Interview w/ Executive Director of Aktiv Against Cancer, Helle Aanesen

Helle Aanesen founded AKTIV with the late Grete Waitz. The goal of AKTIV is to show the relation between fitness and cancer. The belief is that fitness should be part of the prescription in battling cancer. In Norway, AKTIV has funded 15 fitness centers to help cancer patients, tied in with hospitals. AKTIV is funding three more in Norway. In Ethiopia, AKTIV is helping train an entire new generation of oncologists, as there were only three for 100 million people. In the U.S., AKTIV USA became a non-profit in 2014. This legacy foundation, supported by adidas, is the life work of Helle Aanesen. We met with Helle, the night before she ran the 2016 TCS NYC Marathon to speak about AKTIV, its past, present and future. We thank Helle Aanesen for her vision, vigor and enthusiasm for AKTIV. Special thanks to The Shoe Addicts who managed the shoot, production and management of the video projects for RunBlogRun.