A Marathon of a Sports Story

It’s January 13, have you started your new year’s resolutions? Does that include running a marathon? I’m lucky to make it through a 5k (barely!) so anyone who runs a marathon or two, my hats off to them. How about running not one or two, not 30, but 365 marathons in ONE YEAR?! Gary McKee ran a marathon a day just to raise money for cancer. To put it in perspective, he ran 9,500 miles during the year, equivalent to crossing the United States three times. According to the Good News Network, “He ran through 20 pairs of running shoes, and what’s more, his marathon was only a prelude to going to work in the morning at the Sellafield nuclear site. On New Year’s Eve he finished his final marathon to cheering crowds and fireworks near his home in England, and had raised more than £1 million for donations to Macmillan Cancer Support and West Cumbria Hospice at Home.” “It’s difficult to put into words how grateful we are to Gary for taking on this unbelievable challenge,” said Hayley McKay, director of funding and communications for Hospice At Home West Cumbria. “The physical and mental strength he has shown is incomprehensible.” What most of us see as impossible or we don’t have the motivation to take on, what an amazing feat Gary did to battle the fight against cancer. Made someone’s day indeed. And if you’re a marathon fan, I’ll be writing about the Boston Marathon later this spring which my daughter Hillary is running to raise money for Ollie House, a settlement house in South Boston. Over $10,000 so far.