From Chemo Treatments to Marathon Miles

In September of 2023, 38-year-old Amy Burke was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Burke, a middle school teacher and mom of two, faced 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 28 straight days of radiation over the next year. After intensive treatment and a double mastectomy, the Haverhill native became cancer-free in 2024. Now, over two years later, Burke trains for the 130th Boston Marathon as one of four runners for Runway for Recovery, a non-profit that
supports families’ journeys with breast cancer.

Boston is your home; you grew up here, are raising your family here, and had your cancer treatments at Massachusetts General Hospital. What pushed you to run the Boston Marathon?

We try to go to the marathon every year and one of my college basketball teammates ran last year. I remember asking my husband, who has run two Boston Marathons, if he’d ever run again. He goes, “Yeah I definitely want to run one before I turn 50. Would you?”
And I verbatim said, “The only way I’d run the Boston Marathon is if Runway for Recovery got bibs.” And sure enough, Runway got four a couple months later. To be a part of the inaugural team must be such an honor. Yes! Is there any pressure? A little, but I feel like that's how I thrive: I need that bit of pressure. But, I am not a runner (laughs). I’ll be very candid about that. I worked out almost every day during my cancer treatments though. One of my Peloton instructors, Jess Sims, had this saying, “Line ‘em up and knock ‘em down.” That was my motto throughout my treatments and that’s how I feel about the marathon.

It sounds like you’ll be knocking down the marathon miles too. How's your training so
far?

It's going well! It's a little challenging with this weather. I commented to my mom a couple
weeks ago that the one time I'm running the Boston Marathon, it's going to be the coldest, snowiest winter possible.

You're the most recent of the Runway marathon team to finish treatment. What does it mean to you to run for this organization following that fight?

I have monthly appointments at MGH with my oncologist because I'm still on maintenance medications. She told me how training might tire me out more or that I might have more side effects from the medications. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy journey, but it makes it so much sweeter that I’m running for an organization that supports people with breast cancer. The fact that I’m able to run when some people don't get that chance isn’t lost on me with how grateful I am for the opportunity.

How are you adjusting some of your training to account for those side effects?

The more diligent I am about a schedule, the better it is for me. I’m trying to get massages as much as possible though — I'm feeling my age a little bit. In the beginning, I wasn't running so I went out one day and thought, “I can run three miles, no problem.” And I did, and I, like, couldn't move the next day. I was like, “Oh, so this is what 40 feels like.”

Hey, those massages are well-deserved. Over the past 2.5 years, you've completed treatment and are now training for the marathon. How has your perspective on life changed and what do you hope for going forward?

I think I just appreciate the little things more. I know that's cliche, but when you get a diagnosis like that, it can go one of two ways. You
can fight it and live your life, or you can think, “Why me?” I chose to live and show people what it means to fight. Another mom whose daughter was in Kennedy’s kindergarten class just got diagnosed. She reached out to me, and asked if we could have a conversation to talk through it. I said, “100%.” I feel my mission in life now is being open, spreading the word, and never being afraid to talk about it because things need to be talked about. That's my biggest thing.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.