‘Don’t waste your life’: Woman with brain cancer prepares to run Boston Marathon

ESSEX, Vt. (WPTZ) - In less than a week, thousands of runners from all over the world will be in Boston for the 128th Boston Marathon, including a Vermont woman with brain cancer who is fulfilling a bucket list goal.

Watching Mary Williams lace up her running shoes, she looks like a strong, healthy athlete ready to run miles on end but sometimes, the outside does not always reflect what is happening on the inside.

“Some days my stomach just feels off or there’s a lot of fatigue or sometimes there’s dizziness. I’ve dealt with vertigo,” she said.

Training for the Boston Marathon is hard enough and Williams is doing it with brain cancer.

“I have grade two oligodendroglioma. It’s the type of cancer,” she said.

When Williams was diagnosed two years ago her doctor told her she had 10 years left to live.

“It was like all these feelings of like ‘This is unfair.’ My mom had died a year prior to that which was really hard to deal with. Then, I think after the initial shock, the next day I had the feeling of like ‘Well at least I have 10 years,’” she said.

With a glass-half-full mentality, Williams created a bucket list.

On April 15, she will check off number one on the list: run the world’s oldest annual marathon.

“Boston’s always something I’ve wanted to do but just cause I was focused on other things it just didn’t happen,” she said.

Williams will be a part of the adaptive program, running alongside her coach and boyfriend, Eric. She is also running for charity with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where she is receiving treatment.

“It is truly inspiring just to see the support that runners such as Mary and our whole team receive from their communities,” said Jan Ross, assistant vice president of Running Programs for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Runners with the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge have a fundraising commitment of $10,000. Williams’ goal is to raise $26.2 thousand.

“I have so much gratitude for all the support that I’ve had from my friends, my family, my co-workers. And there’s just a lot of people rallying behind me.” she said.

Williams is taking life one stride at a time and living like each day is her last.

“You may feel the best you feel today than you will tomorrow so just don’t wait. Don’t waste your life,” she said.

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