Couric on a Rockin' Roll

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/17/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Katie Couric will make a personal appearance in the nation's capitol, near her native Arlington, Va., this weekend for a personal cause of hers. The "Today" show host calls Sunday's Rock 'n Race, a 5K run-walk for colon cancer awareness on the Mall in Washington, D.C., "Rocking' and Rollin' for Your Colon," reports The Washington Post. "I'll be there," Couric, 43, told The Post, "not with any entourage but with friends from high school and Jay's sisters." She was referring to late husband Jay Monahan, a TV legal analyst who died of colon cancer in 1998 at the age of 42. Couric also told the paper that her older sister Emily, recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, is "doing well, and she appreciates everybody's thoughts and prayers." On a happier note, The Post asked about Katie's reported courtship with TV producer Tom Werner ("Cosby," "That 70s Show"). "My God," she responded, "you don't believe everything you read in the tabloids, do you?" She then added, "I'm having a nice time."