10-year-old boy runs MN State Fair 5K in place for grandma fighting cancer

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The pancreatic cancer is back for a White Bear Lake grandmother, forcing her to miss the Minnesota State Fair's popular 5K Milk Run on Sunday.  But an unlikely family member ran in her place, keeping the family tradition going.

10-year-old Brady Borgestad and 54-year-old Martha Mohar have a special bond – "he's an awesome hockey player, and I'm the crazy grandmother at every game that bangs on the glass."

Brady told Fox 9 that he goes over to her house at least once a week.  So when doctors said his grandma had pancreatic cancer, he really felt the pain—"went down in my room and started balling."

Beyond the deadly diagnosis, he knew she wouldn't be able to carry on the family tradition of running in the State Fair's milk run this year. For the past five years, Mohar and her two daughters entered the challenging 5k race.

With her cancer back for the second time, doctors said it just wasn't worth the risk – "because I'm going through chemo right now, I'm just too fatigued and weak to do it."

That's when 10-year-old Brady realized he would have to run in her place.

With the entire family wearing purple Team Brady t-shirts and cheering him on, he strapped on his grandma's number, refusing to quit along the way.

"I was like, ‘I can do this I can do this,'" he said. "I had to finish the race for my grandma."

Keeping the family tradition intact, his grandma jumped in the race near the end and they crossed the finish line together.