Waterloo, Ont. man with stage 4 cancer qualifies for Boston Marathon

A Waterloo, Ont. man diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer continues to beat all odds.

“I got the news from the medical team that I had cholangiocarcinoma. That was back in November, which meant I had to start treatment in December,” said 66-year-old Dana Fox.

He wanted to attack the disease head-on so he began chemotherapy.

“[Cholangiocarcinoma] doesn’t have very good survival rates. They told me I wouldn’t make it past October this year,” Fox said.

But he didn’t let the diagnosis weigh him down. Earlier this summer he completed the Ride to Conquer Cancer, all while undergoing cancer treatments.

This past weekend, he took on another challenge – one that many thought would be too much to handle.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could do another marathon?” he asked himself. “There’s one last race before they qualify for Boston.”

So he signed up for the Georgina Marathon which is 42.195 kilometres long. The race, he says, was just as much a physical feat as it was a mental one.

“I’m still in treatment so it’s not like, ‘Well, it’s over and I know it’s all better.’ It’s not better. I still have a tumour on my liver,” said Fox.

Yet, Dana crossed the finish line with authority.

“I did it with seven minutes to spare. So it’s like, ‘Hey baby, we’re back on the bus. We’re going to Boston,’” said Fox.

That’s exactly where he plans to be in April 2025.

While the Georgina Marathon is over, the marathon that is his cancer journey is not. That’s why Fox keeps running.

“The folks that are here and the folks that have gone,” said Fox, taking a pause through tears. “The folks that had cancer and didn’t make it, I do this for them.”

It’s a message he hopes to spread Sunday as he participates in Waterloo’s Terry Fox Run, along with others across the country.

So from Terry Fox to Dana Fox, his message is to just keep running.

“No matter what,” he said.