{"id":18033,"date":"2025-08-13T18:46:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irun.wales\/?p=18033"},"modified":"2025-08-13T18:46:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:46:06","slug":"running-through-it-my-journey-before-and-after-cancer-paul-scanlon-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irun.wales\/cy\/news\/running-through-it-my-journey-before-and-after-cancer-paul-scanlon-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Running Through It: My Journey Before and After Cancer, Paul Scanlon Story!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before cancer, running was my therapy. It was where I found my breath when life felt too heavy. Every mile I ever logged oh & I have achieved many, gave me space to think, to let go, to feel free. It didn\u2019t matter what kind of day I had\u2014once my feet hit the ground, everything else seemed to fall into place. I ran to challenge myself, to connect with my body, to fundraise for various charities and to clear the mental clutter that would often threaten to drown me.
Then cancer came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    The diagnosis turned my world upside down and inside out. Surgery was inevitable, and with it came something I never imagined I’d face: a permanent colostomy stoma. Waking up from surgery, I didn\u2019t just feel pain\u2014I felt like a stranger in my own body. The thought of running again seemed impossible. I wasn\u2019t just dealing with physical recovery\u2014I was grieving. For my old body. For the ease I once felt when I moved. For the version of me that hadn\u2019t yet known this kind of vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But deep down, the runner in me has never really died.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    The first time I tried to run after surgery, it was awkward, uncomfortable, and honestly, terrifying. I worried about everything\u2014how my stoma would react, if people could see it, if I\u2019d ever feel \u201cnormal\u201d again. But I did it. Slowly. Gently. I didn\u2019t go far, and it wasn\u2019t pretty\u2014but I ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And something shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Running began to heal me again\u2014not just my body, but my mind. With every run, I reclaimed a little more of myself. I stopped seeing my stoma as a symbol of limitation and started seeing it as proof of survival. Yes, there are still days it\u2019s hard. There are still setbacks. But there\u2019s also power in showing up anyway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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        Now, running isn\u2019t about pace or distance. It\u2019s about resilience. It\u2019s about choosing to move forward\u2014even when life has tried to hold me back. It\u2019s about finding strength not in spite of what I\u2019ve been through, but because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If you\u2019re reading this and facing your own mountain\u2014be it illness, surgery, or a body that feels unfamiliar\u2014know this: your strength doesn\u2019t lie in how fast you move, but in your decision to keep going. You\u2019re not broken. You\u2019re becoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        And you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Having survived Stage3 Bowel Cancer I have started a 5k walk\/jog\/run group called ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other ” To show there is life, with\/post Cancer and there is a life worth living with a stoma. All it takes is to put one foot in front of the other. Welcome anyone to join us every Sunday 9.30am Tesco Carpark Western Ave Cardiff for our 5k event<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Before cancer, running was my therapy. It was where I found my breath when life felt too heavy. Every mile I ever logged oh & I have achieved many, gave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":18037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRunning Through It: My Journey Before and After Cancer, Paul Scanlon Story! - Run Wales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index,follow\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/cy\/news\/running-through-it-my-journey-before-and-after-cancer-paul-scanlon-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"cy_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Running Through It: My Journey Before and After Cancer, Paul Scanlon Story! - Run Wales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before cancer, running was my therapy. 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