Cancer Changed My Life.
Now I want to “ketchup” to beat cancer.
I am a 40-year-old widower with a 10-year-old son. In October 2017, my wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer. Over the next 16 months, she went through 25 rounds of chemo, 50 rounds of radiation, four different treatment centers, clinical trials and more before she ultimately passed in February 2019 six years ago.
The whole experience shook me to my core. As you can imagine, losing your wife of ten years and having to tell your then 4-year-old son that his mom died was a terrible moment. It caused me to re-evaluate a lot of things in my life. I decided it was time to make a change.
There was no reason my son should have to lose another parent because I couldn’t take care of myself.
See, I’ve struggled with my weight for most of my adult life. In June 2019, I joined a gym and started working with a strength trainer. Then in July 2020, I joined the Indianapolis 500 Festival’s 500-mile challenge. After walking 500 intentional miles in 102 days, I thought maybe I can run. I signed up for a 100-mile run challenge and completed that over the course of a month.
And since then, I haven’t stopped. I’ve logged nearly 4,000 miles. But along the way, I realized something. I realized I could make a difference in other people’s lives. Because no family should ever have to go through what we went through.
I decided to become a charity marathon runner fundraising for cancer-related charities. To one day hopefully help to fund research to make it so cancer doesn’t completely consume people’s lives. I ran the NYC Marathon in November 2023 and Chicago Marathon in October 2024 both as a St. Jude Hero, raising nearly $10,000 so that no family ever receives a bill for treatment, housing, travel, or meals. I also ran the 2024 Boston Marathon as a charity runner for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, raising more than $22,000 to help fund vital research for colorectal cancer.
Cancer is extremely personal to me. I would be honored for your support to help fund important research and support cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers to, hopefully one day, end cancer for good. And if some ketchup gets spilled along the way, so be it!
Strong All Along
In January 2009, my late wife, Amanda, and I got married. Over the course of our relationship, we experienced a lot of ups and downs. After three years of infertility struggles, we finally had our baby boy in 2014.
One constant in Amanda’s life, for more than twenty years, was her love of the band 311. During her life, she saw 311 62 times, meeting hundreds of fans and celebrating their mantra of “Stay Positive and Love Your Life.”
On a girl’s weekend to Nashville, she went and got a tattoo with the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter and under it, the phrase from one of her favorite 311 songs, “Strong All Along.”
After arriving home from another trip a few weeks later, she was in excruciating pain. We went to the ER. They did an x-ray, which came back abnormal. They then did a CT scan.
And at 2 am, the doctor came in and wrecked our world. “You have cancer. And it’s bad. You need to see an oncologist within the next 48 hours.”
Over the next 16 months, Amanda’s Army of 311 friends, Phi Mu sisters, and members of my fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, rallied behind Amanda as she endured hundreds of appointments, treatments, hospitals, and more. They all embodied her battle cry to be Strong All Along.
Since her passing, Strong All Along has become my motto. To remind myself that I can do hard things. To remember her legacy and to live my life to the fullest. To treat people with kindness and make an positive impact on the world.
Abbott World Marathon Majors
The Abbott World Marathon Majors are the seven world largest marathons across the world. When you complete each marathon, you are awarded a Star.
Starting in 2016, Abbott introduced the Six Star Medal for those who have completed all of the original six Major Marathons (New York, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, London and Tokyo).
In 2024, Sydney was added as the seventh World Marathon Major.
As of May 2025, only 22,480 people have ever finished this feat. Only 8,186 Americans.
By February 2027, I aim to be one of the few. I hope you continue to follow me on my journey!
