St. Paul man to run 500 miles to raise money to fight pancreatic cancer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - For Mark Dowdle, running, much like life, is all about overcoming obstacles, and in about a week, he's going to face his biggest challenge yet.

"Satisfied. Determined and really at peace," said Dowdle.

Next month, Dowdle is planning to run 500 miles from Springfield, Illinois to St. Paul in memory of his friend's mom, Laurie Weber, who died two years ago after a 4 year battle with pancreatic cancer.

He'll run up to 60 miles a day, across 3 states, to raise 50,000 dollars to help high school students whose lives have been touched by cancer and pancreatic cancer research at the University of Minnesota.

"We've taken this painful experience and instead of trying to run from it, we're not running from something, we're running with that pain, and when we run with that pain, we learn to let it go," said Dowdle.

Dowdle has already completed two ultra runs, from Duluth to St Paul and from Fargo to Stillwater, to raise money for the Love Like Laurie charitable foundation.

As difficult as it will be to finish another mammoth undertaking, Dowdle says he finds strength in the support of those helping him reach his goal.

"When we are out there, the only thing I need is for the people around me to tell me they love me and that's when I dig even deeper," said Dowdle.

For now, Dowdle is training 6 days a week to get ready for his extreme adventure and just like Laurie approached her fight against the deadly disease, he's taking it one step at a time.

"My hope is somebody sees this and they realize their struggle is real, their struggle is massive and they can get through it," said Dowdle.

Dowdle's latest Living The Legacy run will begin October 8th. 

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