Growing up, AC Shields had a life surrounded by sports, art, and literature because of her dad, Michael.
Throughout adolescence, she swam and played soccer, and she continued to play soccer with her family on an adult soccer team that her dad managed.
It was during their trips to play soccer that AC’s passion for art and comic books grew.
“I am an artist and I attribute a lot of that to my dad, because I [grew up] around so much artwork and he encouraged me with my art,” she said. “We didn’t have a comic book store near us, so whenever we went to away games for soccer and we passed a comic book store, he would make sure to have us stop in when we were heading home.”
AC recalls how her dad’s love of comic books went beyond the pages of the books, and how he went to one of the first Comic-Cons.
“He went to one of the first Comic-Cons, if not the first one, and he also has a really shaky photo of Stan Lee,” she said laughing. “But it’s only of Stan Lee, [my dad] didn’t ask to take the picture with him. He just thought, ‘Oh this dude is cool,’ and took a picture of him.”
Like every comic book fan, AC’s dad had a favorite superhero – and ironically, his was The Flash.
“A funny thing about doing the run was that one of his favorite superheroes was The Flash,” she said.
“He has artwork of The Flash up at the house, and he was a very big fan. I wish that I could remember the artist that he was talking about, because he was very into some [comic book] artists specifically and he would follow them. His favorite artist that drew The Flash was somebody that did not draw The Flash beefy. That always made him mad, because [my dad] would say, ‘The Flash is a runner, he needs to be skinny and he needs to be able to move.’ So I think it’s kind of funny that his favorite superhero is a runner and I did a run for him.”
Why AC Ran
During her last year of college, AC’s dad, Michael, told her family that he had a tumor on his pancreas. Initially, the tumor was benign and Michael received regular preventative care for 2 years until his tumor became cancerous and he started chemotherapy.
Shortly after transitioning into chemotherapy, Michael unfortunately passed in October 2023.
Following the loss of her father, AC threw herself into training for the Gettysburg North-South Marathon, a run she had signed up for months prior.
“I started to think, “Okay, I’m [running this marathon], but maybe there is something I can do more with it.’” she said.
After searching for charities, AC found Project Purple and applied to run under the Pioneer Program, which allows runners all over to participate in races that Project Purple is not currently affiliated with. Once accepted, AC shared her story and was amazed at the outpouring of support she received from her community.
“I’m just surrounded by the best people on Earth, and it was very healing,” she said. “When I first [made my Pioneer Program page], my goal was like $300 or something small like that, … and in the first week I put it out I raised close to $500. And it was just insane, so many of my friends were so responsive. I had it open for 3 or 4 months, and by the end of it I had raised $1000. And it made me feel like I had done something, yes I had completed a marathon, which is sick and crazy. [But] It made me feel very good, it made me feel very loved.”
Running the Race
Of her two friends who ran the Gettysburg North-South Marathon with her in April, AC was the only one who finished the race with a time of 5 hours and 45 minutes.
“I credit my dad for being able to finish the race, because he liked birds,” she said. “He wasn’t crazy about birds, but he liked to sit out on the back porch and [in] a hammock outside, and he would call me over if there was a Blue Jay or a Robin. After he passed I told myself that I would see him in the birds. So as I was running there was once or twice that I was like ‘I wanna stop,’ and I would see a bird hop out and I would be like ‘Fine, I’ll keep going!’”
Now that she has finished the marathon, AC is considering lacing up her shoes and running another race in the future.
“I’m already thinking about running another marathon,” she said. “Which is insane to me, because during this marathon I was thinking, ‘I’m never doing this again, this is torture!’”
But like many, AC didn’t choose to run a marathon because it is easy, but because it is challenging.
If you’d like to challenge yourself and sign up for a race, or if you just want to make a difference in the fight against pancreatic cancer, you can find a list of all of our active events and a link to the Pioneer Program on our Events Page.
