Exercising and surviving: my cancer journey.

Sarah Gordon is the Endurance Program Manager at the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. She founded Run for the Rare, an annual 5 k race held in Chicago, and the Run.Tri Together program of the Ulman Cancer Fund. She is a 4-year young adult cancer survivor, diagnosed with malignant fibrous histiocytoma. As a young adult cancer survivor, the phase "mind over matter" has taken on a whole new meaning for me. In January of 2003, I was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma, and learned soon after that second opinions, hope, and optimism are intangibles on which you cannot put a price tag. Since my diagnosis, I have put my heart and soul into rehabilitation. Initially, the fear of never being able to run again made me determined to make my right leg perform as it did prior to surgery. Today, after training for and completing a marathon, 3 half-marathons, and 2 triathlons, I am able to accept the fact that my leg will never be the same at it was before cancer, neither will I, and this is alright.