The fight against cancer could never be adequately compared to the fight to finish one marathon.

"Cancer patients, yeah, it's a hard struggle," said Rene Berry, marathoner and cancer survivor. "And they struggle a lot more than John and I on a marathon run."

But in 26.2 miles, you do face a lot of ups and downs. Berry's example of perseverance at the 2006 Chicago Marathon is one of the main reasons John Johnson started running marathons.

"She inspired me, because I said, she never quit," John. "And I thought, if she could do it, then let me try to do the same kind of thing. So that's how I got started."

"It was just unbelievable standing on the line that morning," said Berry. "It was the perfect race for me because it was the coldest race in Chicago Marathon history. I run better in the cold. I mean, I felt alive with sleet hitting me in the face and everybody else complaining about it."

But the test was just beginning for Rene. Running in an unfamiliar city, she soon experienced what she said had been her worst nightmare.

"I turned down a street, got down there, and all of a sudden didn't recognize anything," said Berry. "Nothing looked familiar, no barricades."

Berry says in that unknown part of Chicago, someone even came up and stole her iPod, and a police officer urged Berry to stop her run.

"I said, no ma'am, I'm going to finish today," she said.

Berry was given a map of the course, and got back on track. Then she was helped along by members of a church assembly called The Elijah Group.

"At mile 22, we ran into two more of The Elijah members that looked at us and said we're going to run you in," said Berry. "From here on, you're not going to be by yourself. We're going to run you in And they sang and we all sang hymns, and they literally went out in the road to stop traffic."

After more than eight hours, after getting lost, being robbed, and being helped by some friends, Rene Berry finished the race. She set the example that John says he still thinks about during a tough run.

"This is the reason we do what we do," John said. "She's the reason we do what we do. And there are many other runners out there like that that will never give up; it doesn't matter how fast you go, just don't stop."

John will finish one more run in New Orleans Mar. 4, honoring all those who are putting one foot in front of the other in their fight against cancer every day.

Anyone wishing to support John & Friends Run for Cancer and the Anderson Cancer Center Patient Benevolence Fund may send a check to:

John & Friends Benevolence Fund Donation
1704 23rd Avenue
1st Floor
Meridian, MS 39301