Kristen Dugan is training for the New York City Marathon while undergoing immunotherapy and chemotherapy for breast cancer. She is running as part of the Susan G. Komen team, which she said had only 20 spots.
Dugan was first diagnosed in January 2024, shortly after imaging and a biopsy. She told her mother right away but waited until the night before the West Palm Beach More Than Pink Walk to tell her daughters, who were 11, 9 and 6 at the time. After five months of chemotherapy she went into remission.
The cancer returned about 21 months later. Dugan said she began feeling pain in one breast and armpit while returning from a trip to North Carolina. A series of tests, including brain scans, MRIs, ultrasounds and biopsies, found a tumor in a lymph node under a muscle in her armpit. Her doctor had not been able to feel it.
Why she is running
Dugan said she wants her children and other people’s children to grow up in a world where breast cancer is a disease of the past. She said running has also helped her rebuild after treatment, alongside therapy.
She is also serving as this year’s event chair for the 36th Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk in West Palm Beach, scheduled for Jan. 30.
