[title subtitle=”words: Marla Cantrell
image: courtesy Madison Marsh”][/title]
During the second week of November 2018, Madison Marsh, now seventeen years old, was working out at a gym in Fort Smith, Arkansas. On this day, all her thoughts revolved around her mother, Whitney, who cooked better than anyone she knew, planned family trips with precision and volunteered for CASA, the agency that advocates for children. Who loved to swim, and run, play tennis, ride bikes, especially with Madison’s dad.
The gym was a familiar place to Madison, and she thought that she’d be able to concentrate there, that exercising might give her mind a break from the memories that ran like a movie set on replay.
It must have seemed unthinkable to Madison that she’d never again be awakened by her mother coming in from her early morning run. That she’d never sit at the dinner table and talk about her school day, or make plans for the coming summer.
But that was her reality. Whitney Marsh, at just forty-one years of age, had succumbed to pancreatic cancer on the first day of November, ten months after her diagnosis.
After giving up on her workout, Madison sat in the locker room. Thanksgiving would soon arrive, and in the years before, the Marsh family—mom, dad (Dr. Michael Marsh), and kids—participated in the Turkey Trot run. It was one of their best holiday traditions.
Madison came up with the perfect idea. She’d talk to her family about organizing a race in Whitney’s name to raise money to fight pancreatic cancer. At home, she spoke to her dad, and her Aunt Melanie. Madison’s younger sister, Heidi, was soon involved as well.
A whirlwind of planning soon began, and then the date for Whitney’s Race: Time to Cure, was set for March 30 at 3pm, at 7500 Fort Chaffee Boulevard, in Fort Smith. The race will operate under the umbrella of the Whitney Marsh Foundation, Inc., which was organized to support local education and national research into pancreatic cancer.
Madison wondered how many people would attend since it would be the first year and knew they’d have to work hard to get the word out. But the community responded brilliantly, with sponsors signing on early, and troves of runners signing up.
When the 5-and-10K race ends, there will be food trucks, a DJ, beer available for purchase by those twenty-one and older, face painting by the Southside High School Art Club, barbeque, and even snow cones.
Madison says they wanted the race to end in this way so that even those not participating in the run would be able to enjoy the day. They wanted families to have the experience they’ve had so many times, of just being together and loving life.
At the heart of this race is the hope that they’ll advance the research for pancreatic cancer. According to M.D. Anderson, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It’s estimated that more than 50,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. More than 40,000 people die from the disease yearly.
This disease is devastating, and no one knows that better than the Marsh family. Holding the race is a way to honor Whitney, whose life impacted so many others.
Madison’s sister, Heidi, wants the world to know how sweet her mom was. Heidi recalls the last family trip to Italy in 2017, where they fell in love with Sorento and Sicily. Her mom, like always, had planned everything down to the tiniest detail. They ate a lot of pasta, she says. Their family loves pasta.
Heidi, like her mom, loves to swim and does so competitively. She wants to be an oral surgeon one day, following her dad into the medical field. Heidi holds a world of memories of her mom. One that she keeps close to her heart is when her mom told her she wanted Heidi’s life to be a happy one. Her mom was always encouraging. Every single day.
Madison blossomed under her mom’s encouragement. She’s had her pilot’s license for two years, and next year, she starts studying at the Air Force Academy.
Madison plans to major in astronautical engineering, attend fighter pilot school, followed by test pilot school. Her end goal is to earn a Ph.D. in cosmology before she becomes an astronaut for a mission to Mars.
It’s a big dream, but Madison and Heidi’s mom taught them to reach for the stars. Her life was a guiding light for them to follow. At eighteen years of age, Whitney was the youngest real estate broker in Arkansas. She also became a gemologist.
Even when Whitney was receiving chemotherapy, she’d often run, sometimes nine miles at a time, a distance that disappointed her. She’d always been such a stellar athlete.
Madison and Heidi are looking forward to March 30, as many who love Whitney show up to run in her honor. They are thankful that the community has embraced Whitney’s Race, and that they’ve been able to gather so many sponsors.
Some of the money they raise will help M.D. Anderson with research into pancreatic cancer. Thirty percent will stay local, supporting programs that help those affected by this disease. They plan to use all the money to fight this disease that took
so much from them.
Already, Madison is talking about next year’s race, which she hopes will grow even bigger. Her mom was such a generous person, and she wants to carry on that generosity. It’s one of the lessons Whitney taught her children, that ability to give back, no matter what was going on in her life.
“I think for me personally, my mom really taught both of us what true love and true kindness looks like and how to really bring that in and treat other people all the time,” Madison says. “Because I kind of look at it as if my mom can keep her spirits up and always be kind to people even in her worst moments and her worst time last year,” Madison says, “then people that aren’t going through anything like that can do it too, and it shouldn’t be that hard for us to put a smile on our face and be nice to people even though it might be hard sometimes.”
Whitney’s legacy is evident in Madison and Heidi. Listening to them talk about all they’ve lost is quickly followed by all those things that are impossible to lose, including the joy of being loved by a mom who adored them. They were blessed that she saw the light of heaven in them, that she taught them how to be the best people they could be. Whitney cradled them in her light every day. That light burns still.
Whitney’s Race: Time to Cure
7500 Fort Chaffee Boulevard, Fort Smith
March 30, 3pm
For tickets, visit www.whitneysrace.org.
Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms
Source: M.D. Anderson
Pancreatic cancer often does not cause symptoms in the early stages. When pancreatic cancer symptoms do occur, they usually result from the relationship of the pancreas to other organs of the digestive system.
Pancreatic cancer symptoms can include:
• Jaundice or yellowing of the skin or eyes
• Dark urine or light-colored stools
• Pain in the abdomen or middle of the back
• Bloating or the feeling of fullness
• Nausea, vomiting or indigestion
• Fatigue
• Lack of appetite
• Unexplained weight loss
• Sudden-onset diabetes
These symptoms do not always mean you have pancreatic cancer. However, it is important to discuss any of these symptoms with your doctor, since they may signal other health problems.
