Mamta Popat / arizona daily star

Other articles by Jeff Commings:

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WINE TEAM MEMBERS, CASHIER & STOCK MEMEBERS Technical
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Though she describes herself as a lifelong athlete and fiercely competitive, Eileen Finnerty-Rae never figured she was cut out to be a distance runner.

But when her father, Jim Finnerty, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor brought on by malignant melanoma in 2005, she needed a stress reliever. She soon found herself jogging through the streets of Chicago, where her father lived until his death a few weeks after the diagnosis at 72.

"I was in a fog and didn't know what to do," said Finnerty-Rae, 31. "Running was a way to not think about it and not worry about it so much."

The running helped ease the pain of eventually losing her father, who she calls "one of my best friends."

Eighteen months later, Finnerty-Rae is still running, but with a different purpose.

She's run two half-marathons to help people she's never met deal with the difficulties of brain tumors, whether during surgery or while in recovery. The money she's raised has helped the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Ronald McDonald House of Southern Arizona.

She's running again this weekend, this time to benefit a charity that is trying to cure a disorder that has affected someone close to her.

Finnerty-Rae will run the 5K portion of the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon to raise money for the Children's Tumor Foundation, which conducts research on neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes brain tumors similar to the one recently found in her niece, Abbie Finnerty, who is 8.

Finnerty-Rae initially planned to run the full marathon, but she became pregnant with her third child two months ago and her doctor ordered her to scale back the run. Her husband, Jim Rae, a Tucson Fire paramedic, will run the marathon alone, while Finnerty-Rae completes her run with her younger son, 6-year-old Keeghin.

So far, online and other donations have totaled $2,300, just shy of the $3,000 goal.

In May, Finnerty-Rae and her husband had decided to run in Long Beach to raise money for the Children's Tumor Foundation. That was two months before Abbie was diagnosed with juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma, a disorder associated with the NF1 strain of neurofibromatosis that causes brain tumors.

On July 24, five days after she was taken to a hospital near Madison, Wis., after becoming disoriented, she had surgery to remove 80 percent of the tumor because it was too close to the optic nerve. The rest of the tumor will be treated with chemotherapy.

"It was shocking and scary, but at the same time I was glad that I had already started doing something," Finnerty-Rae said. "You feel really helpless, but I felt like I was doing something right."

Finnerty-Rae has not seen Abbie since the surgery but the two talk on the phone regularly. Abbie is aware that her aunt, uncle and cousin are running this weekend, and had some tips to help get them through the event.

"She wants me to count the number of dogs I see along the run, because she does the same thing on her walks," Finnerty-Rae said.

One in every 3,000 children is diagnosed with Abbie's strain of neurofibromatosis every year, said Garrett Gleeson, Children's Tumor Foundation communications associate. CTF's primary focus is to raise money to help with research to find medicines to help children who suffer from the disorder, he said. About $1 million is raised each year by people who run marathons or other related races.

"Most of what we try to do is further the understanding of the disorder," Gleeson said.

Doctors have determined that Abbie's brain tumor could be genetic, but are waiting until the end of treatment to determine how it may affect other family members.

Sunday's run is just another step for Finnerty-Rae in helping various charities. In addition to the half marathons, Finnerty-Rae donated her hair to Locks of Love with her sister and sister-in-law last year. And on Sept. 8, Finnerty-Rae ran a 5K race in Tempe with her older son, 9-year old Seamus, that benefited firefighters and policemen injured in the line of duty.

There are no future plans for charity runs, but Finnerty-Rae said she's enjoyed doing them so much there's no doubt she'll be training for another one after her third child is born.

"When you run for charity, there are so many people cheering you on and appreciating you working for charity," she said.

Her biggest cheerleader won't be on the sidelines, but in Wisconsin.

"I'm just excited to finish and call Abbie and tell her how many dogs I saw," Finnerty-Rae said.