Exercise group’s clothing line doubles as charity

PALMER — It’s a club, it’s a clothing line, it’s a charity — it’s We Run AK.

About a year and a half ago, Palmer-born Sarah Palenske lost her cousin, roommate and friend, David White, to colon cancer. One of the 26-year-old man’s last requests, Palenske said, was that his friends and family walk away from the television, put down their cell phones, and “become a part of life.”

Those final words hit home for Palenske, who until her cousin was diagnosed had not had a full appreciation for her health, she said.

“I was not into sports when I was younger. I was really shy,” Palenske said. “When I was in my 20s, I got caught up with life and gained some weight, and before I knew it, I was really fairly unhealthy.”

When White moved in with Palenske two years before his diagnosis, his outdoor lifestyle began to inspire her. She described her cousin as a hiker, photographer and lover of adventure.

Near the time of White’s death, Palenske had been screen printing shirts with the words “We Run AK” and a mountain logo drawn by artist Tosha Cypher for her runner friends. After his passing, it became clear to Palenske that she and her friends could market the apparel “for a greater good.”

“I just felt like people besides me were suffering and I felt like I did not have the right to keep this money that was coming in,” she said.

She had used some of it to establish the business — paying for the license, purchasing business cards, making the shirts — but the rest she decided to devote to Valley cancer patients. The shirts are currently sold online and at Active Soles in Palmer.

Palenske said she’s still working on transforming We Run AK into a nonprofit.

“Right now we’re just a business that donates all of our money,” she said.

The beneficiaries

We Run AK has so far donated to two families, the first of which were the Harrells, who own Mocha Moose in Wasilla. Ben Harrell didn’t recall what the family used the funds for specifically, but commented that it meant a lot to him and his wife Rena, who died of cancer in May.

More recently, We Run AK cut a check to the family of 5-year-old Seth Bellamy after co-hosting one of the weekly Active Soles Happy Runs as a donation drive for the boy at the end of September. A lot of superheroes dressed for him that day (Superman was his favorite), but it was unfortunately not enough — Bellamy died weeks later, marking the end of a three-year battle with leukemia.

Seth’s mother, Maggie Fuger, said We Run AK came into the picture just in time.

Fuger’s high school friend contacted Palenske, who agreed Bellamy’s was a worth cause. Fuger said she was “so touched” when she heard the news.

“At that time my son was in the ICU in Oregon fighting for his life,” Fuger wrote in a Facebook message.

Those days were difficult, by not as difficult as the day before Bellamy’s death, when Fuger was informed she would have to return home within 24 hours of his passing in order for her insurance to pay for her plane ticket — the rest of the family would have to fend for themselves.

Unable to physically and mentally prepare for travel and her son’s cremation in that time frame, Fuger decided to decline the insurance offer and use the funds from We Run AK to return to Alaska as a family a few days later.

Fuger thanked the organization for its financial assistance, adding that “life would’ve been a lot harder” without them and the rest of the Palmer community.

The running

As important as the charitable aspect of the group is, Palenske said she’s working with people like Ed Milbradt — who recently competed in the Cozumel Ironman Triathlon, taking 24^th in his age division — to host more regular events for runners. The first of their planned monthly gatherings is a Saturday Cinnamon Roll Run on Dec. 12 at 9 a.m., starting at 12180 E. Fenceline Dr., Palmer.

Palenske said the idea is to get enough people to form groups by pace, starting with Milbradt leading the faster and farther-running people, and Palenske leading a slower, short-distance group.

For updates on We Run AK, visit facebook.com/werunalaska2014. To order We Run AK clothing, visit werunak.com.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.