Alex Rowan is 22, completing nursing school and training for a second marathon while being treated for high-grade astrocytoma with piloid features, a rare and aggressive brain tumor. She has continued running during radiation and chemotherapy, wearing the words “Lift the Odds” on her forearm and on each race bib.
Rowan's diagnosis came in 2025, after months of migraines that affected her vision and headaches that started in the winter of 2024, according to KSL News. A CT scan revealed a mass, and doctors told her it was likely cancerous. A biopsy later confirmed high-grade astrocytoma with piloid features, or HGAP, a rare and aggressive primary central nervous system tumor, per the same account.
HGAP is not an old diagnosis so much as a newly sorted one. The tumor type was only formally added to the World Health Organization's Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors in 2021, when researchers began relying on DNA methylation profiling — a way of reading a tumor's molecular fingerprint rather than just its appearance under a microscope — to classify brain cancers, according to research published in PMC.
An Unusually Young Diagnosis
A clinical study of 421 patients published in Neuro-Oncology this month reported a median overall survival of 88 months — about 7.3 years — among people with HGAP. Older age and alterations in the ATRX gene were identified as negative prognostic factors, according to Oxford Academic. The study also found that HGAP predominantly affects adults, with a median diagnostic age of 46 years, making Rowan's diagnosis at 22 unusually young in comparison with the study population.
The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States notes that primary brain and central nervous system tumors affect tens of thousands of Americans each year, per CBTRUS. In Utah, primary malignant central nervous system tumors are tracked through the Utah Cancer Registry.
Freezing Eggs Before Chemo Began
Before starting treatment, Rowan had her eggs retrieved and frozen, completing the IVF process through Huntsman, per KSL News. The Huntsman Cancer Institute's Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program coordinates oncofertility navigation and fertility preservation, including egg banking, for cancer patients ages 15 to 39, according to Huntsman Cancer Institute. Huntsman also offers cancer-related grant programs, the station's report notes. Rowan then began 6.5 weeks of radiation and 12 rounds of chemotherapy.
What the broader evidence shows
HGAP-specific population rates are not provided by the broad cancer statistics available here. The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States reported an average annual rate of 26.05 new primary malignant and non-malignant brain and other central nervous system tumors per 100,000 people in the United States, based on 2018–2022 data. Separate mortality data for brain and other nervous system cancer are not represented by this incidence figure. Those figures include broader tumor categories and do not represent a rate specific to HGAP.
Fertility can be a treatment-planning issue for young patients: the National Cancer Institute lists central nervous system tumors among cancers in young people that can be associated with fertility-related problems. Whether to exercise during and after cancer treatment, including marathon training, depends on individual medical circumstances.
Running remained part of Rowan's routine during treatment. In September 2025, while receiving chemotherapy and radiation, she ran the Big Cottonwood Marathon, her first marathon. The REVEL Big Cottonwood Marathon course drops roughly 5,200 feet in elevation from Guardsman Pass through Big Cottonwood Canyon into Murray, making it one of the fastest downhill marathon courses in the state, according to the REVEL Race Series. Rowan has also run several half marathons and describes herself as a weight-lifter as well as a runner.
“Lift the Odds”
Rowan calls her approach “Lift the Odds,” a phrase she has tattooed on her forearm and adds to every race bib, per KSL News. She has also documented her cancer treatment and running publicly on social media.
Rowan has declined to discuss her prognosis publicly. According to KSL News, she has said that people with cancer can continue living their lives and moving their bodies, with exceptions, and that she wants to use the time she has. In February 2025, she posted a video explaining her medical situation to followers.
Back to the Starting Line in St. George
Rowan is now training for the St. George Marathon, scheduled for October 3. Rowan has a time goal for the race, per KSL News.
Between training runs, Rowan is enrolled in the nursing program at Provo College, where she plans to eventually work in the medical field. Provo College's Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and posted a 90.7% NCLEX-RN pass rate in 2024, according to the Utah Department of Professional Licensing, as reported by Provo College. For Rowan, the classroom and the marathon course have become two versions of the same fight — one she intends to keep running for as long as she can.
