9X with cancer runs 42km: After taking a few steps, he was "out of breath"

"In the bone marrow transplant room, standing between life and death, I thought about what I would do if I were still alive. Jogging suddenly flashed in my mind," Nguyen Viet Thanh shared.

Lying in the hospital room waiting for doctors to perform the life-threatening bone marrow transplant (stem cell transplant), Nguyen Viet Thanh (born in 1990) imagined the next pages of his life if the surgery was successful.

"If I'm still alive, I'll run," a thought suddenly flashed through the young man's mind.

The moment he fell in love with his favorite sport was recounted by Nguyen Viet Thanh in detail and emotionally as if it had happened just yesterday.

In mid-2021, during a blood test before tooth extraction, the doctor discovered an abnormal index and recommended Thanh see a specialist.

He was then diagnosed with Acute Leukemia, one of the most deadly types of blood cancer .

The disease is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of malignant leukemic cells, accompanied by impaired differentiation of damaged cell lines. As a result, these cells overwhelm normal cell lines in the bone marrow, invade other organs and spread to the peripheral blood.

"At the most beautiful age of my life, I panicked when I discovered that I might only have a few months left to live," Vu Viet Thanh said in a low voice.

Getting cancer was something Thanh never thought of when he always had a healthy, active lifestyle, rarely drank, loved mountain climbing, went to the gym, and rarely got sick.

The most recent abnormal sign, according to Thanh's memory, was just feeling a little weak and losing weight about a month before the disease was discovered.

Thinking back to his school days, Thanh remembers occasionally having bleeding gums after brushing his teeth. "I simply thought those symptoms were due to brushing my teeth incorrectly, or using a hard toothbrush," Thanh said.

The disease progressed rapidly, so immediately after being diagnosed, Thanh began treatment. He underwent many rounds of high-dose chemotherapy. The chemicals help destroy the cancer cells growing in the body, but of course they also "eroded" the health of this 30-year-old man.

At the time he was diagnosed, Thanh's family had just received the good news of a "new member". During more than a year of treatment, his father was always there to accompany him during his hospitalizations. His mother and wife both took care of the newborn baby and took care of the housework. "I feel so sorry and sorry for the whole family," the man said sadly.

After a year of treatment, in April 2022, the doctor said he could undergo a bone marrow transplant. Luckily, his younger brother was a match to donate stem cells for this transplant.

Thanh understood that this method offered hope of curing the disease, helping him regain his previous life, but the failure rate was equal to the success rate. Above all, with his condition, without a bone marrow transplant, Thanh had almost no chance of living.

"In the bone marrow transplant room, standing between life and death, I thought about what I would do if I were still alive. One of those thoughts was to play sports to increase my resistance, to better support my recovery process.

Running was the first thing that came to mind, because it is the easiest sport to start with. The bone marrow transplant went smoothly and I fell in love with my passion from then on," Thanh laughed.

Thanh's journey to conquer the 42km marathon began with a 100m run that left him "out of breath" and "so tired he wanted to collapse" when he left the "glass cage" after the bone marrow transplant.

"I took my first steps running after studying medical literature, which showed clear evidence that early exercise improves health and strengthens the immune system after being in a completely sterile room.

"At first, I ran lightly and found that my body responded well and improved. Therefore, I decided to gradually increase the amount of exercise in a serious and systematic way," Thanh shared.

Thanh describes his journey into the world of "foot fetishism" as similar to how he faced cancer. Above all, the most important thing is will and knowledge.

"To treat cancer or run, the first thing you have to do is do it right," Thanh emphasized. The first thing the young man prepared when starting to run and treat cancer was to equip himself with thorough knowledge. Every decision needs to be based on scientific basis and clearly quantified indicators.

"If cancer is treated at the right stage and the doctor's treatment regimen is followed, the results will be very high, even a complete cure. However, unfortunately, many patients, because they do not research carefully and choose unverified methods, lose their chances.

The same goes for running. I read a lot of documents and rely on my doctor's advice to build my route in the most scientific way possible," Thanh analyzed.

As a cancer survivor, Thanh believes that planning a running schedule must be carefully considered. The goals set must ensure that they do not exceed one's own limits.

Besides, the route is built like a "staircase", must be "taken step by step".

Thanh said: "The journey is not calculated in days or months, but in years to feel the changes in the body."

Second, with a long journey like running or cancer treatment, perseverance is essential. Throughout the process, there are always bottlenecks that challenge your limits. Whether you can overcome them or not depends on your will and perseverance.

"There needs to be a reason, a specific goal and just aim at that destination to overcome everything," Thanh analyzed.

Every week, Thanh will run 5 sessions. The plan clearly states how each session will be run and what support plans there will be. Some days he will run long, some days he will run for recovery, some days he will focus on speed, but most of the time he will run easy.

Before each run, he avoids eating a full meal, his usual menu is just a banana to provide energy and electrolytes. He spends 15 minutes warming up and stretching. Thanh also spends a lot of time stretching after finishing his run.

According to him, this "introduction" and "conclusion" part are very important to avoid injury and muscle strain.

To balance sports with life and work, Thanh tightens discipline about time. He goes to bed before 10:30 pm and wakes up at 4:30 am the next day, to have enough 1 hour and 30 minutes for daily running before going to work.

This schedule helps him ensure he gets enough sleep, meets his targets, and doesn't affect other tasks during the day.

The important thing, according to him, is to listen to your body to have a flexible plan to adjust your running.

At dawn on November 28, 2022, Vu Viet Thanh completed the final steps of his first 42km run. The "wrung out" shirt stuck to his body, partly depicting the fierce 5-hour journey of this runner.

The moment he crossed the finish line, the images of the two great battles he had just gone through suddenly "rewinded" in this runner's mind.

It was an exciting first 10km with full energy, just like the first cancer treatment brought many positive signs.

The next 20km, his strength was gradually worn away, the heavy steps challenged his body and mind. This was something Thanh also had to face in the second half of his battle with cancer, when his body was devastated.

The last 10km is all about running with willpower. "The peak is at kilometer 32-33. In marathons, there is a term called "hitting the wall", when the body continuously sends warning signals that it has reached its limit. This is also the time when most runners give up.

"In the second half of my cancer treatment, I always encountered such "walls", there were times when I thought I could never overcome them," Thanh shared.

The greatest luck, according to Thanh, is that in any war he is never alone.

"My victories in the two important battles of my life would not have been possible without the support of my family, relatives, friends and colleagues," Thanh affirmed.

This first marathon is a springboard for Thanh to aim for new goals.

In the following period, Thanh's training process was occasionally interrupted because his immune system had not fully recovered, so he often sneezed and had a runny nose. Thanh only resumed high-intensity training around August until now.

The last time he had a routine check-up, the overall results were very good, more importantly, within just one year, his health and immune system were back to normal. This surprised the doctors.

Last October, Thanh participated in a Half Marathon (21km) with a completion time of 1 hour 41 minutes and a Full Marathon (42km) with 3 hours 58 minutes.

Every year, this runner sets a "kpi" to participate in about 2 marathons. For each race, he gives a specific goal, part of the long-term roadmap he builds.

"My goal in 5 years is to save enough to participate in a "World Marathon Majors" tournament. This is the name of the 6 most prestigious marathons in the world held annually, respectively in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York," Thanh excitedly shared about his destination.

At 5am, Vu Viet Thanh puts on his shoes and takes his first steps of the day along the lakeside path below the apartment building. This habit has been maintained by him for over a year.

Many "runners" in the area know Thanh's face. However, few people know that this tall, always smiling young man once went through a difficult battle with illness.

Thanh uses the word "miraculous" when describing what running has done for him.

"From a body exhausted after a year of continuous chemotherapy, sometimes I could only walk ten meters and then falter, my current physical condition is something I didn't have before I got sick," this runner shared.

According to Thanh, the path to cancer treatment is very difficult. However, for those who have overcome it, the next path, how to return to life, is much more difficult. It is also an effort to leave behind the uncertainties, doubts, isolation, or even the fear of whether the disease will recur or not.

This pressure is as scary as a ticking time bomb always hanging over the heads of many "warriors" like Thanh.

For Thanh, the most difficult but proudest "run" he has ever made is from the hospital bed back to "home".

"Running has brought me back to life," Thanh said, his eyes burning.

Content: Minh Nhat, Ngoc Minh

Dantri.com.vn