Teacher Couple Planned to Run NYC Marathon Together. Then, Wife Was Diagnosed with Cancer (Exclusive)

A few months after running the TCS New York City Marathon in 2023, Lee Anne Barnes started training for 2024 races. But something felt different to the elementary school music teacher.

In June, she noticed her energy level had dipped so low that she couldn’t run at all. It was an unusual feeling for someone who started running recreationally in 2008.

“I was kind of beating myself up over it,” Lee Anne, 59, tells PEOPLE. “I was like, ‘I know I’m getting old but this is ridiculous.’”

She went to the doctor for blood work, and on July 5 was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

“Bottom line: Running saved her life because it let her know that something was wrong,” says her husband, Os Barnes.

The couple from Tupelo, Miss., — longtime teachers who have run 19 half-marathons together — had planned to run the marathon together in November. The race’s title sponsor, Tata Consultancy Services, had selected them from over 1,000 applicants to run as part of Team TCS Teachers. 

Now, Os will be running the 26.2 miles through New York’s five boroughs on his own — in his wife’s honor.

“Every mile I’m going to be running for her,” he says.

Back in July, Lee Anne was hospitalized the same day as her diagnosis and spent the next 66 days in hospitals, with the couple traveling to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center for more specialized treatment.

On Sept. 24, she began her first of four rounds of consolidation chemotherapy, which requires her to spend one week in the hospital at a time, followed by two weeks of chemo pills from home. The therapy is expected to continue into early 2025.

Then, Lee Anne will undergo a stem cell transplant. Fortunately, her younger sister was the perfect match.

The procedure offers a glimmer of hope after months of loss.

“Cancer is the great thief,” says Lee Anne. “I spent most of my time up until I got sick running and teaching music, and in the blink of an eye both of those things were taken from me.”

She retired on Sept. 30 — her 60th birthday — “to focus on getting well,” she explains. “But I wasn’t planning on retiring this soon.”

Despite the painful losses, “when it comes down to it,” says Lee Anne, “what hasn’t been taken away is my family, Os, and my friends.” She says they have provided her with “a wealth of support.”

Os has also stayed strong for her. The couple met in 2016 after Os’ students pushed him to try online dating. He mentioned marathons as a hobby on his profile and Lee Anne took notice.

“We went out to eat and the rest is history,” Os recalls. They married on June 3, 2017, a second marriage for both.

Lee Anne was excited to have a running partner who shared her lifestyle habits. After weighing 297 lbs. in 2007 – she dumped her deep fryer and began walking — first to her mailbox, then to her neighbor’s, extending her distance one mailbox down at a time — and eventually started to run.

Before her diagnosis, Lee Anne had run 38 half-marathons in 18 states and four marathons, including last year’s New York marathon.

“I had the time of my life, it was amazing,” Lee Anne recalls. “I loved the crowds; it was a 26.2-mile-long block party.”

Now, as she deals with her diagnosis, she feels supported by a community of marathoning teachers, who stay connected on a team Facebook page.

Among those she heard from was Susanna Sullivan, America’s fastest teacher and Olympic trials athlete. The two had met at the marathon last year and Lee Anne described her as “genuine and kind.”

After learning about Lee Anne’s cancer, Sullivan sent her fellow educator her trial shirt for good luck.

“I just wanted to do something to brighten her day,” Sullivan says of sending the race shirt. “We are all rooting for her in this battle and ready to cheer on Os as he runs in her honor.”

When Os lines up at the starting line Sunday, Nov. 3, it will be for his seventh marathon. 

Lee Anne — who will still be undergoing treatment from home during his race — will track him on TCS’s marathon app, which is connected to live on-course cameras. She will be able to see her husband in real-time from five different points along the course.

She hopes to lace up with him for another marathon in the future.

“I can’t even think about not being able to run, that’s not something I’m ready to give up,” she says.

Following chemotherapy, she plans to start walking, then running — one mailbox at a time. 

“That worked for me last time,” she says.

And when she musters up the strength, TCS confirms to PEOPLE that a bib for the Boston Marathon already has her name on it.