If you ask Jeanne Pittari, she will be the first to say that she was never the best runner.

She always left that up to her spry, health-conscious sister, Mary Pittari.

Mary had lived in Ballard since 1995, was an active community member, a member of Ballard Peace Activists, a feline veterinarian and founder of A Peaceful Parting, a cat hospice service (no longer running).

When Mary passed away from ovarian cancer, Jeanne found a reason to run. It's why she will be running this Sunday, July 21, with sister Carolyn in the Rivkin Center SummeRun 5k. All proceeds from the run go toward ovarian cancer research.

Their team name? "Mary's Messengers."

"The run was a really big deal to Mary, she really became a strong advocate for ovarian cancer awareness," Jeanne said. "After she got diagnosed she realized there was such low awareness for it among woman."

When Mary was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2010, Jeanne said it shocked everyone.

"It was completely off her (and the family's) radar to be thinking she would get cancer," Jeanne said. "She was very athletic, ate very well, she looked after her health as much as any person possibly could."

Mary was able to beat the cancer back twice, having responded well to chemotherapy. The family continued to be hopeful and Jeanne, who lives in Houston, Texas, made several trips to Seattle to check on her.

Mary never let the cancer get her down. Jeanne said she continued to do the things that were important to her, such as running, hiking and camping. She participated in the Rivkin SummeRun herself twice, first in 2011 and again in 2012 with her sisters, where she placed second in the survivors category. (She promised Jeanne that she would place first in this year's run.) Up until the last few months, Mary was Mary -- energetic, political, outspoken.

But the ovarian cancer, which has frequent recurrences, came back a third time in December of 2012. This time, a malignant bowel obstruction had prevented Mary from getting better and she was on the decline. She passed away in April of 2013, at the age of 59.

"The last ten days were by far the hardest. Watching somebody die, it's like nothing else. Like nothing else you've ever experienced," Jeanne said. "... To watch her just become skin and bones. It's really hard to watch such a vital person just waste away to nothing."

Now Jeanne and other family and friends are keeping Mary's memory and passion alive. So far, they have raised about $10,000 for this Sunday's run and are doing everything they can to raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

To learn more about Mary's Messengers and how you can support the team, visit http://community.swedish.org/MarysMessengers

To learn more about the SummeRun, visit http://www.summerun.org/

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