Breast cancer survivor picking up the pace for her fourth Surf City 10 marathon
A decade ago, Kay Parrish was walking down the Huntington Beach bike path near the beach, as she usually did in the morning, when others zipped past her.
She was inspired to push herself.
“I picked up my pace, and the next thing you know, I’m running,” said the 67-year-old Huntington Beach resident.
Parrish, then a sales and marketing associate, took to exercising for several minutes a few times a week as a way to break herself away from her high-stress work environment.
“I think I found myself back then just working too much and I felt like I was neglecting my health,” said Parrish, who retired last year. “I felt that it was time to take a few minutes every other day for myself to stay in shape and get healthier.”
She ran her first event — the Surf City 10, then called the Pacific Shoreline Half-Marathon — in 2007.
A few years later, running seemed to play an even bigger vital role in her health.
In June 2015, while at a routine checkup, Parrish’s physician found a lump in her right breast.
Luckily, the cancer was caught early, her doctor told her. Two months later, Parrish’s right breast was removed.
“My doctor did say because I was so active and healthy otherwise, it really helped in my recovery,” said Parrish, who has lived in Huntington Beach for 16 years. “I was counting the days that I could get back to walking and to running.”
That October, she ran the Surf City 10 marathon for the third time.
Parrish, who has participated in 13 marathons and half-marathons around the country since 2007, will run the Surf City 10 for the fourth time on Sunday, two months after receiving a breast augmentation surgery on her left side so that it matches the other side.
Parrish said she is running at the event, which takes place during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in part to remain healthy but also to advocate for breast cancer awareness and research.
She also recently participated in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Costa Mesa, raising more than $500 for breast cancer research.
“The way I’ve expressed [breast cancer] to my friends is when the doctor says you have it, it feels like your heart is stopping,” she said. “You then realize you have to deal with it, take care of it and move on.”
Parrish encourages women to stay on top of their health by visiting their doctors regularly and performing self-exams.
While she’d ideally like to run the marathon under two hours, Parrish said her biggest goal is to continue running as she gets older.
“I want to stay healthy and I want to stay active,” she said. “We have to keep moving. If you just sit, you deteriorate.”
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IF YOU GO
What: Surf City 10 marathon (10-mile, 10k, 5k races)
When: Sunday 6 a.m.
Where: Huntington Drive and Atlanta Avenue in Huntington Beach
Cost: $45 to $180 per participant
Information: surfcity10.com
Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey
