Goal: 50 states, 50 marathons
Cancer survivor checks off Vermont
8:50 AM, Jul 7, 2012
Written by JOHN A. FANTINO
Free Press Staff Writer
Diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer, Don Wright was told by doctors he had just a few years to live. That was nine years ago.
Since then, the 71-year-old from Lake Elmo, Minn., has run 63 marathons in 45 states, an impressive feat that he’s scheduled to continue Sunday when he runs the Mad Marathon in central Vermont.
“I’m not just surviving,” Wright said. “I’m thriving.”
Wright has multiple myeloma, a disease that attacks white blood cells and often comes with a death sentence.
“They said the average survival was five years,” Wright said. “You start getting your house in order pretty quick when you hear that.”
He also started cranking out training miles and marathon applications. For someone who started running when he was 61 simply to lose a few pounds, Wright soon completed his first marathon. Two weeks after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, he qualified for the Boston Marathon.
Wright has been attempting to run a marathon in each of the 50 states, a mission he’s scheduled to complete this year.
The inspiring tour continues Sunday at the Mad Marathon, a 26-mile hilly trek through the Mad River Valley. The Mad Marathon, which debuted last year, starts and finishes in Waitsfield. The course snakes through rolling farmlands, quaint villages, dirt roads and covered bridges.
For Wright, each step of the race will represent success in his battle against cancer.
Opting not to undergo chemotherapy because it would make him too weak to train, Wright instead turned to the trial-drug pomalidomide several years ago.
“It’s just a pill,” Wright said. “I’d like to inspire the country to make available drugs like this for people who are dying. Accessibility to experimental drugs is important to me because it is saving me life.”
Wright, a lawyer, travels to many of the races with his wife Ardis and daughter Sarah, both of whom participate in half marathons while he runs the full marathons. They drive to many of the events, although they flew to Alaska last week to run a marathon.
What does Wright plan to do after running marathons in New Hampshire, New Mexico, West Virginia and Hawaii this year to complete the journey of 50 marathons in 50 states while fighting cancer?
“There’s a lot of Canada we haven’t explored yet,” he said.
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Here is Don making a splash in Vermont as he continues his 50-state quest as the Myeloma Marathoner.