Luc Lemire was supposed to run his 40e marathon for life two years ago. Brain cancer changed his plans. Today, at 71, he is “lucky to be alive.” And this time it will be the right one: Saturday, he will finally run his 40e marathon at the Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada. “We will celebrate the life that beats.”
“After a cancer diagnosis, life goes on. I am proof of that,” Mr. Lemire says with a smile. “As you get older, life goes on too.” […] We have to hurry up before it rusts!”
It is often said that there is no age limit for learning a sport. Mr. Lemire was 50 years old when he started running. “Most people stop running at 50!” exclaims the Lac-Saint-Joseph resident.
A year later, he completed his first marathon, in Quebec City. Although he promised himself the next day that he would “never run another,” the resolution only lasted a few days. “The following year, I ran another marathon, and then another, and another.”
In 2008, three years after he started running, he qualified for the Boston Marathon. The years passed, and Mr. Lemire happily completed one marathon after another.
Until life gave him a leg.
In December 2021, he was training for his 40e marathon. That morning, the day after Christmas, he ran 17 km without the slightest problem. A “normal race, without any warning signs”.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LUC LEMIRE
Luc Lemire
In the car, on the way back, I convulsed in the car. I had an epileptic fit, then I fell into a coma.
Luc Lemire
When he woke up, some eight hours later, he was in the hospital. Doctors discovered a brain tumor. The news came as a bombshell.
“Three days before, I was working! Throughout the fall, there were no warning signs that I had a brain tumor; no paralysis, no speech disorder, no loss of balance, no visual field disorder, no neurological manifestations.”
Himself an orthopedic surgeon at the Enfant-Jésus hospital, Mr. Lemire knew what his neurosurgeon was talking about when she used the words “tumor,” “operation” and “radiotherapy.”
The tumor was removed on January 5. “I woke up a little swollen. It’s the only time in my life that my head has been swollen, by the way!” he says with a laugh. The official diagnosis was later made: it was a malignant tumor, a grade 4 glioblastoma.
An aggressive cancer.
“A mean beast.”
The “trail of poles”
Luc Lemire started radiotherapy and chemotherapy in January 2022. He was weakened. The sofa became his “best friend”.
By March, he had gotten used to the effects of the treatments. Less affected by fatigue, he started walking again. That’s when what he calls his “trail des poteaux” was born.
“At first, I walked 200m there and 200m back. The next day, I was too tired to walk; I had to wait until the day after. The day after, I went back to do my 200m and added a length of telephone pole.
“I walked along lengths of telephone poles. I persevered and persevered.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LUC LEMIRE
Luc Lemire participated in the 10 km of the Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada with his two daughters in September 2022.
So much so that he participated in the 10 km of the Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada in September… between two chemotherapy treatments. He did it with his two daughters, Catherine and Geneviève.
“I didn’t have the power to run, so I jogged. […] We did it with joy! Even my daughters were acting crazy when we went down the hills. They were having fun, and I was teasing them. I said: you’re slowing me down! But I was the one slowing them down!
“It was a real party. It helped me psychologically too. It allowed me to say to myself: when my chemo is over, it will be within my reach to start having fun again.”
Treatment ended in October, nine months after her diagnosis. According to statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society, the average survival time for people with glioblastoma is 12 to 14 months. Only 1% of people over 55 survive after five years.
Mr. Lemire is approaching three years.
“I’m on the right side of the statistics,” he said. “I’m blessed by the gods. I’m privileged. I’ve had excellent care.”
Although glioblastoma has a “bad reputation for recurrence,” the septuagenarian is “pretty calm.” “I’m enjoying life,” he adds.
All set
Last year, Mr. Lemire ran the 28 km distance at the Ultra-Trail Harricana. This year, he is “in better shape.” He feels ready.
“I’m going to go run it, my 40e marathon! It’s time, there!
Even though he no longer has the same power or cardiovascular capacity as before – “I have a big heart, but I have no cardio!” – he intends to complete the 42 km of the Ultra-Trail Harricana, in Charlevoix.
“I’m confident I’ll finish it, because I’m quite stubborn, but I might finish it walking.”
“In popular terms, it takes resilience and determination. And I’m lucky to have that.”