Why I Run

My name is Daniel Cook, I am 26 years old and work as a mental health nurse at Grand River Hospital. My journey into running has been a long and hard trip, only 4 short years ago I used to weigh an astonishing 375 pounds.

My whole life I was big, I was always the last kid picked for sports, and always felt ashamed of my body, and of myself. Growing up big was hard, when you’re a kid you get picked on, and being a teenager, becoming anything more than a friend to any girls seemed like an impossibility. It seems illogical but I fell into the vicious cycle of eating because I felt bad, and I felt bad because I ate. One vivid memory I have was being forced to do the 200m dash in grade 5 and all the other kids were done the race and I was only half way. It was so embarrassing that I literally threw myself to the ground and faked a knee injury so that I didn’t have to finish with everyone watching me.

In 2010, I had the scariest moment of my life, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I was already working as nurse for a year, and had seen some of the complications of people with uncontrolled diabetes, gangrenous legs, amputations, horrific foot wounds, and people in kidney failure. It was the wake up call I needed, and I decided I was not going to sit back and die slowly, so I got out of my apartment and went for a brisk paced walk.

I remember how good I felt that day, almost euphoric, my blood sugars went down quite a bit from such a short walk and I felt like I had a new chance to get my life back. The next day, I did it again, and then the next day, and then the next. I walked every single day for a minimum of an hour for at least half a year and had lost at that point 75lbs!

I also was taking my time to learn about proper eating habits, gone were the sugars and simple carbohydrates, and in were portion control, and good complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Eventually I went to the gym, and kept my routine up, only going on the treadmill instead, and used a heart rate monitor to gauge the intensity of the incline I should use.

Time went on, and eventually I needed to increase my speed to get my heart rate up, and low and behold, I was running! Long distances too! I had lost 145lbs to that point. I decided to keep running and lose more weight, so I signed up for the Toronto Half Marathon in 2013, and finished in a whopping 1hr 54min.

On that day I weighed 185lbs, so I had lost 190lbs altogether!! I raced later that year in the Waterloo 10km Classic (my father ran in the very first 10k Classic). I placed 3rd in the 180-200lb men’s weight division, it was the first time I had ever gotten a medal for any athletic achievement, and it was such a special moment to me.

That feeling of taking PRIDE in yourself in who you are, and what you can do- THATS why I run. Thats why I will continue to run. See you all at the great waterloo running series events this year!!

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