Cancer survivor completes 287-mile run in Arizona
Brian Thomas has always seemed to defy the odds.
Diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma in the spring of 2013, Thomas was told he had two months left to live. Metastatic melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is dangerous because it can spread to other parts of the body quickly, jeopardizing lymph nodes, bone or organs like the liver or brain.
Thomas, 41, a science teacher and track coach at Okeeheelee Middle School in Greenacres, didn’t let that diagnosis stop him. One and 1⁄2 years later, he was off and running again — both literally and figuratively. He covered 1,200 miles from Florida to Washington, D.C. over 43 days to raise money for cancer patients like him.
“I turned the corner and ran across the country in the summer of 2015,” said Thomas, who has competed in four marathons, nine ultramarathons and has also run four multi-states if you include his recent run.
He just completed a 287-mile run in Arizona to raise money for COVID-19 victims. Thomas planned on a 1,000-mile run, however, wildfires in Arizona cut that short.
“I was near death in 2015,” Thomas said. “Running is the instrument in how I push in a physical and spiritual self. … I think running helped me deal with what I was battling with cancer and gave me the fortitude to lose it, and pick myself back up, lose it and pick myself back up again.
“I had a worldwide network of people who were there before to support me in a multitude of different ways,” he said.
He also shared the first few days of his recent run with his middle school students on YouTube.
“I thought that was really cool that they were able to follow me,” he said.
In 2002, he had run from his then hometown of Lake Orion, Michigan to St. Augustine (1,207 miles). That run was to raise funds and awareness for children with cerebral palsy. Ten years later, in 2012, Thomas also ran a relay-style race in 2012 to raise money for colon cancer patients.
He began his journey in early June and stopped on the north rim of the Grand Canyon due to Arizona wildfires. Normally, he said the runs are planned between six and nine months out and this one took place 14 days after he laced up his running shoes.
“I really wanted to do multiple states again, but it was really challenging,”
Thomas said. “It was super beautiful and it was really very last minute. I ran for 14 days with two Sundays off until I had to stop. It was a great adventure. I never knew how many lakes were made in Arizona and we would go swimming at the end of every day. I saw things I hadn’t seen before like scorpions and snakes.
“It was really cool because there were a lot of historical elements,” he said. “I have always wanted to do that. I got exhausted. We were able to raise $11,000 and help nine people around the world.”
Thomas said he hopes to inspire others.
“I hope this is a positive,” he said. “There are not a lot of people who do what I do. In Hollywood terms, I like to consider myself as an uncommon superhuman. I hope that I inspire and motivate people. I was able to use my passion and go after it, no matter what.”
Three people were critically injured and a child is in stable condition after a crash on I-95 Saturday afternoon. The 4:30 p.m. crash happened in the southbound lanes near the
Sunrise Boulevard exit.
Rescue workers raced to free people trapped in vehicles. An alert to the news media said three of the injured sustained traumatic injuries. One of the vehicles rolled over, said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue
Battalion
Gollan.
A firefighter working to free those trapped had minor injuries, Gollan said.
Chief
Stephen