When Anastasia Pursel crossed the finish line of the Bakersfield Half Marathon, she did it with a team by her side. As she ran through the straightaway the morning of November 18, her friends Bryan Matthews and James Miller held each of her hands. While the crowd cheered enthusiastically, Matthews carried a hand-painted sign with the message, “Victory Is Mine.” Only 8 years old, Pursel is already a fighter. At 17 months, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer that starts in the bone marrow. After six months in the hospital and another six months in isolation,...