In March 2013, teacher, ultramarathon runner and track coach Brian Thomas, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma: the deadliest form of skin cancer. He was given three months to live.
Having always been an avid runner and fitness freak, Thomas would constantly channel it towards a good cause. In 2002, he ran 1,200 miles for children with cerebral palsy, and after, went on to complete six marathons, 10 ultramarathons and three 1,000-plus-mile runs in a decade.
However, after being diagnosed, just walking up his driveway felt worse than any ultramarathon he had endured. “I was dying,” Thomas told Runner’s World Newswire. “I could barely talk, and I was super weak. I laid there on the bathroom floor and had a conversation with God, saying, ‘I need to stay here with my daughter’.”
Thomas was determined to not give in. After starting treatment he began training to build up his strength; he started crawling, then standing and kept going until he could walk.
“I started pushing the running envelope,” Thomas said. “I have a high pain tolerance, and I decided that [running] is what I want to do. I have an intense passion for running.”
Then eventually, through all the pain, Thomas started running – even during his chemotherapy treatment. His first race was a 5K in November 2013, a mere three months after only being back on his feet. As a result, Thomas has been consistently defying the odds and pushing his life expectancy to beyond anyone’s expectation.
Following his last chemo session in June 2014, the American ran his first ultra: the 50-mile Without Limits Ultra in Lake Conestee Park in South Carolina.
A year before being diagnosed himself, Thomas founded The Road Warriors Corp: a non-profit organisation that helps raise funds for cancer patients with medical bills.
It was for this that Thomas decided he needed to do something big.
He would embark on a 1,800-mile journey from Florida (his place of residence) to Washington DC.
And so that’s what he did.
Thomas is still not in remission, and while he has a crew of two with him at all times, he’s not surrounded by a doctor. So every three weeks he flies back to Florida to undergo immunotherapy; a treatment which uses the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer. After the treatment he will then fly back to his latest checkpoint, carrying on from where he left off – this will usually take a full day out of his running schedule.
Thomas is set to complete his journey by this weekend in which will be a monumental feat, both for running and in his fight against cancer.
“Every step I take makes me stronger because I’m not supposed to be here,” he said. “When you go after your dreams, it’s not going to be easy. This is my dream, this is what I live and breathe for. I want others to see that there is hope.
You can learn more about Brian Thomas’s challenge here.
