Hlas: Running across Iowa and against cancer

Ryan Wade of Iowa City is in the process of running 9 1/2 marathons in seven days, and that's not the most-impressive thing he's doing in that time frame.

This week, the owner of Iowa City-based Wade Investments has raised over $50,000 and awareness for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on a run across Eastern Iowa, from the northeast to southeast corners of the state. He has a goal of raising $175,000 by next month, and his run is the cornerstone.

Wade is a nominee for the LLS' Iowa chapter's Man of the Year award. He got involved in LLS after a friend lost a child to leukemia.

He calls his run 'One Step at a Time,' and the number of steps he estimates the run will cover is 528,226.

Friday, Wade ran 28 of the 250 total miles on the route. He began just south of Coggon, came through Marion and Cedar Rapids, and continued to Solon. His route and more information are at onestepLLS.com.

He will begin Day 5 of the weeklong run at Solon High School Saturday at 8 a.m. He will proceed to Iowa City and finish the day in Riverside.

'I'm a passionate runner,' 39-year-old Wade said in Cedar Rapids Friday. 'I thought, 'Why not cross Eastern Iowa?' It's been very fun.'

It has evolved into much more than Wade's own run. Months ago, he notified chambers of commerce in towns he planned to pass through, and things took off from there.

Waukon was good to him. Elkader, too. And many more towns.

Then there was Edgewood.

At Cafe Rose, Wade and his support group were treated to a five-course Italian dinner Wednesday night. Even better, the Edgewood-Colesburg Community School District's Pennies for Patients campaign and the Woodcenter Eagles 4-H Club donated $4,520 to Wade's cause. Jake Schilling, a 10-year-old leukemia survivor, presented Wade with the check.

'One town after another, there's been story after story,' Wade said.

'This has exceeded everything I ever thought by a thousand times.'

Friday morning, Wade and his group made an unplanned stop in Wit's End Coffee House. They got to talking with the shop's owner, Cathy Petersen. They learned she is a cancer survivor, free of Hodgkin lymphoma for 23 years.

'She said thank you,' Wade said. 'It was awesome. You could see it in her eyes.'

'What a great guy, and the people with him are wonderful,' Petersen said. 'I told him it's because of people like him that more like me are hanging out on the other side.'

Joining Wade for 15 miles of his Friday run was Jason Andrews, a battalion chief with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. The CRFD ferried Wade across the Cedar River from Otis Road SE Friday to help make getting across the city easier.

'Next month I'm celebrating 20 years as a survivor of lymphoma,' Andrews said. 'So this is very meaningful to me.'

That's been the case from town to town. Some people awaited Wade's arrival. Others had heard nothing about his run but latched on to him as he passed through. Dozens have run with him for stretches. Strangers have told him their cancer-related stories.

'It's snowballed the whole way,' Wade said.

Physically, it's obviously grueling. The journey began Tuesday in Eitzen, Minn., on the Iowa border. It concludes Monday in Farmington, Iowa, on the Missouri border.

UPDATE: Wade completed his run ahead of schedule, reaching Missouri on Sunday. 

Ryan Wade has reach Missouri! In 6 days, not 7! An amazing feat! Visit for more pics: April 25, 2016

Ryan Wade has reach Missouri! In 6 days, not 7! An amazing feat! Visit for more pics: https://t.co/Js2OPQT5Xe pic.twitter.com/Xrr9KhyBSS

— Ryan Wade (@ryanwadells)

Nine-and-a-half marathons in six days. Who does that, and how?

'I block out the pain,' Wade said. 'Every step hurts after a while. You can't compare it to a cancer patient, but I'm trying to put myself in a tough situation and prove you can overcome anything.

'You go to a different place. I was there yesterday. On Mile 28 I started losing some feeling in my lower body. I got mad and ran another 14 or 15 miles. When you break through to the other side, it feels so good.'

It's all about breakthroughs, isn't it? As Wade will tell you, you can't get anywhere standing still.