Charley McLean Thought Childhood Lung Problems Would Kill Him—Until He Ran His First 5K. ”I was resigned to the fact that I probably wouldn’t make it past 30.“
“When I crossed the finish line at my first 5K last spring, I cried. Actually, that’s a lie: I unleashed the waterworks somewhere during the third mile, recognizing the sheer magnitude of the goal I was about to accomplish. A year or two ago, that goal would’ve seemed improbable,” Charley McLean said. “It wasn’t the first time that running moved me to tears, and it probably won’t be the last. That’s because I was never supposed to finish a 5K, or even run for a few unbroken minutes without my body breaking down.”
“But despite the despair I used to feel, I blindly believed in the idea of a future, even when my outlook seemed bleakest. And that’s how I found myself misty-eyed, with a hard-earned medal hanging from my neck, on a cold, damp April day.”
