For many, the Boston Marathon is an event at the pinnacle of all things running. This year, the United States Olympic Marathon Trials are also set in Boston, one day before the 112th running of the historic race.

Wiscasset’s Emily LeVan will be there, attempting to earn a place in this summer’s Olympic Games, but you’ll have to forgive her if the race alone – and the prospect of making it to Beijing – isn’t her only motivation.

“For years, running was such the prime focus in my life,” LeVan said. “Especially when I was training for things like the Boston Marathon. Now, things have changed so much.”

LeVan’s impressive running pedigree includes 12th- and 13-place finishes at the Boston Marathon (2005, 2006) and a place on the 2005 U.S. marathon team at the IAAF world championships in Finland.

Her time of 2:37:01 in 2006 was the best among all American women in the race and qualified her for this year’s Olympic Trials with an A-standard time (sub-2:39:00).

She has also hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail, completed a degree in nursing from the University of Southern Maine, and become a mother.

Yes, LeVan, who lives in a centuries-old farmhouse with her family, will run in the Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston this weekend.

But it is her 4-year-old daughter, Maddie, who has been involved in her own, much more important trial since November – a race against cancer.

‘Something was wrong’

One day after the 2007 New York City Marathon, LeVan and her husband, Brad Johnson, learned that Maddie has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.

She hadn’t been feeling well, had developed a dry, hacking cough and had become lethargic and at times nauseous.

“We went down to watch the men’s Olympic trials for fun,” LeVan said. “We had been to the doctor, who had given Maddie some antibiotics and that seemed to help. We left on a Friday, but the next morning, she really wasn’t feeling well at all, so we turned right back around and came home.”

A battery of tests confirmed the doctor’s findings, and Maddie began treatment almost immediately at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

“It took a few days, because her blood count was so low they had to do several blood transfusions first,” LeVan said. “After that, they kind of hit the ground running.”

On the positive side, ALL is one of the more common forms of childhood leukemia, and its cure rate is a stunningly positive 90 percent.

“We have some down times, but we all really try to stay positive, for our sake and for Maddie’s,” LeVan said.

Staying the course

LeVan’s first thought after Maddie’s diagnosis was to scrap her trip to the trials, like she had done before. In 2004, LeVan had qualified for the marathon trials in St. Louis, but elected not to run. She had given birth to Maddie just three months earlier.

But Brad and Maddie would hear nothing of it.

In addition to pushing forward toward her own trials, LeVan and her family wanted to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Starting on January 18 (Maddie’s birthday) and running through Sunday’s trials, they have run a fundraising campaign called Two Trials, representing the trials through which both LeVan and Maddie continue to battle.

“We were so struck by the quality of the care we received,” LeVan said, “and the Children’s Cancer Program is such a phenomenal organization, we felt we had the opportunity to give something back to the organization and to potentially help other families who have to go through this.”

They developed a Web site, and there they chronicle LeVan’s training, and Maddie’s treatment.

“It’s a parallel we thought was important,” LeVan said. “We feel strongly about helping people, and coupling this with the Olympic trials made sense. The two journeys we are going through are so intertwined. Maddie’s trials have certainly altered my own efforts toward the Olympic trials, and it’s given me a new perspective on things.”

Three other Maine women – Joan Benoit Samuelson of Freeport, Kristin Barry of Scarborough and Sheri Piers of Falmouth – have also qualified for the trials, and will be accompanying LeVan to Boston.

And so will Maddie.

“The trials, this race is like a celebration of sorts,” LeVan said. “We’re celebrating getting through the challenges we’ve faced and overcome. We have family coming from all over to be there, from all parts of the country, and I’m going into it thinking that we’re all on the right track to get to the finish line.”