As a record number of runners prepare for the Cowtown Marathon this weekend in Fort Worth, Zachary Foster will step to the starting line carrying more than months of training.
He is running in honor of his older brother, Joseph Howell, who died Sunday after battling terminal esophageal cancer.
The brothers, just over a year apart in age, had planned to run the marathon together once Howell recovered. But only months before the race, doctors told Howell his cancer was terminal and gave him one to three years to live.
Rather than abandon the goal, Foster reshaped it.
He began training to push his brother in a donated running stroller. To prepare, he filled the stroller with rocks to mirror Howell’s weight, building the endurance they would need to compete side by side.
Last Saturday, the brothers completed one practice mile together.
Howell died the following day.
“I’m glad that we did it together as far as the training goes,” Foster said. “And then we did get to do at least one run together. I really, really wanted him to experience the enjoyment and just the community of a marathon, because it’s like nothing else.”
Foster said the marathon’s atmosphere — with strangers cheering for runners they have never met — was something he hoped his brother would experience.
“Even though he’s not here to do it with me, I think he’d be proud of me for continuing,” he said.
During race week, Foster and his family picked up two race bibs — one for him and one for Howell.
Howell, 30, was a husband and father of two. His family said they plan to continue crossing items off his bucket list as a way to honor his life and legacy.
Great Job Brittney Johnson & the Team @ NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth for sharing this story.
