Portsmouth woman won't let cancer run her life, so she's running the Boston Marathon

NEWPORT — Cancer’s a disruptor, and not just physically. It upends daily routines.

Oftentimes the things you love – the shapers of your identity and your sources of confidence – have to be modified to accommodate this unwelcome guest.

Kara Niewohner, 44, had to make way for breast cancer when she was diagnosed in April 2021, about a month before she moved to Newport from Texas with her family (they now live in Portsmouth). She had to scale back her running – a source of solitude, pride, self-love – to deal with the sickness.

It was hard. Hard to “not be the badass that I wanted to be,” she said, seated in a booth at Empire Tea & Coffee, tears briefly coming to her clear, green eyes. It was the first and only time she grew emotional during the interview.

“Running is such a release for me,” Niewohner said. She recalled runs at 5 a.m., when the sky's still dark and the world sleeps. She'd return home before her children, Effie, 11, and Jack, 12, woke up.

And that feels good, she said; to accomplish something before her kids’ feet hit the floor.

“This time by myself,” Niewohner said. “I couldn’t really get that when I was really sick.”

But she’s on the mend. Niewohner underwent a double mastectomy in October, which completely destroyed the cancer. She’s slated to run the Boston Marathon in April; her fifth marathon, and first in-person marathon since undergoing cancer treatment.

Running for her life

Niewohner started running in 2016, after she joined the Springfield, Virginia, chapter of Moms Run This Town, a virtual running club. Niewohner is a part of a military family and relocates often; her husband, Andy, is currently teaching at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport.

“I kind of liked it,” Niewohner said. “I liked the community.”

Her first ever race was a half-marathon in 2017, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and she loved it. She liked the crowd, the excitement. She liked that she surprised herself and ran the first eight miles straight – something she hadn’t planned on doing.

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In Athens, Greece, Niewohner ran her first marathon in the fall of 2017 with her husband. She was hooked, and she hasn’t looked back, even with her cancer diagnosis and while she underwent treatment, she ran.

Maybe not as long or as often, but she ran.

Cancer fought, she fought back

Niewohner had been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for about 10-15% of all breast cancers; it grows and spreads faster, has limited treatment options and a worse prognosis than other types of invasive breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

She hit a roadblock in August; Niewohner’s Gilbert Syndrome (a mild genetic disorder) arose concern in her oncologist for liver dysfunction. Her chemo was reduced, then canceled, and this concerned Niewohner. She knew the grim prognosis and limited treatment options – she wanted chemo.

Niewohner, on her Dana-Farber Cancer Institute fundraising page, said she made two important decisions: she sought a second opinion from Dana-Farber, and she asked if early surgery was an option.

A consultation with a Dana-Farber doctor pre-surgery assured Niewohner that, if further treatment was needed post-op, the medical professionals had knowledge of her Gilbert Syndrome and would be willing to re-start chemo while monitoring her liver function.

“They were very thorough and helped put my mind at ease that regardless of the outcome of my surgery I had treatment options available,” Niewohner wrote on her fundraising page.

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To celebrate her successful surgery, Niewohner ran the Boston Marathon virtually, in her neighborhood, in October – four weeks after her double mastectomy.

For her first in-person marathon, Niewohner is looking forward to enjoying the experience, she said.

It’s not just about finishing it – like it was with her first marathon in Greece – or how fast she can finish, as was her goal with her second marathon.

She just wants to soak it in.

“I’m still alive,” Niewohner said. “I’m still here.”

Niewohner is running in the Boston Marathon to benefit Dana-Farber. She’s aiming to raise $10,000. To donate, click here.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Boston Marathon runners include Portsmouth mom who survived cancer