Devin PaisleyA 32-year-old man living with a rare form of terminal brain cancer said he was determined to become the first person to run the entire length of India within 80 days.
Jack Faint, originally from Northwich in Cheshire, was diagnosed with a grade 2 oligodendroglioma – a slow-growing brain tumour – while living in Australia in 2019.
Doctors, who said Jack would likely only have 10 to 15 years to live, advised him to quit smoking, give up alcohol and to adopt a plant-based organic diet while keeping active.
He started his 2,408-mile (3,876km) run deep in the Himalayan mountains of northern India on 1 September and hopes to arrive in Kanyakumari on India’s southernmost tip on 14 November.
Jack said: “After my diagnosis, I went through a big health and fitness transformation [and] running became one of my core purposes.”
The keen traveller said he always found himself running 5km – wherever he was in the world.
Once the Covid lockdowns hit he started to take on even more running challenges.
By the end of October 2021 he had completed his first major race – the London Marathon.
The endurance running bug had truly bitten.
A year later, Jack took part in even more gruelling challenges like the 250km desert race in Jordan and a 650km run across the South African coast.
It was this final challenge that inspired Jack, who now lives in South Africa, to set his sights on India.
The trip is expected to cost about £70,000, funded by sponsors, a series of money-raising events and Jack’s own savings.
Jack FaintJack is being joined by a band of volunteers for the run – some of whom have left their jobs or taken sabbaticals in order to join him in his mission to run the length of the world’s seventh biggest country.
On his team is Jordan Fairclough, former physical performance coach for Liverpool FC.
Jack’s support team, which consists of five volunteers, has been providing everything from logistical support to videography, supplying food and drink and massages.
After a bit of tweaking in the first month, Jack said he had cracked the “winning formula” to get the most out of his days in India.
Starting at 05:00, he runs 8-9km before having some food and water.
By 08:00 each day, Jack hopes to have completed 20km before taking on more food and water.
After a massage, he’s back on the road before taking another break at about midday.
Once he has had a two-hour nap, the trainers are back on and Jack keeps running until about 17:00.
‘No symptoms’
Jack has come a long way in six years – in every sense.
In 2019, while cycling to work in Melbourne, he had a seizure and fell unconscious.
Jack said: “I was waiting just chatting to one of the doctors when another doctor ran in and said ‘we have a code stroke’.
“They had found a spot at the back of my brain.
“Prior to diagnosis I had no symptoms, no nothing – nothing out of the ordinary at all.”
Jack, who was 25 at the time, was given three options – to have a biopsy, have surgery to remove the mass, or watch and wait it out.
Devin Paisley“Unfortunately the tumour has slowly continued to grow,” he said.
“The thing with brain tumours is you could get rid of 100% of what you can see, but you can’t get rid of 100% of the cells. The reality is that it can always come back.”
Despite this knowledge, Jack is determined to remain positive as he runs 12 hours a day in 30C temperatures.
“Trauma isn’t a choice – that doesn’t mean people don’t deserve compassion.
“It means we have a choice, whether we sit in bed and feel sorry for ourselves or not.
“We all go through hard things, losing loved ones, health issues – but how you respond is in your control.”