Taylor Rings has spent a lot of time at the hospital over the past year. You might even say it’s been a marathon. This mother of three from Bismarck, North Dakota, is an avid runner, and she first noticed something was wrong while training for a big race.
“I started feeling really fatigued, like no sleeping could fix it,” said Rings. “My mile times were going down. And then one morning I almost fainted at home. Like everything started turning black and I was on the bathroom floor.”
Rings was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia — a cancer of the blood, and the bone marrow that creates new blood cells—in June 2025. She would need a bone marrow transplant at Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo, home of the only bone marrow transplant program in the region. Her treatment would first require chemotherapy to destroy the disease and essentially reset her immune system. Then she’d receive a matching bone marrow donor’s healthy cells during her transplant.
A grueling race
Seth Maliske, M.D., is a hematologist oncologist, specializing in bone marrow transplants at Roger Maris. He has been with Rings since the very beginning of her cancer journey.
“What was unique with Taylor is the fact that she was 32 when she was diagnosed,” Dr. Maliske said. “Most times her form of leukemia is diagnosed in somebody’s later years of life, 60s or 70s or even 80s.”
Photo courtesy of Taylor Rings
While Rings’ age made the diagnosis uncommon, her youth and athletic background did boost her chances of recovery.
“You take somebody that active and you create that shift in their life, it is hard physically, hard emotionally,” said Dr. Maliske. “But on the flip side, I think only somebody as healthy as Taylor could withstand the stressors that we put her through those months.”
Rings agreed. She said her running background gave her the confidence she needed to face her disease head on.
“I honestly think running trained me to get me through this,” Rings said. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna be fine. I’ll get through this. I can run a full marathon. I can power through this chemotherapy and this transplant.’”
In November, Rings received her bone marrow transplant. Now she wears a necklace with her “second birthdate” around her neck.
“You’re getting all these new cells from somebody else. So it’s like a new beginning,” said Rings.
Back on track
In May 2026 — six months after her bone marrow transplant, and nearly a year since her diagnosis — Rings had a biopsy that showed no evidence of cancer in her body. That same month, she ran her first race: a 5K in Fargo.
“I was six months post-transplant and just finishing was the goal, and it felt really good.”
Of course, she wasn’t done. The very next day, she ran a 10K in Fargo. And one month later, she ran the Grandma’s Half Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. This April, she’ll even be running in the London Marathon on behalf of Blood Cancer United.
Photo by Sanford Health
“What she’s doing is simply amazing,” said Dr. Maliske. “I’m impressed. Not surprised, but impressed.”
Rings has been so impressive that Dr. Maliske says he took up running because of her.
“It’s more in solidarity,” Dr. Maliske said. “I like to stay active and be healthy, but by no means would I consider myself a runner. I think she’s motivated me to pick up the sport a little bit.”
Now these two are planning to run in Minneapolis as well. They won’t be running side by side, but they’ll definitely be together in spirit.
“We crossed the finish line of getting my cancer in remission together, so it’d be cool to do the same for running too,” Rings said.
Learn more
- Fargo leukemia patient using multiple services at RMCC
- Young colorectal cancer patient urges others to get screened
- Podcast: Blood and bone marrow transplant care at Sanford
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Posted In Cancer, Cancer Treatments, Fargo
