A former Waterloo resident recently joined the thousands of runners participating in the New York City Marathon, raising money in order to give back in the wake of her personal struggle with cancer.

Kate Koerber has made a home in Raleigh, N.C., for over 20 years now, but her roots trace back to Waterloo where she was born and raised.

As Koerber recalled, she was an active athlete in school, swimming and playing volleyball, softball, golf and other sports up until her graduation from Waterloo High School.

Koerber also mentioned her track and field experience, which was rather short-lived. She tried running those shorter races while she attended Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic School and found it wasn’t for her, though she did dabble in the shotput and other areas.

While the 100 meter dash didn’t capture Koerber’s heart, she did ultimately find a passion for running 25 years ago, training for and running a marathon in 1999 after the suggestion of a friend, followed by another marathon in 2000.

She recalled how, as her classmates went out to enjoy their Friday nights, she went to bed early to make sure she could get up before 6 a.m. to get her miles in, training with the advice of a marathon guide gifted by her aunt.

“I remember one time I ran out from my mom and dad’s house almost to Maeystown and back,” Koerber said. “I passed my church and everything, turned around and came back.”

Pushing herself through a marathon as a teenager, her hobby of running was pushed aside as she attended university, her time dominated by two majors and a minor as well as a study trip abroad.

After college, she took a 3,000-mile road trip with a friend and wound up settling down in Raleigh. Though she still ran as a hobby, she stepped away from racing for some time.

Her interest was rekindled a few years ago, however, as she completed a half marathon in June 2021 right before she turned 40.

Later that year, she fulfilled a longtime goal as she ran another half-marathon in Washington, D.C., long having wanted to be able to enjoy the monuments and other sites of the capital during a run.

Koerber spoke about the impact of running a marathon and other long races as well the effort that goes into preparing for such an event, recognizing the sustained effort required for runs that last for hours.

“It takes a lot of dedication,” Koerber said. “When you train for a marathon… running is kind of very mental. It’s physical but it’s also mental.”

She also noted that races can be an excellent way to really get familiar with a city.

Soon after returning to the racing scene, Koerber encountered a tremendous health scare as she was diagnosed with late stage adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that had wrapped around an artery running from her head to her heart as well as spreading elsewhere in her head like her cheek and ear.

The diagnosis was naturally terrifying news, and she recalled how difficult it was to share with her family.

Koerber encountered a number of struggles during her battle with cancer, from handling the claustrophobia that came with being strapped down for radiation treatments to the tremendous physical drain that came with radiation and chemotherapy.

She also mentioned issues with her former job as they attempted to deny her continuous health coverage when she was let go.

Even with all the hardships that came with her cancer fight, Koerber still managed to mention the lighter side of things, emphasizing the compassion of technicians and folks who handled her care as well as support she received from her family and loved ones.

That positivity was something she was determined to maintain.

“When you have something, you can decide how to react to it,” Koerber said. “You can control how you react to things that happen to you, so I decided to try and stay as positive as possible.”

Though positivity was a major emphasis for Koerber, she also needed to note the tremendous frustration she felt at how long it took to actually get her diagnosis.

She spoke about how distinct headache pain was dismissed or downplayed by a number of doctors, also noting how she was tossed antibiotics and other minimal treatments until she finally pushed for a scan that led to her diagnosis.

This personal experience played a major role in her recently choosing to support the V Foundation, a charity founded by the late college basketball coach and ESPN broadcaster Jim Valvano.

“You have to be your own advocate,” Koerber said. “You have to push. If you think something’s wrong, question it. Ask for a scan. Ask about the medication they wanna give you and what are the side effects. You have to really ask the questions, otherwise you’re just another number. But you also have to find those doctors that actually care.”

While cancer and her treatment took a great physical toll on her for some time, Koerber recently made a big return to racing through her participation in the NYC Marathon.

In the months prior, she held two fundraising events to gather donations for the sake of the V Foundation, one at Pair of Dice in Columbia and the other in Raleigh.

She expressed a major affinity for the foundation, emphasizing how all donations go to the foundation and cancer research as the organization’s operations are paid for thanks to an endowment.

When it comes to the marathon itself, Koerber only had good things to say.

She painted a remarkable picture of the race and the energy that surrounded her and the other runners, with roads along the route closed and thousands of people along the street or poking their heads out of windows to cheer on participants along the entire route.

Her music, as she recalled, was playing for all of 10 minutes during the entire race, as she spent almost the entire marathon enjoying the positivity directed at her from the crowd as well as members of her family who raced along the subway through the day to cheer her on at multiple stops along the route.

Koerber recalled a particularly memorable sign she saw in the crowd reading “Welcome to Queens, now get out.”

The road to the NYC Marathon was rough, as Koerber spoke about steadily moving from walking to jogging to running and eventually pushing herself to a half mile and beyond.

Her muscles weren’t the only personal hurdle, as it took some time for her to clear up the nasal scar tissue that had developed during her treatment, keeping her lungs from being their best.

Even with the struggle that led up to it, completing her third marathon was clearly a major achievement for her.

“It was such a great experience,” Koerber said. “I highly recommend it to anybody. It was fun. It was great.”

Looking beyond the recent trip to New York, Koerber has plenty planned.

Though still struggling with some of the lingering effects of the cancer and her treatment – including issues with dry mouth and tasting – she hopes to continue staying active.

Along with some family and friends, she plans to participate in a half-marathon in April, though she will hopefully be running many more miles for years to come.