Charitable Efforts Go On Without Event Daniel Santiago of Scottsdale, Ariz., knew that training for his first marathon was going to be difficult. He also knew that raising at least $2,000 to honor his friend Tommy Sturgill, who has had brain cancer for 12 years, was going to be hard. Santiago diligently e-mailed friends about his Team Tommy fund-raising efforts for Livestrong, a high-profile group devoted to cancer survival, and laced up his running shoes with an eye on the New York City Marathon. But Santiago said he was dismayed by the headlines last month surrounding Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and stepped down as the chairman of Livestrong after the United States Anti-Doping Agency released evidence in a doping case against him. The task of training for the race while raising money seemed that much harder for Santiago. "I put my head in my hands and thought, I'm asking people to donate to a cause that's generating so much controversy," he said. I thought, Why me? Why now? This is not good. Then came Hurricane Sandy. City officials and marathon organizers with New York Road Runners canceled the race Friday amid a tempest of anger about their original plan to carry on despite the storm's impact on the city and the surrounding region. Although the cancellation was well-received by many runners, who coordinated volunteering efforts, alternate runs and trips to local bars to commiserate, it was another blow to the 218 Livestrong runners who had entered the marathon. Each year, the New York City Marathon sets aside a number of slots for runners who commit to raising a minimum amount for charity. Livestrong has one of the largest contingents in the race. In 2011, Livestrong runners raised an estimated $900,000, marathon organizers said, and that figure is about $745,000 this year, according to a Livestrong tally. The charity will receive the money even though the race is off, a Livestrong spokesman confirmed. Many of the runners have used their cancer stories to help alleviate the anxiety about Armstrong among their friends and donors. That is what Becky Finley, a 34-year-old from Cincinnati on the Livestrong team, said she had done. In October 2011, she had just finished a half Ironman triathlon when she learned she had breast cancer. "When I was first diagnosed, it was completely unbelievable to me," she said. Finley went through her first rounds of chemotherapy and had the lump removed. She tried to return to running in August. "I ran so slow," she said. It was pitiful. You think as an endurance runner that every day you get better, and I was only getting worse. I didn't think there was any way I would be able to do a marathon. As she underwent treatment, Finley said, she found Livestrong's Fertile Hope program, which is dedicated to providing reproductive information to cancer patients and their families. "They were a wealth of information," Finley said. It was a missing piece of the diagnosis that people don't know about. It's about life after cancer. I really wanted to share that story. That extended into her fund-raising efforts, which have yielded almost $7,000 for Livestrong. "Talking about the fertility piece was harder," she said. It's such a personal, private thing. Finley flew to New York this weekend and said she was planning to volunteer her time to hurricane relief. Craig Cooper of Newport Beach, Calif., heard the marathon was canceled before taking the trip. "I would have been so upset arriving to hear that," he said. After learning that he was at a higher risk for prostate cancer, Cooper founded prostate.net, a resource for men, in 2010. He raised nearly $14,000, one of the highest totals among the Livestrong runners. Many had done the bulk of their fund-raising before Armstrong's public disgrace. And Santiago said the news did not derail his fund-raising as much as he thought it would. "To me, Livestrong was never about Lance Armstrong," Santiago said. But rather it was about what the organization stands for, and does to help inspire, equip and empower those people affected by cancer. Cara Sturgill, Tommy Sturgill's wife, said her husband's cancer ordeal had been stressful. Although Tommy still works in construction, Cara Sturgill said he has memory problems. The Sturgills, who have two young children, have even moved from state to state to be near his cancer doctors. When Daniel said he wanted to do this for Tommy, I thought, A marathon? Bless him," said Cara Sturgill, who met Santiago when they worked at a medical technology company. To have everyone rally around my husband and our family is great. It's really exciting. She called the race's cancellation "a disappointment." Santiago said that it was a letdown, but that he wanted to volunteer this weekend. "If I'm not running on Sunday," he said, "I'd like to serve the people affected by the storm."