Liberated from a relentless fear that the breast cancer she had beat back once would return, Debbie Wappula finally gave in to her friend's insistence that she try inline skating.
The 43-year-old Wappula, who lives in Thief River Falls, Minn., hadn't donned inline skates in 30 years. But her friend, Katie Stavos, persisted, finally winning out on June 20, when the two rolled 3.44 miles together. That first outing didn't go well. Wappula says every bone in her body hurt. She heaved near the end.
"Oh, God, it was awful," Wappula said, before spinning a curious 180. "I knew I was hooked."
Three months and about 300 miles later, Wappula will wheel from Two Harbors to Duluth on Saturday morning alongside Stavos as the two embark on the 22nd annual NorthShore Inline Marathon.
Wappula's resistance to the sport was rational.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I skate from October to March," she told Stavos. "Summertime, I fish."
In other words, a different kind of skating, done atop ice. It was three years ago this fall that Wappula brought her youngest son, Carson, then 6, to his first hockey practice. At the rink, she noticed 28 other first-time players - and one coach. She asked the coach if he wanted help.
"Do you know anything about hockey?" Wappula was asked.
"I'm Canadian," the mother of three replied bluntly.
Case closed.
Not long after debuting as a mite coach, Wappula on Oct. 21, 2014, was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She endured 20 weeks of chemotherapy, all the while coaching rambunctious hockey beginners. As that wound down, doctors discovered the cancer had spread to Wappula's lymph nodes. Five weeks of radiation ensued.
They were successful. Those magical words - "no evidence of disease" - arrived April 22, 2016.
Still, Wappula said the fear of recurrence was crippling. Something as common as the common cold would send her into a state of dread.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Because when it comes back, the prognosis is not good," Wappula said. "The average life expectancy for breast cancer once it metastasizes is just over two years."
At a retreat for single mothers this past June, Wappula was prayed over, a regular occurrence throughout her battle. This time, though, "I literally could feel the fear leave my body."
And her life returning.
Thursday, a tapering Wappula covered seven miles. Her goal Saturday is to finish. Beyond that, she'd be ecstatic to reach the William A. Irvin in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Wappula will come in with Stavos, both wearing cancer-themed shirts. On the front will be 66 names of loved ones who had or have cancer. The back of Wappula's shirt will read, "Cancer can kiss my skates," with Stavos' bearing a similar message: "Cancer can kiss Debbie's skates."
The NSIM will mark 88 days since Wappula's initial, inauspicious skate with Stavos, who had to enter Wappula's house and cajole her friend from bed ahead of their first few workouts. Not anymore - the challenge now is to get Wappula out of her skates.
"This is all Katie's fault," she joked.
Wappula has a fundraising page through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. To make a donation or learn more, go to give.bcrfcure.org/fundraise?fcid=1046394.
Rain in the forecast
ADVERTISEMENT
Reached Wednesday night on his cell phone, NSIM executive director Skeeter Moore was tying up loose ends at the DECC, which hosts today's expo from noon to 9 p.m. and serves as the staging area on race day.
He was hopeful he'd be able to slow down at some point and soak in all that the nation's largest inline marathon has to offer. "Hopeful" was the operative word.
"It's always rock and roll," Moore said.
Even with a field that's down about 6 percent from the 1,835 participants last year, Moore had plenty to keep him busy. He wasn't complaining, not even about the forecast that shows a healthy chance for thunderstorms Saturday. Talk about cruel - the Northland basked in one of its nicest three-day stretches of the summer earlier in the week.
"We'll adapt," Moore said. "I don't want to say I'm nervous because what can you do? We're just preparing the best we can to make the course as safe as possible."
That course - starting on Scenic Hwy. 61 and continuing into Duluth, including a stroll through the Interstate 35 tunnels - is what drives the NSIM. And, at least during Moore's tenure as executive director, it's never been in better shape. He said a four- to six-mile stretch, from McQuade Road to Brighton Beach, was in the final stages of resurfacing. It'll be ready by Saturday.
"Within those six years that I've been executive director, we've had just about the whole course repaved," Moore said.
• This year's field features 1,723 registrants across six races. The breakdown: inline marathon, 888; inline half, 270; inline combined (39.3 miles), 18; roller-ski marathon, 31; Tunnel 10K run, 267; half-marathon run, 153.
ADVERTISEMENT
The inline marathon begins at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, meaning the winner could arrive at the Irvin as early as 9:40-9:45.
Moore expects 2016 men's champ Justin Stelly would compete Saturday.
NORTHSHORE INLINE MARATHON
What: 22nd annual installment of nation's largest inline marathon
Where: Two Harbors to Duluth
When: 6:45 a.m. (inline half-marathon); 8:45 a.m. (inline marathon)
Online: Go to northshoreinline.com for a schedule of all weekend events
Defending champs: Justin Stelly, men, 1:10:57; Zephaneah Akana, women, 1:26:15
