Maple Grove Runner Prepares for 711th Marathon
A Maple Grove runner is still light on his feet after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis five years ago. He’ll be taking on the Twin Cities Marathon this coming weekend.
Three days a week, Tom Perri heads out the door for his workout. Often his friend’s dog Otto is by his side. Heading out for a jog is something he’s done many times before — he started running track in 1975. It’s remained a constant in his life.
“Just get on your shoes, run out the door, and you’re free,” Perri said.
Though he doesn’t make his jogs easy on himself. Every step helps him meet a benchmark.
“Everything I have is a goal,” he said. “So, I always try and achieve different goals. Some are really ridiculous.”
Tom Perri runs in his Maple Grove neighborhood with his friend’s dog Otto.
One of those goals is simply to rack up the number of marathons he’s ran. The upcoming Twin Cities Marathon will be his 711th.
Through that extensive list, he’s been around the world multiple times, and around the country nearly nine times.
Many of the times he races, he paces other runners and helps them meet their goals.
“It’s been a huge thing to help people just finish their first marathon, finish their first 5k, anything — it just puts a smile on my face that they get to smile,” he said. “Hitting my nine times in the 50 states is important — but it’s more important that I put a smile on that person’s face that I paced.”
New Perspective
Perri’s pace has slowed over the years, though his momentum hasn’t. As he battled personal records and changing altitudes, he started another personal battle in July 2019. That’s when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer.
At that time, he was given three to five years to live. He’s still living — and running — over five years later.
He said the diagnosis shifted his perspective.
When asked which of the 710 races were his favorite, he said “the next one.”
“With my diagnosis, I’m not guaranteed a next one,” he said. “So if anything happens to me health-wise and all that, I treasure the next one. So that’s what I always say now: the next one is my favorite.”
Perri said the sport is his salvation. He wrote a book about it, calling cancer a motivating factor.
“On Sunday, it will be my 216th marathon since my Stage IV diagnosis,” he said. “And I’m just going to keep on going.”
Every step, every race, every connection is a love letter to the sport that saves Perri every day. He says he’s someone who is chronically early, but life has no need to rush along.
“I’m in no hurry to get to my funeral,” Perri said. “I want to be late.”
