Bill Elliott set a goal after a cancer diagnosis: ‘Run a marathon’
"I intend to enjoy every step while I shoot to qualify for 2023."
In our “Why I’m Running” series, Boston Marathon runners share what’s inspiring them to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston.
Name: Bill Elliott
Age: 48
From: Holden
In 2010, at age 36, marriage, kids, and a comfortable programming job had taken their toll as I had reached a peak weight of 240 pounds. My doctor had recommended I try to lose some weight and come back in six months, which I took as a personal challenge. In four months, I had lost 60 pounds by taking up running for the first time in my life, along with a restricted diet. I kept the weight off for the next five years and ran races up to a half-marathon distance.
In the spring of 2015, I noticed a large lump on my neck that appeared overnight. After a series of diagnoses that didn’t seem to stick, the doctors performed a biopsy that revealed squamous cell carcinoma. Imaging determined there were several cancerous areas in the neck region, and the race to save my life was on.
A complex double-surgery including a radical tonsillectomy and neck dissection was my first challenge. When I was inching toward recovery from the surgery, the intense radiation treatments began. Within weeks, I was reduced to under 165 pounds — mind you, I’m 6’6″ — and needed help just to do simple tasks like standing up.
In my home office, there is a whiteboard that had my running goals listed, with the ones crossed off that I had achieved. Goals like “run a 21-minute 5k” or “beat a 6-minute mile.” In my weakest state, I walked into my home office for the first time in weeks, sat in my chair, and stared at the whiteboard; at who I was and what I had become. I cried. Then, with the strength I had left, I slowly got up from the chair, picked up the marker, and wrote, “run a marathon” under all the other goals.
Too weak to walk away, I sat back down in my chair and stared at that new goal. The surgery and radiation treatments have created a “new normal” with respect to running. Swallowing is vastly more difficult while running. I can’t produce saliva, which leads to a host of other issues. My neck muscles are uniquely susceptible to vicious cramps.
I ran my first marathon in Erie, Pennsylvania, the next fall, very underweight and underprepared. Since that marathon, I’ve trained hard, found workarounds to my medical limitations, and I’ve achieved a sub-3-hour marathon in 2019 on a BAA-certified course! It is with this qualifying time that I am in Wave 1 of the Boston Marathon for 2022. I intend to enjoy every step while I shoot to qualify for 2023.
Editor’s note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.
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