Annual Payton run will support holistic research
Nearly 10 years after the death of Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, his wife, Connie, still gets emotional as she describes his final months.
Speaking before a group in Streamwood on Wednesday, she described his private battle against the liver disease and bile duct cancer that ultimately claimed him.
What gave him peace, she said, were the professionals at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, who approached his cancer treatment in an empowering, holistic way.
"I knew it wasn't going to extend his life, but it was going to give him back his life," Payton said, "so that he could make some important decisions and go out the way he wanted."
Connie Payton was the keynote speaker at a benefits meeting of Sam's Club members in Streamwood, where she promoted the annual Walter Payton 16,725-Yard Run, coming up at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at South Middle School in Arlington Heights.
Her listeners signed up to volunteer at the race and then presented Payton with a check to support the Walter Payton Cancer Fund, which is managed by Gateway for Cancer Research in Schaumburg.
Despite taking place amid a record-breaking rainfall, last year's race raised more than $110,000 for the cancer fund, including its corporate sponsorships.
This year, Payton and the race organizers are hoping for better weather and even more participants.
"We're fairly confident we'll break 1,000, but our goal is to reach 1,200," says Lynette Bisconti, Gateway for Cancer Research president. "We're really hoping to raise $100,000 again this year."
Payton says the run is a family affair that offers different events for all types of runners and walkers.
Serious runners will take on the 9.5-mile run that equals Payton's NFL rushing record, while more recreational runners can do the 5K or compete as a relay team. There is also a 5K walk.
NBC 5 sports anchor Mike Adamle, a former teammate of Walter Payton and an endurance athlete himself, will emcee the event.
Payton stressed that 100 percent of the proceeds go to fund the kind of innovative cancer research that Walter Payton endorsed.
"My husband was a bit of a health nut; he was not big into traditional medicine but preferred juicing, herbal supplements and spirituality," Connie Payton said. "Prayer was a big part of our lives, and that is why we want the fund to mirror his interests."
Bisconti said that while Gateway for Cancer Research is focused on finding a cure for cancer, as well as funding life-changing clinical studies, the Walter Payton Cancer Fund is unique in its support of complementary and alternative medicines.
She points to a grant awarded to a program that looks at the power of prayer in cancer patients and how it might positively affect their immune systems. The fund also has awarded a grant to a program studying minority breast cancer patients, as well as one that explores the value of nutrition and exercise.
"Ten years ago, talking about complementary and alternative medicines and treating the whole patient was practically nonexistent," said Bisconti, herself a cancer survivor.
"Now, it's far more mainstream. Funding this piece pays attention to the whole person, not just the cancer patient."