What began as marathon training for Tamara Scott quickly shifted into a battle she never expected when she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.

Now cancer-free, she is preparing to run the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run as a symbol of resilience and recovery.

Scott, an experienced runner, said she had been training for the Marine Corps Marathon two years ago when she first noticed something unusual.

"I was rubbing my arm and randomly brushed the top of my chest and felt something on the side of my hand," she said. "And watched it for a little bit. It didn't go away. And so I thought, this is kind of weird. And I called my gynecologist."

After a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy confirmed the diagnosis, Scott underwent an MRI that she described as emotionally overwhelming.

"That was very difficult. I was crying so much," she said. "Because they're doing an MRI of your chest - if you're crying, you're moving a lot, it takes two, three times as long to do it because I was just crying so much."

Scott said the diagnosis felt unimaginable.

"I just could not believe it," she said. "I feel like growing up, you're pretty much taught that breast cancer is for someone over 40. Breast cancer is for people who have a family history, who have a genetic mutation."

She said she had none of those risk factors.

She spent 12 months in treatment, including six months of chemotherapy.

Her background as a distance runner helped her cope.

"My training, specifically my marathon training, really helped me think about the bigger picture," she said. "When you're training for something like a marathon or a long-distance race, you really have to think about getting through each of those mile checkpoints and really think about that long-term journey."

Scott learned she was cancer-free halfway through treatment, calling the news "fabulous."

Since then, she has returned to running, competing last month in her first 5K since her diagnosis.

She is now training for the Broad Street Run, which she expects will carry special meaning.

"This will be the longest race I've done since being diagnosed with cancer," she said. "I am just envisioning that moment of crossing the finish line and the energy and excitement that I felt before. I think we'll just be amplified by ten, 20, 30 times what I felt in the past and just such a feeling of overcoming adversity and those tough times and really just a sign that I'm back, baby."