NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Press on July 6, 2007. Bill Bristow died Sunday, April 19, 2009. He was 73.
The temperature was nearing 90 degrees on the track at Pasadena's California Institute of Technology on June 2 as Bill Bristow settled into the block. The starting gun fired and he took off running down the 200-meter stretch.

As he ran, Bristow wasn't thinking about the runners in the other lanes, all of whom were taller and more muscular than he; all former national and world champions. He wasn't thinking about the scorching heat or the four-inch hole in his chest incurred just three weeks prior during a surgery to remove a patch of skin cancer. He wasn't even thinking of winning the gold as he neared the finish line at the 2007 California State Senior Games; he was merely thinking of finishing.

"I was in the zone," the 72-year old Bristow said. "I had nothing else on my mind."

When the race was over, Bristow learned he had taken fourth place in the 200 meters and went on to place fifth in the 100 meters. He automatically qualified for next year's event, from which the top three finishers move on to the national championships.

Standing on the track, Bristow looked around at his competition and couldn't help but remember back to his younger days, growing up in rural Brentwood.

"As a teenager I watched those guys in their prime on the MovieTone News at the Delta Theater," he said. "To be competing alongside them so many years later was pretty unbelievable."

But unlike his competition, Bristow only entered the sport seven years ago as a means of battling the rare form of cancer he contracted 20 years ago.

He said he would like to have done better at the June meet, but having not competed in nearly a year and having undergone five surgeries during that time, his coach was pleased with the result.

"Bill is so competitive," said Dr. Hugh Maiocco, 80, a Brentwood family practitioner and longtime friend of Bristow. "He had just had surgery three weeks ago but he still wanted to do better. As it was, he had a great start and we learned some things about what we need to work on."

Maiocco explained that although Bristow needs "more RPMs, more conditioning and he needs to see how he can increase his strength," all of that would come in time and through healthy living. "When you do healthy things, healthy things happen," Maiocco regularly says to his friend.

Bristow's condition, Mycosis Fungoides, is a rare form of lymphoma that affects only 10,000 people in the U.S. each year. But with support from his wife Patty and good friends like Maiocco, his attitude through it all has remained positive and his message inspirational.

"When you're told you have cancer, I think your first reaction is complete devastation," Bristow said. "Most people think of having cancer as a death sentence. But my message to them is: the faster you work through that and realize there are many, many people functioning very well, leading rich, fulfilling lives with cancer and have been for years, the faster things can start looking better."

Just after his diagnosis at age 52, Bristow endured full body radiation at UCSF Medical Center, which burned off layer after layer of his skin until the cancer was completely removed.

"They burned off all my fingernails and toenails. I lost all my skin and my hair. I kind of looked like a barbecued hotdog," he said. "Try to imagine the absolute worst sunburn you've ever had and magnify it."

Years of various treatments followed from experimental drugs and topical ointments to chemotherapy, narrow-beam radiation and UVA light therapy, suggested by Maiocco. The treatments seem to work for a while but the cancer inevitably comes back.

"It's just something I've learned to live with," Bristow said. "Like an annoying old friend that you can't ever get rid of."

Maiocco explained that although the skin cancer is a regular occurrence, it's manageable.

"If it were to go deeper in his system, that's when the real problems would start," Maiocco said. "That's why it's so important to keep on top of it."

Bristow's doctors agree that the running has improved not only his physical condition, which naturally weakens with treatment, but also his mental attitude. His friendship with Maiocco has aided that process tremendously.

"When Bill and I are running, it's seldom ever about the cancer. It's about friendship and having fun and healthy living. We hardly ever talk about the cancer," Maiocco said. "Our motto is 'We don't have time for cancer.' Of course, you have to be respectful of the problem. We know it's a serious condition, but there's got to be fun and laughter involved to stay sane."

One aspect of Bristow's condition that must be addressed at his regular workouts with Maiocco at Liberty High School is his inability to release body heat through sweating.

"Since Bill can't sweat, he's in grave danger of death," Maiocco said. "So we actually douse him with ice cold water during our workouts to help his body cool off."

Blisters are another inevitable byproduct of the running, but Bristow has learned to keep them at bay by soaking his feet in tea after each workout.

"The blisters are more of a handicap than the cancer. They have gotten so bad at times that he can hardly walk," Maiocco said. "His skin gets so thin from the medication and the chemo. But the tea really helps. It toughens the skin."

Despite his ever-present cancer and the onslaught of side effects from the treatments, Bristow continues to think of himself as "a runner who's got cancer, not

a cancer patient who's a runner."

He continues to live life as usual. A former teacher and school administrator and the namesake of Bristow Middle School, he's still a big part of the Brentwood school district. He is also the director of the Culinary Center of Monterey.

"I feel very fortunate to have had cancer for as long as I have and still do the things I've been able to do. Patty and I still go dancing. I work in the yard. Other than the fact that I have cancer, I don't know anything I can't do," Bristow said. "I'm probably as active as most 72-year-olds. Maybe more than some."

Bristow and Maiocco will continue to train together for the sake of good health and to prepare for next year's California State Senior Games. Over the past 50 years, the two have watched their children grow up together and go on to have families of their own. They have seen each other through the good times and the bad. And consider themselves closer than ever.

"Friendship needs a stage and running is our stage," Maiocco said. "We just have to keep telling ourselves that 'we just don't have time for cancer.'"