On September 7th, 2016, Cordell Council went in for his last scan to reveal if he was finally cancer free. Council, age 51, found out on August 31st, 2015 that he had stage three melanoma.

As a marathon runner Council’s doctor suggests him to run on a treadmill to make sure his heart and his body is working well as he runs. During the exam, his doctor discovered a spot on his back and requested for Council to get it checked out with a dermatologist. The dermatologist later figured out it was cancer.

Melanoma is a type of cancer that cells in the body begin to grow at a very fast pace and spread around your body. This can develop anywhere on the skin – the most common area is chest and back in men and legs in women. If not caught early enough; this would cause it to become fatal. It is not the most common of skin cancers, but it causes the most deaths.

Council even ran the Boston Marathon in April, just 15 days after one of his surgeries. But he was determined to run the 2016 Boston Marathon due to a tendon tear that caused him not to participate in 2014. He finished the marathon in 5 hours and 31 minutes.

“26.2 miles is nothing when you’re in a race for your life,” said Cordell Council.

Cordell Council has been an avid runner since high school and has pushed his sons to do the same. Keegan Council, a 2016 graduate from Peninsula, is attending Multnomah University in Oregon for Cross Country and Dylan Council, senior at Peninsula, is currently running for the Peninsula Cross Country team. When he reached the finish line and saw his family rooting for him, he had to stop and give them a hug. As Dylan Council, the youngest son, saw his dad cross the finish line, he was overcome with emotion.

“I thought to myself, I have the most bad-ass Dad,” said Dylan.

Dylan and his family were so proud of how hard his dad pushes himself to show everyone how cancer cannot defeat him or his purpose in life.

“As long as you keep fighting and trying, anything is possible,” said Cordell Council.

Council wants people who have experienced hardship in their life to keep fighting. After a year and eight days, Council finally received word that he would cross the finish line in the most dangerous race of all. Cordell Council was finally cancer free.

“At first, I was speechless,” said Keegan. “Then afterwards, just so grateful to finally know my dad would be back to the way he was before all of this.”

He had the support from his family, friends, and community to help him overcome such a dangerous obstacle in life.
“When we watched him come all this way and accomplish something so extraordinary that people dream of doing was absolutely mind blowing,” said Dylan Council. “I couldn’t tell him how proud I was and how inspired I was, words just couldn’t explain.”