Running with terminal cancer My brief encounter with Hall of fame
Last week I had the honour of speaking on stage about running with cancer, and how willpower and a positive mindset can overcome barriers in life.
I was a guest at The National Running Show at Birmingham’s NEC and a great thing about being at a show full of so many like-minded people is that you can chat away without the risk that they have no interest in your passion.
So many people who had read my book came along just to see me and talk about prostate cancer and how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
It was a very humbling experience because I’m no expert, I’m just an enthusiastic amateur.
Everyone there had the opportunity to see speakers who were far more famous than me.
I got to spend a few minutes talking with a running hero of mine, the legendary inov-8 ultra runner Damian Hall.
Damian is possibly the best UK ultra runner right now and holds, or has held, many what are called “Fastest Known Times” for running incredible distances all over the UK.
Just like all ultra runners he was happy to chat to anyone about the sport. But what makes Damian just that bit more special in my eyes are his green credentials. He works so hard to ensure what he does has as little environmental impact as possible, aiming to be carbon negative when most people see carbon neutral as the target.
Incredibly, Damian didn’t even run a first half marathon until he was 35, and now, 10 years on, he has achieved more in the UK trail running world than 99.9% of runners like me ever will.
Damian has many attributes that we all should aspire to.
So like Damian, I hope that you will always make time for others, be as green as possible and realise that it’s never too late to start something amazing, no matter how old you are.
Until next week, Kev
What makes him special is being carbon negative, not neutral