#runyonup

    Mary Tricario is running in the Damon Runyon 5K under the same bib number – 2039 – she did last year, and for a very good reason.

  Cancer is personal to Mary, as she has lost two friends, an aunt, two uncles and her father to the disease. Before he passed away in 1997, her father was a New Jersey State Trooper, well-known and well-regarded in his community.

  Both huge Yankees fans, Mary supported her then-boyfriend's participation in the 2010 Runyon 5K. The bib number he wore on race day held special significance: “After some research into the work that the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation did, we decided that he would run under my father’s badge number, 2039.”

  After their separation in 2012, she trained for the 2013 5K as a way to cope with the breakup and crossed the finish line at Yankee Stadium proudly wearing bib number 2039 – and is vowing to do so again in her father’s memory this summer.

  “In 2013, I felt like I had to reclaim the number, not just for my father’s honor but for myself and my family,” she said. “It is important to me because it's an important cause and a way for me to honor my father, my family and friends that I have lost and the family and friends living with cancer.”

  The New Jersey resident from Middlesex County, a heart disease survivor as a result of a congenital heart defect, works as a paralegal, yoga instructor and local music promoter and hopes to build a team for the August 3rd event.

  “This year I am encouraging anyone who wants to run with me to do so,” she said. “I want people to see that movement is a way to get through struggles.”

  Last year, she finished the 5K in just over 33 minutes, and this year hopes to improve on that. “I just hope to beat last year's time and have even more fun than I did last year,” she said.

  She praises the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation for all of its efforts to fund and find cancer cures. “They really do amazing work,” she said. “We won't beat cancer unless there is solid, innovative research going on. Without it, we cannot hope to try to find new ways, better ways of treating it and hopefully finding a cure.”