Jennings native to run NYC half marathon in memory of his sister

Published 4:55 am Saturday, March 19, 2022

Jennings native Trevor Theunissen will be among thousands of runners who will be running in the New York City Half Marathon on Sunday.

It is the first marathon for Theunissen, 38, who will be running in memory of his sister, Kristen, who passed away from a brain tumor in March 2019 at the age of 30. Kristen battled epithelioid glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, for two years until her passing, leaving behind an infant son.

Theunissen, who now lives with his family in Richmond, Va., will be one of estimated 30,000 runners who make the 13-mile trek from Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan.

“I don’t have this idea that I have to finish by a certain time,” he said, “My only goal is not to walk. I’ve committed to myself, if I am not injured or hurt, my goal is to not walk.”

This will be the first marathon for Theunissen, who hopes to run more marathons in the future.

“I’m going to take baby steps first with a half marathon and hopefully do a full marathon later,” Theunissen said. “I’ve always been a jogger, but never really run any races so this will be my first formalized race.”

“I really got motivated because I wanted to figure out a way to both commit to healthier living and honor my sister’s memory,” he continued. “I was trying to figure out what was the best way to honor her memory and also give back to a cause that came to us without us wanting to go to it necessarily, and that was brain tumor research and brain tumor  treatment.”

Theunissen will be running on behalf of his sister and raising money for the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), a leader in brain tumor patient advocacy, research, information and support for families and individuals diagnosed with brain tumors.

His goal was $5,000 and he has already raised over $6,000, mostly through friends, family and social media. He’s hoping to reach $6,500 by today.

Theunissen has been training for the last 10 weeks, squeezing in running between his work in government affairs, and spending time with his wife and three children.

“It started pretty light doing two miles a day, but has ramped up to doing three, four and five miles a day with a long run doing six, seven, eight, nine and ten miles every Sunday,” he said. “That has been both challenging and exciting for me to be able to see that I can do it and prove to myself that this is possible.”

Theunissen said he has gotten healthier, lost weight and is less stressed since he began training.

“It’s really just a reminder that, you know you forget the little things,” he continued. “I am just so blessed and grateful to be able to run. Losing my sister, obviously she doesn’t have that capability, and there are a lot of other people who can’t get out there and run. It’s really a reminder about how blessed and thankful I am to have the ability to just run.”

On race day, Theunissen will not be alone. His wife, father-in-law and youngest child will be cheering him on from the sidelines, and his sister’s memory will be motivating him to cross the finish line.

“I know my sister will be looking down on me, proud that I’m doing this,” he said. “In her last year of her battle, she was really active about helping other kids with cancer. She was 30 when she passed and she was really excited about the idea of helping kids with cancer and helping them through it, so this is sort of my way of living out her dream of helping other kids with cancer and raising money for them.”