Donations to support Amber Tookay as she continues her battle with cancer. Amber is an inspiration and light to the snowshoe community and was instrumental in the organization of Nationals in 2023 in Idaho where she placed 2nd. Funds raised will go directly to Amber as she navigates bills and life.
About Amber:
I live in Boise Idaho and have been Snowshoe racing since the winter of 2018. I fell into the sport by pure luck. I was seeking a way to train during the winter in the Boise foothills when I stumbled upon the original USSSA website. I was truly surprised that snowshoe running was even a sport and dismissed the thought of racing because I lacked the proper gear. Not even a few weeks passed, when I was at our local outdoor gear exchange and found an old pair of Red Feather Racing snowshoes. With that my snowshoe journey started!
I began running in the snowshoes, which some days was more laborious than it should’ve been. On several occasions I had to strap them to my running backpack and run uphill for a few miles until I got to deeper snow. It wasn't until a year later when I found out I could run on the nordic trails at our local ski resort.
In 2019 I raced in the US National Snowshoe Championships and placed 4th making the US team. However, in November of that year I found out I had Leukemia. With cancer derailing my training I opted out of racing in Japan and tried my luck at the US Nationals in Leadville. I didn't make the national team but I still pulled off a top ten finish.
I continued to set my sites on snowshoe racing and it became my goal race for the year. I got a lucky break when Covid forced racing to take a year sabbatical. Meanwhile, I was in the hospital recovering from a life changing bone marrow transplant. Each day in the hospital I looked forward to racing again. My husband, Chuck, printed off pictures of us running in snowshoes and displayed them on the walls in my hospital room. He kept believing that I would recover faster and convinced me I would be back on the trail in no time.
After a month-long stay at St. Lukes Cancer Center I was well enough to finally leave. And not long after that, in February of 2021 Chuck took me on my first real run post transplant. He started training from nothing, seriously zero, a new immune system, new white and red blood cells, new bone marrow. Chuck worked with me every day, some days dragging me through workouts. Over several months he slowly built me up and put me back together.
We both raced at Snowshoe Nationals this year at Lakewoods, WI. I was able to secure third place on the national team after a brutal year of recovery!
With another year of my husband’s coaching and my health finally stable, I took 2nd at the 2023 US Nationals.
Article from St. Luke’s Hospital:
https://www.stlukesonline.org/blogs/st-lukes/news-and-community/2022/apr/st-lukes-patient-runs-with-purpose
