Nebraska

Julie Petersen: A Profile                                                                                

by Maureen McCarville, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Julie Petersen?s wig is flowing in the wind, her tutu moves around her waist and her socks start to fall down from her knees to her ankles.  She is running in her first marathon in October 2007, but no one is laughing at her costume because it is for a cause.

Two years before that, Petersen and her husband received a pamphlet from Team in Training, a day after they had learned that Petersen?s husband was cured of testicular cancer. 

Petersen, 33, read the letter and only knew that Team in Training helped train people for races.  She decided to attend an upcoming meeting because she had gained weight during the five months of her husband?s cancer treatments.

            She soon learned that Team in Training helped to raise money for people with cancer.  After hearing stories of survivors? struggle and pain, Petersen knew during the closing of the meeting that she had to join this cause. 

            A few months later, Petersen and her husband were on the start line for the Ford Triathlon after raising $9,650 for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, three days before they left for their triathlon in New York City.

            Petersen has been competing in triathlons, century cycles, a Half-Iron Man and marathons for the last five years alongside her husband.  Her routine is a little different for her marathons, though, because she wears a costume.

            The morning of her first marathon in Chicago, in 2007, Petersen walked to the lobby of her hotel to meet her team and saw shocked expressions from her teammates and especially from her coach. ?Do NOT change anything you do the day of the race,? her coach explained, every day they trained. 

Petersen however, was dressed in purple tights, a purple tutu and a purple wig for her first race. 

In her next race she decided not to wear a costume, but met another racer who was wearing a testicle costume and on the back he had written www.menscancer.org.  ?It was very realistic,? Petersen said.

That was four years ago and she decided she would wear a costume in all of her marathons.  In her next race in Lincoln, she wore a yellow polka-dotted clown costume with a Team in Training jersey over the top.  In her most recent race at the Lincoln Marathon on May 3, 2009, she wore a Space Ghost costume with Captain Chemotherapy written on the back with Team in Training ?do your part? underneath.

She wanted to wear costumes that would advertise the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society and Team in Training in clever ways.  Initially, she explained she wore costumes to make her stand out from all the other racers. Now, she does it to raise money to find a cure for cancer. 

?I think every participant knows the exact amount of money they have raised because it gives you a sense of pride,? Petersen said.  She and her husband have raised $42,000 for the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society to find a cure for cancer. 

She said that is the same reason she races - to give back to the people that helped save her husband.  ?Nothing about 26.2 is fun,? Petersen said about running a marathon.  She gets satisfaction from finishing and knowing she is helping find a cure.

 Why keep racing now that her husband has recovered?  ?I?m leaving my foot print on the path to curing cancer,? Petersen said.