Ali Noriega had just returned home from a vacation in Maine where she visited her parents and sister with her two kids. “I had just gone to visit them that summer and we had an awesome two-week vacation,” Ali said. “Everything was great.”
A few days after returning home to Boulder, Colorado she received a call from her mom. “My mom called and said she had to bring my dad to the hospital that morning,” Ali said. “He had really bad stomach pain and cramps which was a first for him.” Noriega’s dad, John, was diagnosed with pancreatitis and then sent home.
“At first they couldn’t figure out what it was and we really didn’t have a lot of answers as to why all of a sudden he got pancreatitis,” Ali said. This was the beginning of a frustrating medical journey for her Dad, herself, and her family.
A Fight for Answers
Noriega’s dad, John, teaches history and is the Department Chair at a high school, and shortly after his pancreatitis diagnosis one of the teachers noticed he was completely jaundiced. “One of the teachers pulled him aside and was like,” John you’re completely yellow, I think you should go to the hospital.”
At the hospital, her dad couldn’t get a bed, and then dealt with a struggle to get the care and answers to find out what was going on. “For us to get clear answers on what it was and how bad it was seemed to take forever.” Eventually in September of 2022 at 70 years old Ali’s dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Battling the Beast: Chemo and Surgery
Once diagnosed, her dad started chemo and it was rough on him. Noriega’s dad quickly became so sick, and so weak, and was hospitalized multiple times. “Growing up I always thought he was indestructible,” Ali said. “I was really worried at that point because he just couldn’t handle it.” They ended up changing to a different chemo treatment where they began to see the tumor shrink and her dad regain his strength.
The new treatment was working and this led to her dad finding out he was a candidate for the Whipple surgery. On June 13th of last year, Ali’s dad underwent a tough but successful Whipple procedure. The recovery was hard but remarkable as by August her dad was back to teaching and even skied that winter.
A Celebration of Survival
During the peak of her dad’s pancreatic cancer journey, Ali decided to look for running events to make an impact against this disease for her father. “I started looking at organizations to run for because I had been a runner since I was little and my dad always would come to my races,” Ali said. “I came across Project Purple and wanted to run a spring marathon, and that’s when I came across the Grandma’s Marathon.”
On June 22nd, Ali ran and completed the Grandma’s Marathon with her dad and family in attendance to honor his battle with pancreatic cancer. “I felt really lucky because he was able to be at the marathon,” Noriega said. “Living across the country during this all has been very hard and I felt helpless so to do this for him was special.”
If you would like to support Ali’s efforts, please click here to donate.
To apply to run Grandma’s Marathon in 2025, please click here.
