For this man, life after prostate cancer includes ultramarathons

It was race day for the 2008 Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, and it was already 110 degrees. I left my room at 6:30 a.m. in Death Valley, Calif., to head to the starting line at Badwater, Calif., the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level. Before I'd reach the finish line at 8,300 feet on Mount Whitney, 135 miles and a couple of days would pass. The desert is a place of spectacular beauty and outrageous extremes.

The fun was about to begin.

How did I find myself about to race 135 miles on foot, where the radiant heat from the asphalt could hit 200 degrees and the air temperature 130? My running "career" didn't begin until 2002. I ran my first marathon at 57. I ran fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and who could turn down the opportunity to run on Commonwealth Avenue right by Fenway Park on Patriot's Day? Certainly not this boy who had grown up in nearby Worcester, Mass.!

In April 2003 I ran a personal record of 3:28. So much for running just one marathon! I soon became hooked on running distances, long distances.

During a training run in July 2004, I was asked if I had ever heard of the Marathon des Sables ultramarathon? I quickly found out that the Marathon des Sables is a 150-mile race in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. It is run in stages over six days, averaging a marathon a day. About 800 runners compete from around the world, each carrying all his or her own food, clothes and gear for the entire period, with the race providing only water and basic canvas tents as shelter from the weather.

It sounded like a great alternative to cake and ice cream to celebrate my 60th birthday. In April 2005 I was in Morocco, trained and ready. Unfortunately, after 115 miles, the medical team pulled my number and refused to allow me to finish the race when they discovered that the source of my severe leg pain
was a fractured femur.

I flew home for surgery to insert a steel pin and plate in my right leg, followed by months of recovery. I gradually resumed  training later in the year, but in January 2006 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

After carefully studying the options, I decided to have my prostate gland removed in mid-March of that year. The radical prostatectomy was successful, recovery went well and no follow-up treatments were needed. Just 70 days after the surgery, I kept a planned date in May with friends, f lew to Africa and climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (19,360 feet).

My father had died of prostate cancer 12 years before, so I began annual PSA screenings in my 40s and as a result caught the disease early before the cancer had spread. That was the most crucial factor in being able to resume a normal life without complications or compromises, including a return to competitive running.

The amazing friends I made at the Marathon des Sables encouraged me to run more ultramarathons. Since my surgery, I've run several 100-mile races. I also launched, as race director, an ultramarathon in Florida called the Keys 100. The race raises money to fight prostate cancer.

I also crewed for a friend at Badwater. That experience was love at first sight! I knew immediately that I wanted to run in that insane competition if my application was accepted.

On Monday, July 14, 2008, at 8:00 a.m., I started the Badwater 135. With no sleep, lots of blisters and considerable satisfaction, I crossed the finish line at the Mount Whitney Portal 40 hours, 48 minutes later. The heat index had hit 126. I climbed three mountains along the way totaling 14,000 feet of elevation gain, and finished 35th out of a field of 80. I had been one of the oldest runners to ever start this event in its 31-year history. It didn't seem reasonable that the 30- and 40-somethings should be having all the fun.

I've learned some lessons along the way. Aging has its very real physical component to be sure, but state of mind is every bit as vital. Each of us truly does choose the life we will continue to lead. There are very few things I can imagine not being able to do at 63, and my adventures have just begun. Cancer need not be a death sentence nor compromise your quality of life. Attitude and will are yours to control.

By the way, in 2010 I'll be back in Morocco for another Marathon des Sables to finish what I started in 2005. As for Badwater, I'm thinking that if it hadn't been for those darn blisters I might have run at least three hours faster. So, next time…