How an Ohio mother's love of running got her through a cancer diagnosis and pregnancy

Runner Samantha Salway has checked quite a bit off her to-do list, including running hundreds of miles, completing multiple marathons and battling breast cancer while pregnant with a baby boy.

Salway has three children: Amelia, 6, Gavin, 5 and Brooks, who she was pregnant with when she received her breast cancer diagnosis in January 2023.

But despite the diagnosis and life changes, Salway participated in four races during her pregnancy. She gave birth and ran in another three races while being treated for cancer.

She ran nearly 55 race miles and hundreds more while training and being treated for cancer, the Cleveland Clinic said on its website.

She celebrated her accomplishments Saturday at the Cleveland Marathon in Ohio, sporting a shirt listing all the feats she has under her belt.

“Mentally it was hard to constantly see yourself improve and then be pushed back down for something that wasn't in your control, but in my mind it was little steps and big goals,” she told USA TODAY. “If you can take the little steps to get you to that big goal, you'll eventually get there.”

Young mother discovered lump in breast, leading to diagnosis

Salway lives in Aurora, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland and her journey began on January 4, 2023, when she noticed her left breast was sore. She was pregnant with her third child and assumed the lump was due to her pregnancy. Perhaps milk was coming in early or she had a clogged milk duct, she thought.

She and her husband called her doctor, who saw her and thought it was noncancerous but had her get it checked to be sure.

“(It) was kind of a blessing that I was that far along because treatment wasn't able to begin until the second trimester,” she told USA TODAY Monday afternoon. “I was right there hitting that second trimester and was able to move right in the treatment two weeks later.”

She was able to get chemo infusions while pregnant, but getting through this was no easy feat, Salway said. She owes her strength largely to running and said the sport got her out of bed most days.

She received chemo on Fridays, giving her time to run every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

“By Tuesday I would tell myself ‘Hey, you don't have to run but if you get up and go outside, you'll feel better,’” she recalled.

She’d start off pretty slow and then her walk would turn into a speed walk, she said. By Saturday, she could run again.

How this Ohio woman’s love for running helped her survive

Salway has not always been a runner, she said.

“I was a person who was like ‘Unless someone's chasing me, I'm not going to be running.”

She was active, sure, but cardio wasn’t her thing. That changed in January 2022 though. Calling herself a “Disney nerd,” Salway said she was watching television and saw people running in Disney gear. She thought it could be fun to try it herself.

“If I could run through the parks with entertainment and stuff, that might be fun,” she thought, adding that she signed up for a 10K run in November.

Salway was actually pregnant during the 10K run, she just didn’t know it, she said. She found out about her pregnancy two weeks after completing the race.

But even after finding out she was pregnant, she told her husband she wanted to sign up for more races. The races, she said, “are a big part of what kept me healthy and moving and able to tolerate chemo at the level that I was able to.”

Saturday’s Cleveland Marathon was the first one her husband ran with her. They ran two thirds of it, despite Salway recovering from fractured ribs.

“I was in the emergency room on Thursday,” she said. “I fractured my ribs. My ribs are weakened due to radiation and between physical therapy, occupational therapy and a really strong sneeze, I ended up with small fractures in my ribs.”

She asked her doctor if she could still run Saturday and was told as long as she’d rest and walk some over the next few weeks.

On Saturday, she was able to run the first three miles. After that, she ran in intervals, finishing the marathon course in under two hours.

Community also helped family through diagnosis

Salway said as soon as she received her diagnosis, she knew she needed to contact a woman she’d met at an event for mothers.

“I complimented her hair and she pulled it back and she goes ‘Oh, it's a wig,’” Salway recalled. “She told me her story. She was going under breast cancer treatment and she had two kids at home that are similar ages to ours. Two weeks later, I was diagnosed.”

She reached out to mutual friends to reconnect with the woman, who told her to contact Dr. Halle Moore, director of breast medical oncology at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute.

“They're just incredible,” Salway said about her doctors. “They saved my life. I mean, they're the true heroes behind all this because without them, I wouldn't I wouldn't be here today.”

Moore said in a statement to USA TODAY that doctors try to treat pregnant cancer patients similarly to the way they’d treat patients who are not expecting babies.

“There are a few exceptions, however, because some medications are simply not safe or have not been tested during pregnancy,” she said. “It was inspiring to see Samantha accomplish everything she needed to for treatment while also continuing to follow her passions and be successful in the things that were important to her – from running to being a mother.”

Salway's husband, Ben, told USA TODAY that staff at the clinic is compassionate and everyone is always willing to answer questions. He likes that they’ve never felt rushed there.

Salway added that the one thing she’d love to see at the clinic is a collaboration between doctors treating pregnant patients and oncologists.

“Pregnancy and cancer is unfortunately a thing,” she said. “I'm not the only one.”

She’d love to see fetal specialists and oncologists working together at the cancer center.

“I'm still not sure how but I hope to make a change in the future and help other women who are pregnant to have that guidance,” she said.

What’s next for runner and mom of 3?

Salway finished treatment on May 15 and is hoping to participate in a trial for a breast cancer vaccine.

“I'm on the list for the next person to get into the cohort at the Cleveland Clinic for triple negative breast cancer vaccine,” she said. “That's really cool. I mean, I never thought I would hear about vaccines for cancer and I just think it's amazing that it’is even happening.”

She’ll also get follow up scans, MRIs and mammograms every six months. She’ll be watched closely in the coming years.

She said people often tell her she’s inspiring and ask how she did it. She had some bad days, she said, and she’s not a superhero or superhuman. Some days, her goal was to get out of bed to watch Netflix on her couch instead of in bed, she said.

“Just set those little goals,” she said. “Know that those little goals will add up.”

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Samantha Salway's run through cancer, pregnancy, an inspiration