Breast cancer knocked Karen Queally out of last year’s Napa Valley Marathon, but the Millbrae runner wasn’t forgotten.

Race organizers lifted Queally’s spirits when they called the Millbrae runner at her home a few days before the 2005 marathon.

Queally remembers the sincere thoughts and feelings conveyed to her by officials of the popular marathon, a 26.2-mile race which has been named by Runner’s World magazine as one of the top 20 marathons in America and by Competitor magazine as the best rural marathon in the nation.

She received an official event shirt in the mail — a gift from the marathon and its board of directors, who were thinking of her.

“They were extremely kind and thoughtful,” Queally said.

“She was in pretty bad shape last year,” said David Hill, one of the race directors. “By talking to her you could hear that she was a nice person. She has overcome great adversity with the support of friends and family.”

Queally, who works as an assistant medical group administrator at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2005. She underwent four different surgeries — the first of which was on Jan. 26 — and eight rounds of chemotherapy.

A year later, after successful treatment and running strong again, Queally will return to Napa and line up for her 10th NVM. The race, which is expected to have a sold-out field of 2,300 runners, starts from Rosedale Road and the Silverado Trail in Calistoga Sunday morning at 7 a.m. and heads south to the finish line at Vintage High School.

The Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon, now in its 28th year, carries special meaning for Queally, who has run her personal best (3 hours, 37 minutes) time on the scenic Napa course.

“This is the most beautiful marathon,” she said. “Running through the wine country is so spectacular. I’m grateful that they keep this small, that they limit the field. If this race had 10,000 runners there’s no way it would feel as special and wonderful.

“I keep coming back because it’s a well-run event and they really care about the runners.”

Queally walked half of the San Francisco Marathon in late July, 10 days after her last round of chemotherapy, and she also took part in the Twin Cities Marathon, which is from Minneapolis to St. Paul.

But she was nowhere in the shape or condition she’s in now. She continues to run — each and every day as she has done for the last nine years — and is feeling stronger all the time.

“This particular one has a very special meaning for me because, although I was able to trudge through the Minneapolis one and prove something to myself that I could do it, this one I’m really going to be able to run the marathon,” she said in a telephone interview from her office.

“I couldn’t run the whole marathon in Twin Cities. I did the best I could. I’m going to run this one.”

Queally’s last operation was three weeks after Twin Cities, near the end of October.

“This is the first marathon since I’m completely finished with that whole chapter,” said Queally, who turns 54 today.

“Most people don’t think it’s possible for them to run a marathon, but it is possible for them to run a marathon and it is possible to continue to survive and put this cancer behind me and resume my life and not be consumed by cancer.”

She’s hoping for a time Sunday of close to 5 hours. By finishing, she will accomplish something pretty special — completing a long distance race and celebrating a return to competitive running.

She ran her first marathon in Yonkers, N.Y., her hometown, in 1984. She’s completed 82 overall marathons, including those in New York City, Philadelphia and Dallas. On April 17 she will run the famed Boston Marathon, which takes place on Patriot’s Day.

The marathon, she said, takes self confidence, believing in yourself, and training.

“You have to be fit and be ready to run and you have to believe in yourself. Lots of times it’s a matter of your mind over your body. If you believe that can you can do it and you keep on going and you stay focused, you can do it.

“It’s having the faith and the strength to continue in the face of adversity. That’s why I think that my marathon running really prepared me and helped me to get through last year, having four surgeries and four months of chemotherapy.

“I really felt that having my background in marathon running really prepared me and helped me to get through what was the biggest marathon in my life.”

Queally said she went for about a month’s time last year where all she could consume were fluids, jello and yogurt.

“It wasn’t easy. It was very, very difficult,” she said. “I found a lot of comfort in reading books about meditation. I just had wonderful support from all the people around me and all the people that I work with. It was just incredible how much people reached out and helped me.”

Queally and her husband, Richard, have three daughters, Sadie, 14, and 10-year-old twins, Colleen and Grace.

“I feel like I’m back to 100 percent,” said Queally. “I look ahead.”

She has a goal of running 100 marathons, and would like to make her 100th in Yonkers.

“I don’t know if I’m going to stop at 100, but when I get to 100 I’ll probably have a long talk with myself about it,” she said.