“Dare to dream, dare to try.
“It’s my personal saying. I just hope to motivate other people with my story, even if it is just only one man or woman, then I will be proud and happy that I shared my experience.”
Ludo Rogiers’ running story began when he was 39 years old, and he started running to lose weight and get fit.
In itself, there is little remarkable about that, but when you scratch the surface of his tale, you begin to uncover the incredible odds he has overcome.
The 54-year-old from Zomergen, near Ghent in Belgium, known by his friends as Luu, always swore he would never run a marathon.
“And here I am having completed 29!”
Boston - when he gets the opportunity to take part - is set to be number 30 for Luu and he’ll then be two stars away from his Six Star Finisher’s medal.
“My first Abbott World Marathon Major was in New York City, 2012 and what an incredible experience it was,” he recalls. “It was my first time in the USA and it was very special for me. Berlin was next in 2015 – running with a friend who I met during the NYC marathon. I talk to everyone and make friends all around the world!”
But his Abbott World Marathon Majors run hit a ‘road bump’ when at the end of December 2016, after a year of pain and illness, he was diagnosed with rectal cancer.
“I completed three marathons in 2016 but something wasn’t right,” he says. “Then one day the light went out. I had cancer. Doctors became my new friends and the hospital my new home. There was nothing on my bucket list anymore, except surviving that monster inside of my body.”
Struggling to come to terms with his illness and in the midst of his cancer treatment, Luu received a surprise email to say he had a place in the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
“I knew I wasn’t able to run Chicago in 2017 but maybe I could make it my focus for 2018 and help lift me out of the black hole I felt that I was slipping into. My oncologist told me it was a crazy idea, my psychologist told me to go for it. I had to live for the moment as nobody could tell me how long my life would be.”
So after months of treatment, multiple surgeries and close consultation with his doctors, Luu felt fit and strong and got back on the marathon train, doing an Ultra in the first half of the year and completing his third Abbott World Marathon Major in October 2018.
“It was a stormy day, I was exhausted and it took me longer than usual but I had done it. I felt alive and kicking knowing I’d achieved this,” he says.
Ludo completed Chicago in 2018
Luu has a lot to live for. Luu and his wife, Annick, together have two daughters and four grandchildren.
“My wife joined me in Chicago. She is afraid of flying so had never come with me before so it was even more special.
“Since Valencia was the last marathon I did before being diagnosed, I decided to also run there again after Chicago. My circle was complete, I was happy and it was now time to take some rest.”
These days Luu is taking it a little easier but he still gets out on the road when he can and his eyes are firmly fixed on the Six Star prize.
He explains: “I still work but only part-time now. I have my daily problems as 30% of my intestines had to be removed so it is a challenge but I can handle it. I need my rest but I also need my running shoes.
A second Valencia medal in the bag
“For me it is mentally important to still feel like one of the running guys, running is very important to me. I listen to my body and I do everything in consultation with my doctors. I hope one day to have that [Six Star] medal around my neck.”
Despite all his health struggles and challenges, Luu still sees his marathon and ultra marathon accomplishments as some of the biggest hurdles he’s faced in life and now he is giving back in one of his favorite running destinations.
“I did the Cape Town Marathon for the second time last year,” he says. “And because I love the people and the place so much I started a charity project to support runners in the Montagu townships. Together with a running shop in Belgium, we donate shoes and lots of other running gear to their athletics club.
“To see the looks on their faces, the twinkles in the eyes of adults and children alike gives both me and them such joy. The local newspaper there called me ‘the Belgian donater’!
“Running is not only running anymore, it is a way of living for me.”
