Community Corner

Fairfield Resident Runs to Wipe Out Cancer

Ani Gulbenk, 31, will be running the St. Jude's Country Music Half Marathon in April in honor of her grandmother.

 

Ani Gulbenk wasn’t always a runner. But now she runs, and for good reason.

In June 2010, the 31-year-old Fairfield resident trained for and ran her first half marathon, the 13.1-mile Stratton Faxon race in Fairfield. She chose to run to fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) in honor of a family friend who had been diagnosed with lymphoma. A phone call from her mother in April 2010 changed that.

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Gulbenk found out that her grandmother had been diagnosed with lymphoma just two weeks before her 90th birthday.

“I thought, ‘OK, is this is a sick joke?’” Gulbenk said in a recent interview with Patch. But the diagnosis gave Gulbenk another reason to run, and she completed her first half marathon in honor of the two women, albeit with a sprained ankle.

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Now Gulbenk has signed up for a second half marathon, this time the St. Jude’s Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville. She will run in honor of her grandmother, who has been in remission since the summer of 2010, a friend who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma, and in memory of her family friend, Violet Nazaretian.

Gulbenk said that running to fundraise for a cure and to improve the lives of patients and their families was her way to contribute.

Her grandmother was treated at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, where she was in very good care, Gulbenk said.

“This is my way to give back,” Gulbenk said.

Gulbenk and her family are Armenian and moved to Fairfield 25 years ago from Beirut, Lebanon. Gulbenk’s grandmother, Haiganouche Magarian, lead the way a year before. Gulbenk attended Fairfield High School and then Southern Connecticut State University. She’s about to begin a masters program at to become a high school math teacher.

But right now, Gulbenk is setting her sights on fundraising on behalf of LLS. She’s training with the Wilton-based Connecticut chapter of Team in Training (TNT), a group that mentors and trains athletes who wish to fundraise for LLS. The group chose to run in the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon this year.

Gulbenk will be attending group training runs with TNT and will work with a running coach and mentor as the half-marathon approaches.

“It’s a way for you to raise money for people -- you get in shape and help people in need,” Gulbenk said.

Gulbenk’s goal is to raise $4,000 prior to the April 28 race. Participants need to raise a certain amount to even be able to run in the race -- let alone get to Nashville for the race.

Gulbenk said she set her goal high with a “shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” approach.

She added that if she doesn’t make enough of her goal to participate in the Country Music Half Marathon, she’ll settle for a closer race.

But here’s hoping Gulbenk can raise the funds for a good cause, for good people, and for a good run.

 

Ani Gulbenk’s fundraising page for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society can be found here.


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