Every Day is a Marathon

A pivotal scene in Paramount’s 1994 film "Forrest Gump" features Forrest running continually back and forth across the U.S. When asked why, Forrest’s answer is beautifully simple: "I just felt like running." Ask Terry Hitchcock whether his 57-year-old body felt like running back in 1996, when he completed the equivalent of 75 consecutive marathons in 75 days, and he'll just laugh. "The pain was unbearable-absolutely off the scale," he says. But his cause-raising awareness for the plight of single-parent families-was too important, and too personal, for him to give up.

In a special Family Weekend presentation at Gardner-Webb University, Hitchcock shared the incredible story of loss, determination, faith and hope that led him to do the impossible. Within the span of a week in 1984, Hitchcock lost his wife, Sue, to breast cancer, and then his job to corporate politics. He suddenly found himself raising three children by himself and unsure of what to do next.

That began a stretch of life that Hitchcock said felt like “a marathon every day…I barely knew how to boil water, let alone be a single parent,” he remembered. But a self-described eternal optimist, Hitchcock had been raised by his grandparents to believe in himself. “I’m a dreamer,” he said. “My grandfather always told me that there is nothing in life that I can’t accomplish, that nothing would be impossible.” That spirit of hope enabled Hitchcock to hold his family together, and a decade later, on the eve of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, it sparked an idea.

“The Olympics are about trying to do the impossible, going beyond what anybody says you can do,” Hitchcock said. So, at 57 years old, Hitchcock began training to run the more than 2,000 miles from St. Paul, Minn., to Atlanta, Ga., hoping to encourage other single-parent families to believe that “no matter what is against them, they can accomplish something great in life.”

Hitchcock suffered a heart attack during his training, and then broke bones in his ankles and knees during the run. He ran through freezing cold and unbearable heat. He was even chased by a bear. But before the opening ceremonies in 1996, Hitchcock broke the finish tape in Olympic Park in Atlanta, completing a journey that had captured the imagination of the entire nation.

Today, Hitchcock continues to inspire audiences across the country to do the impossible and to strive to make a difference. He has co-authored a book about his run, “A Father’s Odyssey,” and his story was made into an award-winning documentary called “My Run,” narrated by Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton. Hitchcock donates the proceeds from his book and documentary sales, as well as his speaking fees, to raise money for single-parent families and for breast cancer, diabetes, and Asperger’s syndrome research.

Before a showing of “My Run” during Family Weekend, Hitchcock challenged Gardner-Webb students and their families to stay positive in the midst of their challenges, and to seek to make a difference in others’ lives. And while he graciously answered questions about the trek itself, he maintained that his story is ultimately not about running.

“For all of us, every day is a marathon,” he said. “For some people, it’s easy just to trot. For others, it’s terribly hard. Either way, look at what you’ve been able to do, just today. Look at how blessed you are. Then go help somebody. Pick them up, and don’t ask for anything in return. That’s my message, and that’s what this story is all about.”

For more about “My Run,” visit myrunmovie.com.

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