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MANSFIELD - It was just over two years ago that Bridgett Lasbury-Casey and her wife Meghan received the news no parent ever wants to hear.

Their 5-month-old son, Liam, had been diagnosed with Rhabdomyoscaroma, a rare muscular cancer, and would need surgery to remove tumors from his lungs.

"It was numbing at first," Lasbury-Casey said. "Even when the oncologist came in to talk about treatment, it was still like we were in that fog."

After two years, two surgeries, several months of chemotherapy, and four weeks of radiation, the cancer is in remission.

To see him now, as he runs around the backyard of the couple's Old Elm Street home with his three brothers - Owen, Troy and Jack - one would never know the hardship and pain that 2-year-old Liam has gone through. Lasbury-Casey credits Liam's recovery to the medical care he received at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children's Cancer Center and will be running in Monday's Boston Marathon to raise money so other children can be as lucky as Liam.

"We've been very fortunate," she said. "If there's something that can be done to prevent (childhood cancer), then that's my goal."

The decision to run the 26.2 mile race was a difficult one for Lasbury-Casey, who, even though she is the head women's basketball coach at Bridgewater State College, said she had never run more than a mile straight when she began training last year.

"I never thought in a million years I'd be doing this," she said. "I'm not running for a time, I'm just running to finish."

After joking with a nurse at the hospital who has run for Liam in the previous two marathons, Lasbury-Casey decided to run the difficult race for herself this year.

"It became a personal goal," she said.

She began seriously training last summer, working with a running coach and stretching her endurance in anticipation of the race. Last month, she ran the New Bedford Half Marathon.

Lasbury-Casey originally set a goal of $3,000 for her fundraising effort, but after quickly reaching that plateau, she set her sights higher. She now hopes to raise $7,000 for the hospital and stands at $5,645. Donations can still be made at http://www.firstgiving.com/lasburycasey.

While the forecast for Monday calls for clouds and cool temperatures, Lasbury-Casey will have plenty of motivation as she has friends and family lined up to run portions of the race with her.

As she travels the peaks and valleys of the course, Liam will never be far from his mom's mind. Lasbury-Casey said she will have pictures of her son on her runner's bib and will get to see him at the 20 mile mark and finish line. "Knowing I'll get to see him will get me through the last six miles," she said.

Not only has liam's cancer has been in remission for more than a year, but a recent chest scan showed no signs of the cancer returning.

It will be his smiling face and the hope that other families will be as fortunate that will guide Lasbury-Casey as she attempts the most demanding physical challenge she has ever tackled.

"I'm as ready as I'm going to be," she said.

MATT KAKLEY covers Mansfield for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at mkakley@thesunchronicle.com.