Ten years ago, Lisa Sweetman had an MRI following a year of ill health and no clear answers to explain why. It was then that doctors identified a tumor in Lisa’s pituitary gland. On December 6th, 2010 Lisa underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor in what Lisa describes as a difficult, eventful surgery. Lisa would then spend the next ten days in the hospital recovering.
When I realized I couldn’t have a party, I wanted to find another way to celebrate and mark this momentous occasion and being the runner that I am and being the big dreamer that I am, I quickly cooked up I could do 100K.
Lisa Sweetman
Lisa considers her life after surgery as a bonus life and has lived the past ten years as if she was reborn. Lisa ran her first marathon in 2016, saying she would never run the distance again and shortly after traded her road shoes for trail shoes. In 2017, Lisa attended the screening of “Where Dreams Go to Die,” a film documenting Gary Robbin’s multiple attempts to complete the Barkley Marathons. It was then that Lisa decided she would attempt her first ultramarathon and what better race to do it than the Squamish 50, where Gary Robbins himself is the race director.
We’ll discuss Lisa’s decision to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of her surgery by running 100 kilometers through the streets of Toronto! We’ll also discuss logistics and what the experience meant to her. We hope you find Lisa’s story as incredibly inspiring as we do!
To learn more about Lisa, you can follow her on Instagram at: @thislisasweetman