Glen Ellyn grandmother training to walk her 17th marathon

Glen Ellyn resident Vaughan Nesslar remembers seeing the participants in the first Walt Disney World Marathon finishing the race near Orlando, Florida, and thinking they must be out of their minds. A 26.2-mile race!

Little did Nesslar know that at the age of 74, she would be training for her 17th marathon, the Humana Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon Sunday, Feb. 28.

“I don't believe in martyrdom. If it were not fun, I would not be doing it,” Nesslar says. “You feel so much joy.”

The joy for Nesslar doesn't come from an athletic high. A self-proclaimed nonathlete, this grandmother of 10 has been walking marathons since she was 55 on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Nesslar says she has raised about $75,000 for cancer research during that time, seen some of her patient heroes go on to thrive and, sadly, had three pass away.

But the odds continue to improve. Fifty years ago only 3 percent of children with the most common form of leukemia survived and now the survival rate is 90 percent, said Lynne Smith, spokeswoman with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The increase has been dramatic even over the time she has been involved, Nesslar says.

“That's huge,” she says. “(But) it's still the major killer of children of all forms of cancer.”

5Ks to marathons

Nesslar didn't know anyone with blood cancer when she started, although she has met many since. She was doing 5K and 10K charity races on weekends with a friend to get healthy when she received a letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The letter invited her to join the society's Team in Training program to participate in a marathon in Dublin, Ireland. Nesslar signed on and spent the next five months training and fundraising for the event.

“I love doing it and I hate starting,” she says. “(But) it's worth it. It's making a difference.”

Nesslar completed the Dublin marathon and has done one nearly annually since then in settings as diverse as Paris, Chicago, Bermuda, New York and Alaska. She used to finish marathons in about six hours, but now it takes closer to seven, she says.

“I think your first one is always your favorite. My first one was Dublin,” she says.

That first Dublin marathon also proved to Nesslar that she could pretty much do whatever she set her mind to. The same year as the Dublin marathon, Nesslar completed her college degree, saw three of her four children married, welcomed her first grandchild and supported her husband through thyroid cancer.

“It was a busy year,” Nesslar says in something of an understatement. “If you can do that, you can do anything.”

That kind of determination has been an inspiration to others, says Val O'Dea, a Team in Training coach and trainer from Glen Ellyn who has known Nesslar for more than 10 years.

“I've spent many miles and hours out on the trails with her,” O'Dea says. “I used to tease her and say, ‘I want to be you when I grow up.'”

Team in Training — which prepares participants for walks and runs, triathlons, cycling events and hikes in exchange for their commitment to fundraising — has other people in their 70s who participate. But Nesslar stands out in her encouragement and support of others, O'Dea says.

“She is the quintessential teammate,” O'Dea says. “She has a wonderful, huge heart and she is so dedicated to curing cancer.”

Mark Gregory, a Team in Training coach from DeKalb, agrees.

“She's just got a lot of spunk,” he says.

Passion for life

Nesslar says participating in Team in Training has kept her younger than she would be otherwise.

“I feel active. I can't stand sitting around,” she says. “It's healthy not only physically, but spiritually. I've said before, I don't take an aspirin.”

Participation in Team in Training also has shown her the difference one person can make, Nesslar says.

“If there are a lot of ‘one persons' doing it, there's a lot that gets done,” she says.

Nesslar says she has enjoyed the camaraderie among Team in Training members, but for the New Orleans marathon she is training primarily alone because the Chicago team is not participating in the race. The coach for the New Orleans marathon contacts her regularly by email to give her training instructions, and holds conference calls on subjects like nutrition and safety.

“I do listen to what he says to do and attempt to do part of it,” Nesslar says.

Nesslar, who is employed part-time as a secretary at Glenbard West High School, said she doesn't train during the week except for walking her dog and climbing stairs at school to see the three department heads she works for on three different floors. Nesslar saves the longer walks for weekends when she hikes the Illinois Prairie Path, trails at the Morton Arboretum, and neighborhood sidewalks to travel from Glen Ellyn to nearby towns.

When she's not training for a marathon, she confesses she doesn't do any special exercise.

“I always feel guilty,” she says. “I walk because I like to walk, but I don't do serious walking.”

Nesslar has raised most of the $2,900 she needs for the New Orleans marathon, with pledges to more than cover the rest. She continues to collect donations because while 79 percent of the required amount goes to cancer research, 100 percent of anything above that amount goes to research, she says.

“My husband always says, anyone who has ever shaken hands with me gets a begging letter. He's not far wrong,” she says.

Those who wish to contribute to Nesslar's efforts may visit pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/mardigra16/VNesslar or send checks made out to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to Vaughan Nesslar, 1650 Sawyer St., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137.

Marathons aren't the only activity that keep Nesslar on the go. She serves as wedding coordinator for her church and is a member of Those Were the Days Radio Players. Nesslar plans to retire from her school secretarial job in May but will return to the school in the fall as a substitute teacher. No doubt, she still will be training and fundraising for marathons too.

“You have to have a passion,” she says. “I feel sorry for people who don't.”