Rocky Balboa has nothing on 75-year-old Don Wright.
In November, Wright ran his 100th marathon in Philadelphia, but that’s just a sliver of his story. He didn’t start running until he was 62 years old. Then two weeks after he completed his first marathon, he was diagnosed with a rare and incurable type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.
Doctors told him he only had five years to live. Despite the prognosis, the Minnesota resident decided to continue running with a goal of finishing a marathon in all 50 states with his wife and daughter accompanying him on each trip. He did that, and obviously, more.
With an “‘incurable” does not mean “unbeatable”‘ attitude, Wright runs for an nonprofit called My Life Is Worth It, which gives patients a voice in the healthcare cost discussion.
“The problem with cancer is that it’s a clever opponent, like a runner who hangs behind you all the way and suddenly passes you at the finish line,” he wrote on NewsWorks. “It figures out ways to defeat your medications, which is why getting us new medicines is so important.”
Wright’s next goal is to speed up his runs, and for a guy who has already overcome the odds, who’s to say he won’t?
“If I’ve learned anything from fighting cancer and running all these marathons, it’s there’s no such thing as a finish line.”
Here’s more on his story from FOX9 News:
