Photo by Chris Smth
" ‘Just keep going' — in life or running, that's the purpose," says DeeDee Kiwi (her running name). It's a fitting motto for the husband-and-wife team of DeeDee and Geep Schurman — who between them are running the Richmond Half Marathon with two types of cancer and a prosthetic leg — and an inspiring mantra for the other runners in the Nov. 16 Anthem Richmond Marathon.
Diagnosed with breast cancer last November, 54-year-old DeeDee has continued to train throughout surgery, chemo, radiation therapy and, now, recovery. Geep had his lower right leg amputated at age 10 and had never run until, seeing how much it energized DeeDee, the 67-year-old requested a specialized leg in August 2012. This August, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. He will be in the middle of treatment on marathon day.
Just what is it that's keeping these two motivated? "We love each other and we love to run, because we can," DeeDee says. For Geep, it's his wife: "She's 10 times stronger than I am. I'm going to do what I can to keep up."
