50 States & D.C. Marathon Group U.S.A.

Hideki Kinoshita

2011 HUMANITARIAN AWARD

Goes to Hideki Kinoshita

When you hear the term cancer, any thoughts you may have will likely be unpleasant ones. When you hear the term pancreatic cancer, your thoughts may become grimmer yet, possibly along the lines of "low survival rate" or "short life expectancy after diagnosis". Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death with a grim five-year survival rate of 6%. According to the National Cancer Institute, over 43,000 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease this year, and roughly 37,000 will lose their lives battling it.

Researchers are learning that this deadly disease may not be as fast growing and aggressive as it has been previously believed to be; new research shows that cancerous tumors may grow within the body for years and remain undetected until the cancer has advanced into the later stages. Early diagnosis and early treatment are two areas that need to be improved upon. To accomplish this, more awareness and more funds are desperately needed. Despite being the fourth leading cause of cancer death, pancreatic cancer research funding does not even make the list of the 10 Most-Funded Cancers by the National Cancer Institute, which accounts for the majority of U.S. federal cancer funding.

Low funding hinders scientific progress. 94% of pancreatic cancer patients die within five years from their diagnosis; a statistic largely unchanged in the past nearly 40 years. In fact, pancreatic cancer is the only one of the top 10 cancer killers that still has a five-year survival rate in the single digits. Additionally, in the same time frame, the five-year survival rate for all forms of cancer has risen from 50% to 68%, and some cancer survival rates are now 90% or above.

This year's recipient of the humanitarian award is a man who has lost two loved ones to this disease. His concern for effects of this disease and his love for running were coupled together in a quest to run 14 marathons in 13 weeks.

Hideki Kinoshita partnered with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to establish a fundraising goal of $10,000 to help in the research and awareness of this dreaded disease. One marathon a week for thirteen weeks and in one of those weekends, he ran a double to complete his goal of fourteen marathons. Hideki experienced some unexpected results along the way: Four marathon PR's were set, the longest distance ever ran was completed at 60K (37.2 miles), he met a lot of great runners along the way, and exceeded the $10,000 goal.

This 30 year old runner from New Jersey has also participated in a seven person relay that raised over $26,000 for this cause and has since completed a 50-miler, a 24 hour run, and then a 100-miler. He is halfway finished with his goal of running a marathon in all 50 states plus DC and plans to challenge himself to additional 100-mile endurance runs.

He continues to raise awareness and funding for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and aims to run for the organization's TeamHOPE charity runner group for his 50th marathon in Miami on January 30, 2011. His goal for the race is to raise $2,500. To make a donation, visit his fundraising website: http://www.tinyurl.com/runkinomiami

Congratulations to Hideki Kinoshita; recipient of the 2011 Humanitarian Award. To learn more about his 14 marathons in 13 weeks endeavor, visit his fundraising website: http://www.firstgiving.com/kino555. To learn more about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and TeamHOPE, visit these websites: http://www.pancan.org, and http://www.pancan.org/teamhope/. To follow Hideki's races and progress, visit his website: http://www.runkino.com.

By Frank Jobe