We should never doubt the power of human determination. Few things will stop a mother determined to get her child food. Few things will be more important to an Olympic athlete than training for several hours each day. Few things will hinder a musician from practicing endlessly before a recital or a concert. Human will is a surprisingly strong force, and it’s one to be reckoned with. And in my opinion, few people demonstrate this truth better than Janette and Alan Murray of Australia.
Several years ago, Janette was diagnosed with breast cancer and given six months to live, even though she was only 52 years old and had lived a vegan lifestyle for the previous fifteen years. Needless to say, because of her healthy lifestyle and still fairly young age, the diagnosis was shocking; yet Janette was determined to live a whole lot longer than six months. “The power of intention is far greater than that of fear, and I had every intention of staying around for a long time!”
That intention wasn’t just something she talked about; she put actions behind her words. For the next six months, Janette spent three hours a day, five days a week, getting therapy to help boost her immune system. She increased her daily exercise, and began adding in long distance running and yoga, and she also began spending time each day in the sauna. She began to juice all the time and take wheatgrass shots; essentially, her already vegan diet became even more intense as she switched to 100 percent raw foods. Six months later, she was cancer free.
Her and her husband opened an Optimum Health Centre in Canada, believing that they had discovered not only the cure to cancer, but also to several other problems such as addiction and obesity. And even with the attention this information began to receive, it wasn’t widespread enough. That’s what prompted Janette and Alan to commit to running around Australia (15,782 km) to promote awareness and health; 366 marathons in 366 days, with no days off and a completely raw food diet. They began training for this daunting task in February of 2012, and began to tackle their massive goal in 2013 (at this point they were both in their 60s). The pair would wake up at 4am every morning, eat nothing but raw fruits and veggies, and finish running around 4pm each day. The climate in Australia is extremely harsh, with incredibly high temperatures and violent storms. The Murrays, though they said they were extremely sore in their first few weeks, didn’t quit, and ran through extreme temperatures, injuries, a cyclone, and even missed the birth of their fifth grandchild. Their eyes were set on a goal; they were determined to raise awareness for the cause they most believed in.
366 days later, Janette and Alan hold the world record for the number of marathons run in a row. Janette remains cancer free, and since their “Running Raw” adventure through Australia, they have had several journalists reach out and write stories about them. There is a documentary being made about them now, and Janette has written a few books.
This is just one story, but I think it’s a powerful one; human drive and determination is a force to be reckoned with. And if two 60-somethings can run around the country of Australia after battling cancer, I’m certain that you can conquer whatever mountain it is you’re trying to climb. It just takes a little determination.
