ELSBERRY Keith's next mission: building cancer survivor center

FAIRFIELD -- Jeff Keith's 3,300-mile run across the country was over. It had lasted over nine months, starting in Boston and ending in Marina del Rey, Calif., and had raised an estimated $1 million toward cancer research.

It was the spring of 1985 and as emotional and amazing as the run had been, Keith was already looking ahead to his next great adventure.

Keith was 12 years old when he broke his kneecap during a hockey game.

It was then that doctors discovered a malignant tumor in his knee, forcing Keith's right leg to be amputated just above the knee and continuing with 18 months of chemotherapy treatment.

The amputation didn't stop Keith. It drove him. He ran. He played lacrosse in high school. And after Keith completed his "Run Jeff Run" campaign, he and his friend Matt Vossler (who helped organize the cross-country run) got together to plan their next non-profit event.

Swim Across the Sound.

St. Vincent's Medical Center runs the swim now, but in 1987, it was Keith and Vossler who created it. Five years after starting the swim, they created their third non-profit event, Swim Across America. And in January of 2005, the fourth non-profit event, the Connecticut Challenge -- a charity bike race -- was born.

"When we started the Connecticut Challenge, it wasn't because I wanted to do a bike ride, it was because I wanted to launch the first (cancer) survivor clinic in the state of Connecticut," said Keith, 47, of Fairfield. "There was no money being raised for survivorship. There's tons of money in research and patient care, but they drop you off a cliff when you're done with your cancer treatment. And unfortunately, there are 12 million survivors and they all have long-term effects."

Like Keith.

"I went to this survivor clinic, Dana-Farber in Boston, where I was originally treated, in 2004, and they told me because of all the drugs I took, it was no different than people who took heroin or cocaine," he said. "Those drugs they put in your body, there's long-term effects. We're at risk of a heart attack. We're at risk of high cholesterol, and if cancer survivors are given the tools to manage that, they can reduce the risk of dying from other diseases."

So when Keith came back from that initial survivor clinic, he sat down with Vossler to figure out how to create the first survivor clinic in Connecticut, focusing on working with the Yale Cancer Center. They had already done a cross-country run and two Swim events to generate revenue. How about a bike challenge?

"We felt like we could create this massive event," said Keith, who is the president and CEO of the Connecticut Challenge.

And they did. On July 24, the sixth annual Connecticut Challenge Bike Ride will take place in Fairfield. Riders can choose from rides of 12, 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles, and every skill level (there will also be a junior ride for young children) is welcome to participate. All money raised will go toward the creation of a 5,000-square-foot cancer survivor center in Fairfield (scheduled to open in October).

"Christian (McEvoy) is going to be the director of the center and it's going to be yoga, exercise classes and nutrition classes for cancer survivors," Keith said. "We're going to be partnering with St. Vincent's and we're going to offer more of the non-medical."

According to Keith, there's evidence that shows if cancer survivors exercise and follow a nutritional program, they can reduce their risk of getting colon or breast cancer a second time.

"So we need to go out and educate survivors to follow a nutritional program," Keith said. "A cancer survivor has to approach their life, post-cancer, like a Division-I trained athlete. Nutrition. Exercise.

"The average cancer case costs $100,000, so if we could keep that from happening a second time? It would save the health care system a lot of money. We'd love to open these survivor wellness centers across the state."

Keith said that there are an estimated 130,000 to 140,000 cancer survivors in Connecticut.

"Our goal is to try and reach all these survivors through our website," he said. "We want to provide as much knowledge and insight as we can. If there's a cancer-certified yoga instructor coming to Danbury or a cancer survivor support group class in Bridgeport, you'd be able to find that on our website."

Along with the annual Connecticut Challenge, Keith hopes to be able to tie in fund-raising with the Fairfield half-marathon and other events like the Boston or New York marathon.

"Some non-profits are starting to use team concepts (like the fund-raising Hillbusters) to raise money," he said. "The team commits to raising money for a charity as opposed to doing it on your own. It's much more meaningful when you're doing something for a cause."

Contact Chris Elsberry at celsberry@ctpost.com