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In 2006, just two years into her own battle with cancer, Pelc was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Pelc had been a runner for a number of years already by this point, having been training for the Boston marathon at the time of his diagnosis. “In that time period I became a pretty avid runner, doing all kinds of marathons, and participating in relay races with my running group,” says Pelc. “I ended up running Boston [marathon] before starting treatment, which I began in May 2006.”

Pelc’s treatment consisted of six rounds of chemotherapy which lasted 18 weeks, followed by a month of radiation treatment – five days a week for four weeks, totaling 20 blasts of radiation. He finished his treatment in the fall of 2006, and was fortunate enough to continue running throughout the course of his treatment.

To qualify for the Boston marathon is no small task. “You have to run a marathon somewhere else first, within a specific time period,” says Pelc. “It’s a sliding scale based on age and gender. By fall of 2005, I had run four marathons that qualified me for the 2006 Boston marathon.”

After successfully completing the 2006 Boston Marathon, Pelc decided he would train the following year for the 2007 Boston Marathon. “My qualifier was still valid from the previous Boston run,” Pelc explains, as a qualifying race deems one eligible to run Boston for 18 months.

Thus, another Boston Marathon was successfully completed. “A bunch of people I run with were planning to run in Mississauga of May that year, so I decided to join them.”

It was then that Pelc got the idea that he would run the amount of marathons equal to his age, which meant a marathon a month from that point on. “Along with the running goal, I thought I could combine it with some sort of fundraising, and it was logical to fundraise for cancer research since both myself and Shelley are survivors,” says Pelc.

Thus, “Issie’s Quest” was born, an effort to run 60 marathons by Pelc’s 60th birthday, while raising funds and awareness for ovarian cancer. And indeed, Pelc has garnered awareness everywhere he’s run. “I signed up to run a marathon in November of 2006, a few weeks after finishing my treatment – From Marathon to Athens, in Greece,” says Pelc. “Shelley and I combined this with a holiday, as a celebration of successfully completing my treatment, and also as a test to see that I could actually do it.”

Currently, Shelley is in the midst of battling her second recurrence of ovarian cancer. She has undergone several clinical trials for Princess Margaret Hospital, and has just begun a new trial. Right now, her cancer in under control.

“In my case, I appear to be in long-term remission,” says Pelc. “The treatment for the kind of cancer I had is 75 per cent effective. In Shelley’s case, there is no known treatment for recurring ovarian cancer. This is why she’s part of the research at Princess Margaret.”

On April 18, 2010, Rocky Road Runners and Pedales Rapidos hosted the “Yes We Can” FUNdraising Dinner honouring both Issie and Shelley Pelc.

“The dinner was a fundraiser that my friend Dr. Tommy Bacher put together – he happens to be part of the running group I am a part of,” Pelc explains. “It was to honour Shelley and myself, and to help our fundraising efforts.”

The event was a resounding success in many ways. “The dinner alone raised $35,000, and the Brother Corporation (sponsors of “Issie’s Quest”) will donate $10,000 after my last race,” says Pelc. “Before that, $22,000 has been raised. And I’ve got two months to figure out how to raise more.”

The event was MC’d by Gowan, singer and keyboardist for the band Styx, who performed at the event, as well.

“I had gone to Princess Margaret Hospital and they sent me forms to make my fundraiser an event,” says Pelc. “‘Issie’s Quest’ is an event now, and I have been trying to get donations and run simultaneously.”

Pelc runs his 60th marathon in Niagara on the Lake in June of this year. He turns 60 this summer.

For more information or to donate to “Issie’s Quest,” please visit http://pmhf3.akaraisin.com/Common/Event/Home.aspx?seid=2592&mid=8&se=1