OGDEN -- On May 5, Toby Nishikawa and her family were planning to run in the Ogden Marathon to promote organ donation in honor of her 8-year-old nephew, who will someday need a liver transplant.
The next day, she inadvertently gave her friends and family an additional cause for which to run.
Nishikawa, a local star triathlete, won't be able to run in Saturday's marathon after breaking multiple bones and sustaining other injuries in a devastating crash during the final stage of the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships on May 6. She has been laid up ever since at McKay-Dee Hospital, where she can normally be found taking care of others as a nurse in the emergency room and neo-natal intensive care unit.
Her husband, Payton, who has never run a marathon, will be taking her place. And her 60-year-old mother, Mary Simpson, will be attempting her first full marathon as a tribute to her daughter. Other family members will participate in the 5K run, and several fellow athletes and teammates will run the marathon in specially designed T-shirts bearing the phrase "I run, ride & swim for Toby," along with orange ribbons as an homage to her favorite color.
Nishikawa's accident happened near the bottom of the North Ogden Divide on the Eden side, just a few miles from the finish line of the road race stage. She was competing as the only female member of the Weber State University cycling team. She said doesn't recall anything about what happened and hasn't been able to find anyone who witnessed her accident.
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