Running for cancer research

Christen Howell is a speech-language pathologist at an assisted living facility in Austin. She and her husband, Brandon, have two young children.

My mom, Susan Stoddard, fought a long, hard battle with ovarian cancer following her initial diagnosis in 2012. Though she received the highest quality of care at MD Anderson, she passed away on Oct. 17, 2019. She will forever be my hero.

I decided to run the Feb. 16 Austin Half-Marathon in her memory. In pursuit of reaching my goal to the finish line, I created a personal fundraising page using MD Anderson’s Fundraise to End Cancer website and asked for contributions to help support cancer research.

Cancer has impacted me in many ways. My mother had infinite hope and believed that she was a part of clinical research to find a cure. I plan to do everything I can to assist in finding an end to this horrible disease. The half-marathon seemed the perfect opportunity to encourage others to share in that commitment. Since Mom was approaching her 71st birthday, I chose a goal of $710. I’m thrilled and grateful that donations have exceeded $2,750. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of cancer patients by fundraising for innovative initiatives at MD Anderson.

Do you promise? Tell us why you're committed to Making Cancer History® by sending an email to promise@mdanderson.org.