Iowa City Miles for Myeloma to be held Oct. 5

IOWA CITY - On Oct. 5, hundreds will gather to walk and to remember two childhood friends.

Their lives ran parallel. Doug Cummins and Dan Dwyer grew up together, both attending City High School and the University of Iowa. Their older brothers were even the same age.

But after graduation, the two went their different ways, with Cummins eventually working on Wall Street and Dwyer working as a photojournalist.

A rare form of cancer, multiple myeloma, ultimately reunited the two. The pair was diagnosed around the same time and died within about a year of one another - Cummins in August 2011 and Dwyer in October 2012.

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, which are a type of white blood cell present in bone marrow that normally help fight infections. But when the plasma cells become cancerous and multiply, the disease can affect bones, the immune system, kidneys and red blood cell counts.

'(The disease) brought them closer than ever before,” said Phil Cummins, Doug's father.

Now family and friends gather annually to walk and raise funds for the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund.

Phil Cummins said the family first participated in a Multiple Myeloma Research Fund walk in Minneapolis the year after Doug died.

But family decided to organize their own event the following year and hold it in Iowa City. The first Miles for Myeloma walk took place in 2012 and had only 12 people in attendance.

By 2013, more than 200 people participated. This year, organizers hope to have between 225 and 240.

Mike Dwyer, Dan's brother, said the walk serves as a memorial to his brother and Doug.

'It's just a sad thing that we didn't do it sooner, when they were living,” he said.

It's also a way to help others who are dealing with the disease, he said.

'Both Doug and Dan would have embraced and supported raising funds to assist people,” Mike Dwyer said.

Amy Grahs, whose best friend Lori Hilmer died this June of multiple myeloma, said the event raised more than $15,000 last year and hopes to raise $25,000 at this year's event.

But the event is about more than just raising money, Grahs said.

'It's not (a disease) a lot of people know about,” she said. 'So to be with people who know about it and have lost loved ones to it, is really nice.”

Event details

:

'When

: Oct. 5

'Where

: Terry Trueblood Recreation Area

'Time

: 10 a.m. registration; 11 a.m. start

'Website

: www.milesformm.com