BANGOR, Maine — Thousands of runners will take to the streets of Portland this weekend, but Heidi Sharpe won't be one of them.
Sharpe will be running her first marathon, but it's her own marathon in honor of her mom who lost her battle with lung cancer in January 2010.
"I thought I'd stay in my own back yard and have all the money come back here," Sharpe said.
Sharpe has raised nearly $5,000 for Champion the Cure at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center to help families that are going through the same trials she and her family were nine years ago.
"Every single penny that we raise for Champion the Cure stays right here," Sharpe added.
"Heidi Sharpe is just a force of nature I mean to see someone so passionate about giving back," Jenifer Lloyd of Champion for a Cure said.
Sharpe will begin her run at Hampden Academy, loop a marathon distance, and finish at Stillwater Park in Bangor.
"I thought, to end where I grew up would be perfect," Sharpe said.
While the marathon is for Sharpe's mom, "It's also for every single person out there in our community that is going through this fight. That has lost a loved one to this horrible, horrible disease," she said.
If you're interested in donating to Sharpe's run, you can do so here.