Aubrey Barr: Beating the Odds

When Aubrey Barr was just four years old, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and was given six months to live. In 1971 the survival rate for this type of cancer was less than 10%. Over the next several years, she received experimental chemotherapy treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering that would save her life. Beating the odds, her cancer went into full remission when she was 17 years old.

Aubrey started running in college to prove to herself that she was healthy and could lead an active life.

“I think it was my ultimate test and proof to myself that my years being unwell were behind me,” Aubrey said in a video about her experience running with Fred’s Team since 1995, its inaugural year. “So many people’s lives have been touched by cancer. Fred’s Team gives you the opportunity to do something about it.

Fred’s Team was named in honor of Fred Lebow, the running legend and co-founder of the New York City Marathon, who underwent treatment for brain cancer in 1991 at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). He encouraged New York City Marathon runners to raise money for each mile they ran and designated MSK the first official charity of the marathon. Fred ran the 1992 New York City Marathon while in remission and died of cancer in 1994.

Aubrey joined Fred’s Team after contacting Fred Lebow to tell him about her childhood battle with cancer and received a recruitment letter from Fred himself.

“I run every year with Fred’s Team because I made a commitment to continue until I couldn’t. My whole life was made possible by the work being done at Memorial Sloan Kettering.”

She has raised more than $500,000 for the charity and established the Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research at MSK Kids in 1997 to help fund leading pediatric oncologists and researchers.

“To run and raise money for the hospital that saved my life, it unleashed the most joyful feeling I could have ever imagined.”

She said running with Fred’s Team is an experience as much as it is a team.

“Our coaches and our coaching mentors hold all of these people together, and they are absolutely the reason that our team has been able to grow successfully and keep that special feeling."

Aubrey has run more than 25 New York City Marathons and plans on running again this year.

“Running in New York City is just a fabulous experience. It’s enormously gratifying to look around and within a few feet of you is another one, or two, or three people wearing a Fred’s Team shirt. But the most meaningful moment for me is running up First Avenue, past the hospital building where I was treated.”

Learn more about Fred's Team. 

Aubrey is part of #TeamInspire, a diverse group of entrants whose stories capture the power of running to change lives.Read other #TeamInspire stories at the links below, and check back for more as November 5 approaches:

Tricia Quartey-Sagaille: Running for Black Maternal Health

Roman Kashpur: Pushing the Limits