Cancer survivor Helene Neville is the ‘One On The Run’, as she embarks May 1, on a 1,500-mile journey from Canada to Mexico

Longtime athlete and four-time cancer survivor Helene Neville (53) kicks off her border-to-border run on May 1, 2013 to raise awareness for the disease and using exercise and healthy living to overcome it. Helene will start in Vancouver, BC at the International Peace Arch and will continue through Washington, Oregon and California, before finishing at the International Border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico.

Helene’s upcoming run comes only a few months after being hospitalized with T-Cell Lymphoma, her fourth battle with cancer. Her goal for this run is not to realize her own dreams, but to inspire others to realize theirs, while promoting hope, health and goodwill. During her 45-day run the nurse and health activist will make stops in hospitals along the way to speak with nurses, doctors, and health care providers and show, first hand, how exercise can improve one’s daily life, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.

Donations made to “One on the Run” (www.oneontherun.com) will benefit the St. Francis de Sales Grammar School, a charity that honors her late mother and supports the important work of the Philadelphia inner-city school. This run also holds special meaning for Helene, as she will carry with her the ashes of her brother, who died unexpectedly on February 16, 2013. Along the way she will scatter his ashes in memory and in hopes of inspiring others to live life to the fullest.

“My ‘One on the Run’ journey is an inspirational challenge to motivate others into action,” says Neville about her run. “I want to inspire people to take the first step in doing what they’ve always dreamed of doing. The word ‘impossible’ is merely a phrase; this run is proof that, despite age, adversity and odds, anything is possible.”

On May 1, 2010, after surviving cancer and three brain surgeries, Helene began her record setting 2,520- mile run across America, which earned her the nickname “One on the Run”. Helene finished the run in 93 days and published, One On The Run: 93 Days Across America, a book that chronicles her 2010 record setting journey.

Helene, a nurse and mother of two, was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1991 at 31 years- old. After chemo, radiation and an overlooked brain abscess, Helene underwent three brain surgeries from 1993 – 1997; all the while still working as a devoted nurse in Iowa. In 1998, after numerous tests, she was told to prepare for the worst and get her affairs in order. Instead Helene ignored her doctor’s advice and signed up for the Chicago Marathon, where she began racing down the path to beating the odds. Over the course of 15 years, Helene has taken part in numerous marathons including the London and Boston Marathons. She has also climbed Mt. Whitney in record time and placed in two bodybuilding competitions, all while undergoing cancer treatments.