For the Love of Her Mother

Gayle and daughter Zoe Schreiber.

Zoe Schreiber is Running the Boston Marathon to Raise Funds for Rare Cancer Research

By Lisa Gregory / Photography by Rick Gregory 

Gayle Schreiber fought to the very end. “She didn’t want to leave us,” says her daughter Zoe Schreiber. “She didn’t want to leave her family.” 

Gayle, a Hagerstown resident who was once a potential Olympic swimmer, former Maryland State Police trooper and dedicated social worker, died in March after a two-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. Her second struggle with the disease.  

But Zoe chooses to remember the fight and not the end. She made a decision months before she lost her mother to run in the Boston Marathon this spring in honor of her mother and her fighting spirit. 

“I’ve never been a runner,” says 28-year-old Zoe, who works as a cardiac nurse for the University of Maryland Medical Center. But she is a talented athlete who led her high school volleyball team to a state championship. 

Credit: Schreiber Family

Zoe was drawn to the idea of running because of the opportunity to help raise funds and bring awareness to rare cancers. Having beaten kidney cancer, Gayle was then diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer, cholangiocarcinoma. The bile duct cancer can occur within or outside the liver and is diagnosed in only 8,000 people in the United States each year.  

A couple of weeks before she died, Gayle sat down with Zoe by her side to talk about her disease and her love for her family. “I think about all I am going to miss,” says Gayle, her eyes brimming with tears.  

Gayle was first diagnosed in 2018 with kidney cancer. “I had knee replacement,” she says. “I was off for six weeks from work and when I went back, I was having trouble breathing.”  

The doctor was concerned she might have a blockage in a lung artery. “They told me, ‘You don’t have a pulmonary embolism, but we have found out that you have kidney cancer,’” she says.  

The cancer had been caught early. She had surgery which removed a portion of the kidney and she underwent chemotherapy. Gayle did well and continued seeing the doctor for follow-ups. In fact, she had been cancer-free for five years when she saw her doctor in 2023. “He said everything looked good,” said Gayle. “We went out and celebrated.” 

But on her way home, she got a notification on her phone through her patient portal. “I thought I was going to pass out,” she said. “It said that the kidney cancer had now metastasized and was now in my liver.” Adding, “It was Labor Day weekend, so I couldn’t call anyone.”  

After the long weekend, she went to see the doctor. She was told that she did in fact have cancer again. “The radiologist probably saw it,” she says. “The doctor was just looking at the kidneys at that point.” 

Initially it was thought that the cancer had spread but “it was just a whole new primary cancer,” says Zoe.  

So began another journey. Another fight. This one against cholangiocarcinoma would be different, however.  “After doing the research I was kind of like, ‘Oh boy.’” says Zoe. “My mom was very realistic about it also. It was hard for her to be hopeful at points just because she knew ultimately there’s not a bunch of treatment options for this cancer. It’s so rare.” 

However, because Gayle had been diagnosed so early, treatment could begin sooner than later. Not always the case with cholangiocarcinoma. “Usually there are no symptoms until it is too late,” says Zoe. “Most people when they find out only have a month or two to live.” 

Gayle was scheduled for surgery, but there were complications. “They realized the tumor was in a spot where it was in the middle of her vasculature system,” says Zoe of the blood vessels in the liver. “It’s not really something that you want to mess with in terms of bleeding. You could bleed out very easily if something in your liver is nicked. It was a greater risk as opposed to a reward.” 

Instead, the surgeon opted for a microwave ablation, which destroys cancer cells through the use of heat. Gayle would also undergo more than 50 rounds of chemotherapy throughout treatment. “She was on and off of chemo for the whole two and a half years,” says Zoe. 

During this time, Zoe began to think about her own health. “I didn’t have healthy habits,” she says. “I told my mom that I was going to do everything I could to be the healthiest version of myself for her.” 

Zoe decided to take up running and this past November she participated in her first marathon in New York City. “It was so much fun,” she says. “And I love New York anyway.” She FaceTimed her parents as she crossed the finish line. 

Shortly after that marathon, she announced that she would be running in the Boston Marathon. This time it would be for a purpose. Zoe would be running with Team TargetCancer and raising funds for those like her mother. The TargetCancer Foundation works to advance research for rare cancers. “The founder’s husband died of cholangiocarcinoma,” says Zoe.  

The selection process to be chosen for Team TargetCancer was stringent. “They pick 12 out of thousands,” says Zoe of TargetCancer. “These applications are like super detailed. It’s not just a name, address, date of birth. It’s more ‘Tell us your story. Why do you want to run?’ I had to do an interview with them. I had to write an essay.” 

As part of her agreement with TargetCancer, Zoe was required to raise at least $10,000. She raised $10,000 in the first 48 hours through her GoFundMe. By mid-April her total was over $50,000. “I really hope this money will help open doors for new clinical trials and different research options on how to treat cholangiocarcinoma,” she says. “I would like to see better first-line treatments, early detections, screenings and even genetic testing.” 

“Overall, I pray there is a cure for all cancer. That would be my ultimate goal,” Zoe says. 

Training can be challenging. “You have one long run each week,” says Zoe, whose brother Zach is also a marathon runner. “I run like seven miles and then the next week 14 miles,” she says. “My training program goal is all the way up to 20 miles.” 

Zoe Schreiber crossing the finish line at the New York Marathon.
Credit: Schreiber Family

But she never falters in her efforts no matter how difficult. “Every time I think I can’t do it, I think of my mother and all that she has gone through,” she says.  

Running a marathon seems a natural extension of her love for her mother. After all, Gayle, who had been a competitive swimmer and a candidate for the Olympic trials before breaking her wrist, was a great sports mom to her three kids. Zoe has two older brothers, Zane and Zach.  

Mother and daughter bonded on their many trips to volleyball games and practices and work outs. Gayle looked back on those days fondly. “She traveled a lot, a lot of tournaments and stuff,” she said. “We spent a lot of one-on-one time together.” 

Gayle was a constant presence for her sons and their athletic endeavors, as well. Zach played football at Liberty University in Virginia, and Zane played in the Little League World Series.  

“She would do anything for her kids,” says Zoe.  

And Gayle instilled in her children her fighting spirit. Gayle was not a quitter. In fact, cancer wasn’t the only serious medical challenge she faced during her lifetime. Gayle had been a Maryland State Police trooper from 1985 to 1990 and suffered a horrific accident while on duty.   

“She was on the beltway outside of her car,” says Zoe. “The road was closed off. And then a person driving another car had a seizure and went onto the closed road and hit my mom. She flew the length of a tractor trailer.”  

Gayle was flown to Shock Trauma and would have to undergo a number of surgeries. “People who saw that accident thought she was dead,” says Zoe. 

Gayle recovered and would go on to choose a different career path, albeit one that still helped people. She became a social worker. At the time of her death, she was working for Franklin County Children and Youth in Pennsylvania and was director of CAMEO House of Washington County, a substance abuse treatment center. And she was dedicated to her work right up until the end. She gave her two-week notice two weeks before she died.  

Credit: Schreiber Family

“Going to work helped normalize her life,” says Zoe. Until it became too difficult. “Walking up just a few steps is very hard,” she said at the time.  

By January of this past year, the prognosis was not good. Gayle began to experience ascites, which is a buildup of fluid in the abdomen causing a bloated stomach and requiring draining.  Then she began to go into kidney failure, according to Zoe.  

And on March 5, while in the hospital, the end came. “It all happened so quickly,” says Zoe. “I think it happened so quickly because she never really led us to believe how sick she truly was. We knew it was serious, but I think she put on a really good front.” 

That evening, after spending the day with her children and her husband Ed, Gayle passed away with Ed and Zoe at her bedside.  She died just six days before her 63rd birthday. 

“The house is so empty without her in it,” says Zoe of her parents’ home. “She filled it up.” 

After her mother’s death, some who knew Zoe wondered if she would still run in the Boston Marathon. After all, she was grieving the loss of “my best friend,” she says. For Zoe, there was no doubt that she would run. She feels that it is what her mother would have wanted her to do. 

“She was trying so hard to make it to the date and that was my biggest hope,” says Zoe. “But in the back of my mind, I wasn’t sure if she would.” 

However, Zoe says she knows she will not be running alone. “She will be there.”

Zoe Schreiber completed the 130th Boston Marathon on April 20th in a time of 6:00:08. She raised $58,316 for the TargetCancer Foundation.