James Riley had thought himself physically incapable of running again when diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Almost 10 years later, Mr Riley heard about the inaugural Ballarat Marathon running festival and could hardly help but to try testing out a run.
The Ballarat 42-year-old has just run his first marathon in more than a decade, finishing in five hours and 12 minutes.
"I was just proud to be on the starting line, let along crossing the finishing line," Mr Riley said.
"It was definitely a grind, I had to really pace myself but I got there."
Mr Riley had been a big runner, tackling marathons and ultra marathons, until there came a time when he started to lose feeling in his legs when running. He began to trip and stumble and this ultimately led to an MS diagnosis.
Running had been a cathartic release outlet for Mr Riley and this was gone.
Mr Riley learned about the Ballarat Marathon in January and set out to walk the half-marathon but a competitive edge got him thinking about the marathon.
"Me being me, while I can't run, I thought I could still walk...I thought about the marathon but that would take me eight hours and the marathon only allows six hours. I needed to cut off two hours," Mr Riley said.
"One afternoon when my son was riding his bike next to me, I tried jogging 100 metres. I struggled and tripped, I was slow and looked stupid.
"This was me accepting my new reality but running this way was better than not running at all."
That 100m start turned into a one-kilometre running goal, then 5km. Mr Riley has built up to a 32km training run, building towards the 42.2km marathon and determined to come in under the six-hour limit.
When picking up his race bib from Ballarat Mining Exchange on Friday, Mr Riley was joined by his work colleague Yvan Edouard, who has travelled from Adelaide to also run the marathon.
This was the first time they had met in person.
Mr Edouard had been so inspired by Mr Riley's story that, having never run farther than 12km, he decided to train up for the marathon too.
Mr Riley said the marathon itself was "definitely a grind", he said the atmosphere on Sunday made it all worth it.
"It was awesome...just everyone acknowledging each other and encouraging each other along the way," he said.
"You sort of find yourself running with similar people most of the ways."
He said his wife and daughters were cheering him on at various stages of the course, and said he would definitely try and run the marathon again, if it came back in 2025.
"Now that I've sort of been bitten by the running bug back again after 10 years out of it, I'm keen to sort of try and keep it going," he said.
"Maybe not to the same extent as I've done for the last two to three months, but I'll pick it up again.
"As my parents keep telling me, it's amazing what I am doing, let alone trying to set myself different time limits.
"My love of running has led me to this point."
Mr Riley has raised almost $2500 for multiple sclerosis awareness and support in his run.
