She Draws Energy From Survivors
Erin Petrossi knows what it’s like to struggle to get out of bed each morning.
She knows what it takes to summon enough energy from her tired, listless body just to make it through the door.
Petrossi also knows the Epstein-Barr virus that survives in her body pales in comparison to the enemy millions fight every day.
“I don’t have anyone in my family that has been touched by cancer,” Petrossi said. “The only way I can connect is through my virus and their illness. I have something that brings you down, but it’s nothing compared to cancer.”
Petrossi, 34, will join thousands of cancer survivors and those who have lost loved ones at Sunday’s Orange County Race for the Cure at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Proceeds from the ninth annual event go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which funds outreach, education, screening and treatment programs.
Last year, 24,691 took part in the event, including 18,247 females. Approximately 1,400 wore pink hats that indicated they were cancer survivors. Thousands of others wore pink placards that remembered loved ones who had died from the disease--or survived it.
Petrossi, a former cross-country and track star at Orange Coast College and Cal State Fullerton, finished sixth in the women’s 5K at last year’s race. It was a great effort for Petrossi, but most of her self appreciation was lost by the time she reached the finish line.
“When I went to race last year, I was humbled looking at these women who are surviving,” Petrossi said. “I just tried to forget about myself and think of these women who were running a much harder race than I am.”
Petrossi, who was known as Erin Remy until she married earlier this year, didn’t begin competing in cross-country and track until she enrolled at Orange Coast at age 27.
Petrossi had a baby girl, Eden, a few months after her first season at Orange Coast, then enrolled at Fullerton in the fall of 1995. She quickly became the top female runner on the Titan cross-country team, finishing ninth in the Big West Conference meet and 33rd in the NCAA regional in Portland, the second-best finish by a Big West runner.
At the time, Petrossi was already feeling the effects of the Epstein-Barr virus, which is the major cause of infectious mononucleosis and is associated with a variety of cancers. The constant fatigue, breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, dizziness and insomnia became unbearable during the following spring and fall, forcing Petrossi to redshirt the 1997 cross-country season.
Petrossi struggled with the virus over the next year until finally gaining control through acupuncture and a change in diet. The virus stayed dormant until last spring, when a bad cold coupled with the stress of planning her wedding brought on another episode.
“It came on the same day I got married,” Petrossi said. “I’m just now getting over it. I started training a month and a half ago.”
Sunday’s race will be Petrossi’s first 5K since last November. She ran a 10K last month and also completed the Huntington Beach Distance Derby 10-mile run over the summer.
“I’m still very focused on my running,” said Petrossi, who plans to run the Long Beach Marathon in November, her first at that distance. “Right now, I’m at about 70 miles a week. When I was sick I was still able to do 20 miles a week.”
The Race for the Cure’s women’s 5K run/walk begins at 7:35 a.m. and offers the most competitive field of the day’s four events.
Other elite entrants include last year’s winner, Ruth Wysocki of Canyon Lake, who holds U.S. masters records in the 5K, 8K and 10K; Sylvia Mosqueda of Los Angeles, runner-up at the 1994 L.A. Marathon, and Milena Glusac of Fallbrook, the first U.S. woman to finish America’s Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego last month.
A family 1-mile walk begins at 7:40 a.m., followed by a coed 5K run/walk at 9:40. A breast cancer survivor and parade will take place at 11 a.m.