The Defiance of Magic and Joy: How runDisney Lead Me to Dragon Master Initiative
by Katie Basch
To share my connection to Dragon Master Initiative, I must take you back to November of 2008, when my mom was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). It was a diagnosis that came out of nowhere, without reason, effective treatment or a cure. As anyone who is familiar with the statistics associated with GBM knows, we gathered for her funeral at the end of August 2010, a month shy of her 53rd birthday.
In the short time between her diagnosis and her passing, she defied advice to simply go home and get her affairs in order, instead finding a doctor willing to enroll her in a clinical trial. She endured four brain surgeries, radiation, grueling chemotherapy, and fought like hell. She was always holding on to hope that a cure was just around the corner. Her treatments did buy her some time, but it was ultimately not enough to overcome the relentless and aggressive nature of this disease.
In the fever of my immediate grief after she passed, I found myself wishing that she had been murdered instead, as crazy as that sounds. I know, of course, that murder is also a senseless, horrific loss. But in the helplessness of my grief, the thought was a twisted grasp at comfort: If she had been murdered, at least something could be done. The culprit could be arrested, tried, and locked away forever, never to hurt anyone else, rather than some invisible, unpunishable ghost left to haunt us. We could have read victim impact statements to express the agony of our loss. And maybe, most of all, we could have had the opportunity to learn a motive – understand why this happened.
But with GBM, there are almost no answers. Even 16 years later, I still don’t know why my mom ended up with this horrible disease when she was otherwise so young and healthy. No answers as to what causes GBM. No answers to how it can be prevented. And no answers to how we can better treat it, let alone cure it. This aching for answers has stayed with me over the years, side-by-side with my grief, and is a large piece of what ultimately drew me, with the help of a little magic, to Dragon Master Initiative in 2025.
Processing my grief over the years has forced me to understand that even in the face of tremendous loss, opportunities for joy endure. I believe joy is an essential, life-sustaining energy. I’ve come to realize that, regardless of our circumstances, choosing joy is a defiant act, a tool of resistance against life’s hardest moments. And that choosing joy, even in the face of tragedy, is not a distraction from grief, but rather the means by which we defiantly carry ourselves through it.
Outside of my family, my favorite avenue for joy is indulging in my love of Disney, particularly the parks. Yes, I am a proud “Disney Adult!” When the desire to try a runDisney race took hold, I did my research and focused on the 2026 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. Everything fell into place seamlessly: my husband had a conference in town that exact weekend, and the Fairy Tale Challenge – 10K and half marathon - featured my favorite princesses. It felt meant to be, and I set my heart on the magic of running through the castle.
Except when I tried to register, the races sold out instantly. I was heartbroken. Yet, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I was meant to run this race; it stayed firmly rooted in my head and my heart. That’s when a friend suggested looking into charity bibs. I hesitated. If I was going to take on the responsibility of running for a cause, it needed to be something I deeply believed in and felt connected to. Plus, the doubt crept in: could I even raise the money? I had never fundraised before.
As I started researching various charities, I came across Dragon Master Initiative. The connection hit me instantly. I read David’s story about how he was diagnosed with GBM in 2010, less than a month after my mom passed away. Looking at his picture on the “About Us” page, I was struck by his calm, steady gaze and his warm, genuine smile. I read about how he fought, volunteering for various studies and clinical trials to do his part to advance the research around GBM. And still, his life was ultimately cut far too short.
Also in the photo was his mom, Amanda, proudly standing next to him. I read about how fiercely dedicated she is to finding answers to the very same questions I had been asking. I instantly admired her courage and bravery for seeking to do what I had perceived as hopelessly impossible; something I had not been able to bring myself to do in all the years since I lost my mom – fight for more answers.
In that moment, as my eyes filled with tears for David and my own loss, I knew exactly where that nagging feeling about runDisney had been leading me all along. To a community working relentlessly to fund and foster collaboration in cancer research. Doing the work to get medical data about GBM and other rare cancers into the hands of medical professionals and researchers to fast-track answers. All while not losing sight of the importance of supporting families currently facing this disease.
As you’ve probably guessed, I took the leap and signed up to fundraise for Dragon Master Initiative and run as a part of Team Fired Up! I absolutely crushed my fundraising goal in less than 24 hours! I pushed myself to train for and run 19.3 miles over the course of two days in memory of my mom and her own indomitable fight against GBM. And I had the experience of a lifetime running through Epcot and Magic Kingdom.
During the race weekend, I was finally able to meet Amanda, along with her daughter, Austin, and husband, Richard, who are both just as fiercely dedicated to Dragon Master’s mission. I also met—or, more accurately, cried to—Jen who creatively and joyfully builds awareness about Dragon Master. In talking with them, I felt so seen in my circumstances and also so honored to play a very small part in supporting Dragon Master’s mission.
I started this journey simply looking for a way to participate in runDisney. But what I ultimately discovered was so much more: a newfound belief that I could attempt the impossible and seek answers. Strength in numbers standing against this disease. A community that understood my story. Hope that one day we will find answers. Even joy in the serendipitous way the universe has of driving us forward to meet what lies ahead. I hope my story serves as a testament to the power of choosing joy.
Finding Dragon Master Initiative and participating in runDisney didn’t change the reality that my mom is gone. I haven’t and will never stop missing her. Her laugh and dry humor, the way she loved her family and our pets, her meals, her support and her love. I feel her absence over and over again at every event or milestone she’s missed – graduations, marriages, grandchildren – and even in the mundane moments of daily life. Loving and losing her has made me urgently aware of how fleeting, fragile and precious our time here truly is. I think of her in joyful moments, too, reminded of the beautiful life she lived, rather than the disease that took her.
Yet, Dragon Master did allow me to hope that one day, we will have more answers and, most importantly, that other families will no longer face the same daunting odds my mom, David, and thousands of others have fought so courageously to overcome. Until that day, we live and we fight and we do it together with courage sustained by joy.
“When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live. So live. Live. Fight like hell. And when you get too tired to fight, lay down and rest, and let somebody else fight for you.” – Stuart Scott
