My Run: The Terry Hitchcock Story

“Run Forrest, Run” is a phrase that has been made popular over the past 15-20 years from the movie Forrest Gump. We saw Forest run from a boy out of his correctional shoes and instruments throughout the Vietnam War and then across the country as a man. Although, that was partly fictional as far as the movie is concerned, my attention has been captured by a modern day Forrest Gump. No, this man didn’t live in a home where Elvis stayed nor did this man found the Apple McIntosh company but this man, Terry Hitchcock ran the length of 75 marathons in 75 days which was the equivalent of over 2,000 miles at the age of 57.

Terry lost his wife to breast cancer when she was in her early thirties which was a devastating blow to the family. Terry was left to raise three children alone. He had to learn so many things and how to overcome trials of being a single parent. As he went through these difficult days, he thought of ways to encourage single parents and how to make a small difference in their lives regardless of their situations or circumstances. He remembers a hero in his life by the name of Terry Fox. In case you are not familiar with Terry Fox’s story, Terry was a young man in Canada who had decided to run across Canada for the sake of cancer research. Terry Fox had one leg because the other was amputated six inches below the knee cap because of bone cancer. Terry ran until he began having chest pains. Those chest pains led doctors and nurses to look at him more thoroughly only to discover that he had more cancer. Terry Fox’s story was truly an inspiration so much that almost a decade and a half later, Terry Hitchcock would be heavily influenced by the legacy of Terry Fox.

So with this inspiration in his heart, Terry Hitchcock trained for 17 months to run from St Paul, MN to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA. Halfway through the training, Terry had a heart attack but that never slowed him down. Terry was not what we would label a “runner”. He shared with me that he used to run a mile or two, maybe even three on Saturdays but that was as far as his running hobby took him.

75 daily marathons in 75 days did not go in vein. Terry was able to raise awareness of single parenting and to raise money to help single parent families in need as well as those dealing with cancer.

Today, Terry’s story can be read in book form called A FATHER’S ODYSSEY or you can watch the movie, MY RUN which was released a few short weeks ago on DVD narrated by Billy Bob Thornton.

You can purchase this DVD by going to http://www.myrundvd.com a portion of every DVD sale will be donated to Live Strong to help fight cancer. This is definitely a movie that you will want to watch and share with someone else.