CROWN POINT | As seventh-graders, the two boys became friends through running, and more than 25 years later, one is running to raise money to find a cure for the disease that came close to taking the other's life.

Crown Point resident Joe Massow, 38, and his friend John Kark, 38, Chicago, met as Merrillville students on the seventh-grade track team, on which Massow was "the guy that didn't have to practice and still beat everyone," Kark said.

Massow will compete Sunday with hundreds of other runners in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon as a member of Team in Training, a sports training program that raises funds for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research and patient services. Massow is running for Kark, and his family members who have been touched by leukemia.

The two grew up and moved out of Merrillville, still staying friends. Fast forward to 2000, when Kark was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma, complicated by the inoperable tumor that was wrapped around his spinal cord within his upper spinal column.

When Kark discovered his lymphoma, he had a less-than-normal reaction.

"I was kind of relieved (to know what was wrong). I thought I was getting old and out of shape," Kark said.

Massow and his wife went to Chicago to see Kark with plans to go to the city's Blues Festival. When Massow saw Kark and the physical changes his body had gone through he was scared for his friend. But Kark's attitude of "I've got cancer, so what?" made Massow believe anyone could survive cancer.

It was a good lesson for Massow to learn when five years later his wife, Jennifer, was diagnosed with malignant thrombocytosis. Massow said because they saw Kark's positive perspective, they didn't see Jennifer's diagnosis as a death sentence, and now she, like Kark, is in remission.

After a friend ran a running event in May, Massow decided to start running again and began training using the Team in Training program, working his way up to marathon-length runs on Sundays. Kark would ride his bike alongside Massow for company.

On Thursday, Massow had the day off from training, and he and Kark relaxed on the couch while Massow discussed his goal for Sunday. He said while he's been running 26 miles in about four hours, he'd like to finish under that number.

"Three hours and 15 minutes would qualify me for the Boston Marathon," Massow said.

"All you got to do is finish, Joe," Kark said.

Massow has plans to run his second marathon in December and at least six next year.

"Maybe you'll be ready for the Olympics when they come to Chicago," Kark joked to Massow.

Along with some other friends, the two started a group they call the Chicago Fight Club, which raises money for a variety of charities that have touched their lives.

While Massow said running clears his mind, he thinks he'll be thinking about Kark and his family when his body begins to get tired.

"I'm sure they'll cross my mind at Mile 21," he said. "They're what I'm doing it for."

HOW TO HELP

To make a donation to support to Joe Massow's participation in Team in Training, go to www.ChicagoFightClub.org or http://pages.teamintraining.org/in/chicago08/jmassow