Our partners at Aqua Systems, the official bottled water of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Delta-Dental 500 Festival 5K, and the 500 Festival Volunteer Program, presented by Citizens Energy Group, have a very special participant in this year’s Indy Mini. Tamara Sullivan, director of digital sales and marketing at Aqua Systems, is challenging herself to take on the 13.1 miles of OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.
Tamara initially registered for the Indy Mini in 2020 as a way to challenge herself as she approached age 50. That challenge proved to be far more significant than Tamara could have imagined. In March 2020, Tamara went in for a regular mammogram and later that day received a call to come back for a magnification the following week. After an ultrasound, it was determined Tamara had macrocalcifications. At the end of March, she had two biopsies that determined she had stage 1 breast cancer. Once diagnosed, Tamara’s fight with breast cancer began with an overwhelming number of appointments. She described it as if a haze came over her and all she could do was push forward. She underwent surgery on May 7, 2020. After the surgery, she had clear margins and was told she was cancer free. However, when she met with her medical oncologist, she was told that since she had macrocalcifications, she would need to undergo chemotherapy to ensure the cancer did not spread. She was shocked to say the least. Tamara endured radiation and chemotherapy simultaneously. She began her journey with radiation and chemotherapy on June 29. Tamara received radiation for 15 days and chemotherapy for 12 weeks. For the next year, she also received immunotherapy every three weeks.
As Tamara endured treatment and continued her fight with cancer, she kept pushing herself to get through it all. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her husband was unable to attend any of her appointments or treatments. After ringing her bell at the end of her treatment, spending a little over a year fighting through everything, she thought to herself, now what? Where do we go from here? After being in fighting mode for so long, she didn’t understand what normal looked like, especially in a pandemic. For the next five months, Tamara struggled with her mental health. Finally, one day, she realized she needed to get help. After consulting with her doctor, Tamara got the counseling and medication to help start the conversations she needed to have to talk through everything.
Although Tamara has not lost the weight she expected to during her Indy Mini training, she does feel stronger. Training has also improved her mental health by allowing her to focus on the training.
To other Indy Mini participants, Tamara said she would advise creating a plan and sticking to it. There are several days when Tamara wants to stay in bed, but she knows she needs to get up and train. She has a written plan of how many miles she needs to put into training each day. Rest is so important! She is finding that as she increases her mileage each week, she said she needs to make sure she is resting more.
Tamara is most excited to see everyone in person at the Indy Mini. Her best friend, Jodi, and one of her friends from her support group, Mindy, will also be joining her at the start line. Tamara has volunteered with the 500 Festival many times and loves everything that goes on leading into the Month of May, but says there’s something special about seeing everyone excited to kick off the month with this great event. To celebrate this incredible accomplishment, Tamara says she will celebrate by getting some rest, going out to a nice dinner, and recovering with a massage.
Join Tamara in conquering 13.1 miles at The Greatest Spectacle in Running on May 7! Register today at indymini.com/register!