Home > The Scene

In our next issue: My comeback from cancer

From one gruelling 30-minute kilometre on a treadmill alone in the dead of winter, to running a half-marathon with hundreds of others, running has saved my life

Glenn Francis McMullin’s story as told to Sinead Mulhern. 

When I look back at my life three years ago, I can’t believe all that I’ve achieved. At 50 years old, my future looked grim. Years of poor lifestyle choices had finally caught up with me. Death didn’t seem so far off. I was obese, weighing 340 lb. I had high blood pressure and cholesterol, chronic gout, sleep apnea and my blood sugar was also creeping up. Doctors warned me that the weight needed to come off. I saw the positive effects of the pills they prescribed, but they were a band-aid solution.

“I got on the treadmill and I started to walk. It took me 30 minutes to walk one kilometre.”

At the beginning of 2015, though, one final diagnosis changed everything: I had esophageal cancer. The survival rate was low.

I was about to begin my fight with cancer and I needed to get in better shape to handle chemo radiation and surgery. In the dead of January, I got on the treadmill and I started to walk. It took me 30 minutes to walk one kilometre, and I would finish absolutely spent. It was humbling. At 340 lb., running is a very hard thing to get into, but that was my goal.

Read the full story in the January 2018 issue of the magazine.

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The best trainers in Canada under $150

We curated the best performance trainers under $150 to meet your 2024 running goals, while staying on budget