Sisters Run 26.2 Miles 19 Years After Bone Marrow Transplant

Kate and Caroline Stevens will run the 2026 New York City Marathon on Nov. 1. The sisters are competing for Fred’s Team, the official running program of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), for the second time.

Kate was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia as a child. Her younger sister, Caroline, provided a bone marrow transplant when she was four years old. That procedure, which saved Kate’s life, occurred 19 years before the upcoming race. Nov. 14, two weeks after the marathon, will mark the 19th anniversary of the transplant.

Kate stated that running 26.2 miles together nearly two decades later is something neither sister takes for granted. She described the training process as a lot of work but also a privilege. Caroline, who was too young to remember most of Kate’s childhood illness, said she feels grateful for her role as the donor. She noted that sharing the marathon experience as sisters is special, especially while raising money for other families facing similar challenges.

All proceeds from Fred’s Team go to cancer research at MSK. Since 1995, the program has raised more than $136 million for this purpose. Kate emphasized that every dollar raised supports families on the hospital’s ninth floor and the research that saved her life.

Kate has taken daily medication related to her cancer or its effects since she was five years old. The long-term effects of her treatment include premature ovarian failure and infertility. She said that once cancer touches your life, it is forever changed, and she has not known a life without it.

Beyond the marathon, Kate is interviewing for medical school. She said her desire to enter medicine is inspired by the physicians at MSK who treated her as a child. She hopes to become the kind of doctor whose work has profoundly shaped her own life.