Teacher Couple Planned to Run NYC Marathon Together. Then, Wife Was Diagnosed with Cancer (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Lee Anne Barnes, left in 2023 and right in 2024.Photo:Courtesy of the Barnes Family

Courtesy of the Barnes Family

A few months after running theTCS New York City Marathonin 2023,Lee Anne Barnesstarted training for 2024 races. But something felt different to the elementary school music teacher.

In June, she noticed her energy level had dipped so low that she couldn’t run at all. It was an unusual feeling for someone who started running recreationally in 2008.

“I was kind of beating myself up over it,” Lee Anne, 59, tells PEOPLE. “I was like, ‘I know I’m getting old but this is ridiculous.’”

She went to the doctor for blood work, and on July 5 was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow, according to theCleveland Clinic.

“Bottom line: Running saved her life because it let her know that something was wrong,” says her husband, Os Barnes.

Lee Anne and Os Barnes in Times Square on Nov. 6, 2023, the day after she completed the New York City marathon.Courtesy of the Barnes Family

The couple from Tupelo, Miss., — longtime teachers who have run 19 half-marathons together — had planned to run the marathon together in November. The race’s title sponsor, Tata Consultancy Services, had selected them from over 1,000 applicants to run as part ofTeam TCS Teachers.

Now, Os will be running the 26.2 miles through New York’s five boroughs on his own — in his wife’s honor.

“Every mile I’m going to be running for her," he says.

Lee Anne Barnes at the 2023 New York City marathon.Courtesy of the Barnes Family

Back in July, Lee Anne was hospitalized the same day as her diagnosis and spent the next 66 days in hospitals, with the couple traveling toVanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centerfor more specialized treatment.

Then, Lee Anne will undergo astem cell transplant. Fortunately, her younger sister was the perfect match.

The procedure offers a glimmer of hope after months of loss.

Lee Anne Barnes at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center during a 36-day hospitalization in August 2024.courtesy The Barnes Family

courtesy The Barnes Family

“Cancer is the great thief,” says Lee Anne. “I spent most of my time up until I got sick running and teaching music, and in the blink of an eye both of those things were taken from me.”

She retired on Sept. 30 — her 60th birthday — “to focus on getting well," she explains. “But I wasn’t planning on retiring this soon."

Despite the painful losses, “when it comes down to it,” says Lee Anne, “what hasn’t been taken away is my family, Os, and my friends.” She says they have provided her with “a wealth of support.”

Os and Lee Anne Barnes at the starting line of the Missoula Half Marathon in Montana in 2023.Courtesy of the Barnes Family

“We went out to eat and the rest is history,” Os recalls. They married on June 3, 2017, a second marriage for both.

Lee Anne Barnes before and after her 160-lb. weight loss.Courtesy Lee Anne Barnes

Courtesy Lee Anne Barnes

Lee Anne was excited to have a running partner who shared her lifestyle habits. After weighing 297 lbs. in 2007 – shedumped her deep fryer and began walking— first to her mailbox, then to her neighbor’s, extending her distance one mailbox down at a time — and eventually started to run.

Before her diagnosis, Lee Anne had run 38 half-marathons in 18 states and four marathons, including last year’s New York marathon.

“I had the time of my life, it was amazing,” Lee Anne recalls. “I loved the crowds; it was a 26.2-mile-long block party.”

Lee Anne Barnes, after finishing the TCS New York City Marathon, Nov. 5, 2023.Courtesy of the Barnes Family

Among those she heard from was Susanna Sullivan,America’s fastest teacherand Olympic trials athlete. The two had met at the marathon last year and Lee Anne described her as “genuine and kind.”

After learning about Lee Anne’s cancer, Sullivan sent her fellow educator her trial shirt for good luck.

“I just wanted to do something to brighten her day,” Sullivan says of sending the race shirt. “We are all rooting for her in this battle and ready to cheer on Os as he runs in her honor.”

When Os lines up at the starting line Sunday, Nov. 3, it will be for his seventh marathon.

Lee Anne Barnes running in 2023.Ryan Coon

Ryan Coon

Lee Anne — who will still be undergoing treatment from home during his race — will track him on TCS’smarathon app, which is connected to live on-course cameras. She will be able to see her husband in real-time from five different points along the course.

She hopes to lace up with him for another marathon in the future.

“I can’t even think about not being able to run, that’s not something I’m ready to give up,” she says.

“That worked for me last time,” she says.

And when she musters up the strength, TCS confirms to PEOPLE that a bib for the Boston Marathon already has her name on it.

source: people.com