Adviser is back in the running

Financial adviser Irene Berner is lacing up and hitting the pavement against leukemia and lymphoma, as she trains for the P.F. Chang's Rock "n' Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix. On Jan. 17, Ms. Berner, the owner of Berner Financial Services in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., will run 13.1 miles to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. So far, she has raised nearly $5,000, and her goal is $10,000. She had originally committed to run in the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 1, but a thigh injury during a long run in August temporarily sidelined her. “I'm a 13-minute-mile runner, but I was doing 12 and a half minutes when I should've been pacing myself and doing 13 and a half minutes,” Ms. Berner explained about her injury. Since then, Ms. Berner has been swimming and getting herself back on pace to prepare for the half-marathon. She is no stranger to grueling runs. In January 2008, she participated in the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando, Fla. — her first marathon — finishing in six hours and 41 minutes. In the process, she raised $5,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “I was never a huge runner, but one day I said to my daughter that I'd love to do a marathon,” Ms. Berner said. “And she said, "Let's do it together.'” Lingering knee injuries kept her daughter from participating in Orlando, but the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training kept Ms. Berner on track. “I wanted to run for a charity, and this hit home because two of my family members have been affected,” she said. “There is so much research that can be done, and if the cure is found it can basically open up the floodgates to find cures for other cancers.” Ms. Berner will dedicate this half-marathon to her nephew's wife, who died of lymphoma, a client who died from a brain tumor, and her mother-in-law's first cousin, who has leukemia.