Running notebook: Houston runner finds inspiring cause

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Most first-timers at the Boston Marathon dread the notorious Heartbreak Hill, just past the 20-mile marker. But Houston native Jenna Norton will likely find all the motivation she needs to get through it from a special spectator who will be waiting for her at that point on the course.

Norton, 27, is participating in Monday's iconic marathon to raise funds for Massachusetts General Hospital's pediatric oncology program. She says that while raising money for a cause dear to her is important, her efforts have become even more meaningful since she was paired with a young cancer patient as part of the Mass General Marathon Team's "patient partner" program.

Norton will be running for Saraah, a 12-year-old girl who is fighting a rare type of lymphoma. The two talk often and do what Norton calls "girly things," like go to the mall together.

"I'm just a friend for her and a sounding board. It will be nice to see (her) before we get on the uptake," Norton said.

Issue hits home

Houston native Jenna Norton raised $1,000 for the TK Foundation at the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon. Houston native Jenna Norton raised $1,000 for the TK Foundation at the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon. Photo: Courtesy Jenna Norton Photo: Courtesy Jenna Norton Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Running notebook: Houston runner finds inspiring cause 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Norton's commitment to cancer research goes beyond fund-raising. She was studying classical theater at the University of Houston with plans to become a Shakespearean actress when her father, Henry W. Norton, Jr., succumbed to cancer in May 2007, only four months after being diagnosed.

Norton, who had received some money from her parents, was suddenly on her own financially. She spent the next three years juggling work and school, sometimes skipping a semester to take a full-time job so she could continue her education.

At the time, Norton smoked, had bad eating habits and didn't exercise. "I felt so gross all the time," she said. The grief made her struggles worse.

So she started running.

"I finally said, 'Enough is enough. I don't like the way I feel now; it's obviously not good with our family history of cancer.' "

Though Norton had been physically fit in high school - she played soccer and was on the track team - five years later, she could barely run a mile. She credits "a web of athletic people," including the Bayou City Road Runners and the Houston Hash House Harriers for keeping her on track.

Racing for charity

Her first race was the 2010 EP 5K. She finished in just under 29 minutes and raised more than $500 for the American Cancer Society. The next year, she won the lottery for the Chevron Houston Marathon but decided to raise funds for charity as well, collecting $1,000 for the TK Foundation, a blood and organ donation advocacy group named in honor of Todd Krampitz, a 32-year-old Houston photographer who received a liver transplant three months before he died of cancer in 2005. She finished in just under five hours.

Not long after her father died, Norton started volunteering in cancer wards at Texas Children's Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Clinic. Her experiences and the self-esteem she gained through running convinced her to make a bold move.

Though it had taken her seven years to finish her fine-arts degree, after finally graduating with honors in 2010, she enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program at Harvard Extension School in Boston, where she is now earning the credits she needs to apply for medical school. She wants to become a pediatric oncologist.

Healthier, happier

Norton no longer smokes and has lost 45 pounds. She works as an assistant in a research facility at Mass General and is one of five captains for the marathon team, which has raised more than $6.7 million for its cause since 1998.

Norton in part credits running for steering her onto a new path.

"I was feeling better, I was looking better, I was coming out of this slump after my father died, and it kind of melded together," she said about her decision. "Running gave me the confidence to see what I was good at and what I enjoyed."

roberta.macinnis@chron.com