Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Thursday

June 21, 2012

Man running around lake to raise funds

BY DENNIS CHASE dchase@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Steve Cannon still had another five miles or so to run Wednesday evening when he pulled up to take a break near Charlevoix.

The Iowa resident is in the midst of a grueling run around Lake Michigan to raise money "to cure cancer." He's billed it as "40 marathons, 40 days" — and thus far he's raised more than $25,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Wednesday was Day 25 — and the 90-plus degree heat was starting to take a toll.

"The last three to four miles have been challenging," the 46-year-old said. "I'm struggling a lit bit with the heat exposure. When it's hot like this, it's really difficult to eat. So, I'll take an hour to cool down, get some food in me, and that should make for a fairly enjoyable run to end the day.

"Hopefully, I'll get to sleep at a decent hour and get up and do it again (Thursday)."

Cannon started his 26.2-mile-a-day journey at the Navy Pier in Chicago. He ran north through Wisconsin, east through the Upper Peninsula, and now south back to Illinois.

"No doubt there are some physical challenges, but it's the adventure of a lifetime for me," Cannon said. "I never say never, but I don't know if I'll ever do something this grand again."

Three years ago, Cannon ran across Iowa and raised just under $10,000. That was 11 marathons in 11 days. It's the cause that keeps him going.

"We're currently the second or third largest grassroots fundraiser in the United States," he said. "That's pretty cool.

"It's definitely a cause I believe in, and I want to keep doing things for it the rest of my (life). The benefits are so great — the people you meet, the people who are fighting cancer, the people who are beating cancer, the lessons you learn about perseverance. You just realize how lucky you are to be able to do something like this. Those are things that keep you moving."

Cannon is a big fan of Armstrong, who's had a battle with testicular cancer. Once he learned about Armstrong's foundation, he decided to get involved.

"Lance found out about this a month ago, and seemed to be blown away by it," Cannon said. "He put a thing out on twitter about it."

Cannon said he came up with the idea a couple years ago while visiting with friends at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

"I was really struck by how big Lake Michigan appeared to be," he said. "For whatever reason, I had this thought: I wonder if anybody has ever tried to run around it?

"The most challenging part of it is just getting started every day and keeping your mind out of the equation because it likes to look way forward and that can make it seem undoable.

If you can stay in the moment, and realize that it's quite an adventure, then you've got a fighting chance."

Cannon typically breaks up his run throughout the day.

"You try to set a schedule before you leave, but you just have to let your body be the boss," he said. "When it tells you to stop, you've got to stop.

"As long as I listen to that — I'm no accomplished runner — I seem to be OK. Plus, I've got an incredible support crew. You can't do this by yourself."

Cannon plans to arrive in Traverse City on Friday. He'll be aided by cooler weather that's blowing in today.

"Forty days, you're going to have (hot weather)," he said. "There's no getting around it. There are times you curse at the weather, but all in all that's part of the adventure."

Those wishing to contribute can visit www.theruntocurecancer.com.

Text Only