Run for Bean | Running for a Cause: Astroblastoma Research

Nicole Schonlau is one of the San Francisco Marathon participants who chose to fundraise during their training journey. Learn more about her motivations, what cause she’s fundraising for, and what astroblastoma is.

In March 1993, my 4-year-old brother and I left foster care in the Midwest and moved to San Francisco. I was eight years old.

My maternal aunt’s boyfriend—Peter, who would later become the President of the San Francisco Marathon—stepped in to give us something we hadn’t had before: stability. Over time, he became my dad.

Written by Nicole Schonlau

San Francisco became more than a city. It became my safe place. And the marathon? It was a part of that—something steady, something hopeful, something that showed me what was possible.

A New Beginning

In 2019, my husband and I moved to Denver and started our own family. Our daughter, Aiyla, was born there in 2020. In July 2025, we came back to San Francisco to revisit that sense of home and to be part of the marathon again.

The week after the race, everything changed.

Aiyla was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor: astroblastoma MN1 fusion. Her tumor is located in her brainstem, which means it cannot be surgically removed. While it’s not classified as aggressive, it carries a high risk of recurrence within the next ten years.

There are still so many unknowns. Limited research. Limited treatment options. And for families like ours, that uncertainty is devastating. So we made a decision: we would do something about it.

Fundraising for Astroblastoma Research

We’ve committed to fundraising for rare brain cancer research, working with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, to advance treatment and understanding of astroblastoma. Because more research means more answers, more answers mean more time, and more time means everything.

This marathon has always meant something to me. It gave me a sense of belonging when I needed it most. Now, it represents something even bigger: hope for my daughter’s future.

If you feel called to support, there are three ways to join us:

Every step, every dollar, every share helps move this forward, for Aiyla, and for other children facing the same diagnosis.

Thank you for being part of this with us.

*During step 2 of registration, select: Rare Child Brain Cancer Research, Astroblastoma, Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC from the drop-down list of organizations you can support. 

What is astroblastoma?

  • Extremely rare pediatric brain tumors, such as astroblastoma, are among the most devastating and least understood childhood cancers. With so few cases worldwide, research struggles to meet the urgent need for better treatments. Families often face deep uncertainty when answers matter most.
  • Specialized research is the only way to change this reality. By uncovering how these tumors grow and respond to therapy, scientists can develop targeted treatments to reach the children who need them.
  • At Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., a dedicated International Rare Brain Tumor Registry drives urgent progress. This global collaboration unites data on many different ultra-rare tumor types and enables experts to examine how these diseases grow and affect children. This work lays the foundation needed to create more precise treatments for children with astroblastoma, DICER1 sarcoma, and other ultra-rare tumors.
  • More discovery is essential to turn scientific insight into lifesaving care, and the time to act is now. Community support helps fund early-stage studies, advance new lab technologies and expand tumor sample collection to move promising science toward safer, more effective therapies for young patients.

 

To follow along with Bean’s journey, you can connect with Nicole on
Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

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