The wife of a Co Antrim man who died last year has paid tribute to his “remarkable” achievement of completing the Boston marathon whilst unknowingly battling stage 4 cancer.
Ballyclare man Martin Hull died aged 55 last August after being diagnosed with ALK positive, a rare type of lung cancer which derives from a genetic mutation.
The passionate runner and cyclist had been preparing for his dream of running the marathon in the United States last April when he started to become unwell and experience pain while hitting the roads.
While he struggled with extreme pain from the very beginning of the endurance event, Martin managed to battle his way to the end of the course with the support of family.
A group of his family and friends will now take on the Belfast marathon this weekend in his memory, a year on from his incredible feat in an effort to raise funds for ALK+.
Martin’s wife Lucy told The Irish News that her husband had been laser focused on completing his goal, despite the obvious pain he was in.
“He had got into his head about qualifying for the Boston marathon, and the only way to do that is a qualifying time for your age,” she said.
“In the last year before he died he had done a few other marathons and qualified, but from the February until Boston he started to have issues.
“When he started running he would become exhausted, he went back and forward to the GP. He did the Omagh half marathon and the Larne 10 mile and he just never recovered from them.
“He was in a lot of pain and had various symptoms, now looking back that was because the cancer was all over his body.
“Then we got to Boston and after 15 miles he messaged us to say that he was really struggling, but he finished it. We saw him at the 25th mile and he made it through, but he was an hour and 15 minutes over his expected time because he was just in so much pain.
“The minute he set foot on the road he was in pain, but he wanted to push through it, he was stubborn that way. He ran in pain the whole way, but absolutely loved it and the atmosphere in Boston, that kept him going.
“Doctors doubted that there was anything wrong with him just for the fact that he was able to do that.”
Lucy found out herself that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer during her husband’s illness, and underwent a mastectomy the week after she laid Martin to rest.
“It has been tough and he is a big hole in our family and a big hole in our church family. It’s just hard to believe that someone is taken so young.”
Five relay teams will take part in this weekend’s marathon in honour of Martin’s life, with Lucy adding that they have raised a significant sum for charity to date.
