Airdrie long-distance runner Steve Gray was feeling pretty good on May 2. Despite a gruelling 50-kilometre run the day before, he was not contending with much physical soreness.
“I’m feeling great, actually. I just walked a couple of kilometres with my dog," he said during a phone interview. "I’m used to this. I do long-distance running and I know what my body needs to make it through.”
Gray finished three clockwise laps around around the perimeter of Airdrie on May 1, thrice completing a route that took him along Yankee Valley Boulevard, 24 Street, Veterans Boulevard and Range Road 291. He finished his 50K in a time of four hours and 35 minutes, for an average pace of roughly five minutes and 31 seconds per kilometre.
The run was not just for fun, however – Gray was participating in the Global May 50K Challenge to raise awareness of those suffering with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – an autoimmune disease that targets the central nervous system.
“I’ve run these distances before, but I think this one was for a good cause," said Gray, who lives in Meadowbrook. "A lot of people suffer with MS and it was just a thing that came up on my Facebook – the Global May 50K Challenge."
The long-distance runner had plenty of personal motivation for taking part in an MS fundraising run, as Gray's father had suffered from progressive MS for more than 20 years. His father had even ended up in a wheelchair within four years of his diagnosis, ultimately losing his battle with the disease due to pneumonia complications at the age of 63.
And in 1995 at the age of 32, shortly after running the Calgary Marathon, Gray started to lose feeling below his chest. Trips to the doctor later revealed an MS diagnosis.
"My wife was pregnant with our second child and we’d just bought our second house," Gray recalled of his diagnosis. "Life was good and then that happened. My dad was already in a wheelchair because of it, so it was the scariest thing that had happened to me in my life."
As if to add insult to injury, the doctors told Gray he had to give up running – a hobby he was highly passionate about.
"Of course, I had to listen to them, so I was not only dealing with the stress of [MS], but I had to lose my running, which was my stress relief," he said.
Luckily, the feeling gradually came back to his body, and Gray's symptoms never ended up as severe as his father's.
“It affects everyone differently," he said. "Some people can have MS and run 50 kilometres. Some are affected seriously, like my dad.
"Some people have multiple attacks and they get worse over time, whereas some people just have one and never have another attack and they're OK to function."
After taking an 18-year hiatus from his hobby, Gray said he started running again at the age of 50.
“I was 230 pounds and knew I had to do something else with my life, so I got back into running," he said.
In the nine years since then, he's run 20 marathons and has even become a pace-maker for the Calgary Marathon.
He also made local headlines last year for running down every single street in Airdrie – a task that took him six years to complete, although the majority was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he still feels occasional tingling after his runs, Gray said he's managed to continue his running passion.
"I just have to listen to my body and know how to feed my body, too," he said. "If I don’t feed myself properly, I do get worse symptoms.”
Those who joined Gray during his May 1 run included a woman whose son was recently diagnosed with MS and is starting to lose his eyesight, and another woman who was recently informed she had the disease.
Gray noted how common MS is, with more than 90,000 Canadians impacted by the disease.
“Several people are participating in this throughout the world," Gray said. "You’re supposed to run 50 kilometres throughout the month of May, but I did it on the first day, so I got my completion badge.”
In addition to running the 50 kilometres, Gray is also raising money to support MS research. To donate to Gray's campaign, visit May50k.com/fundraisers/stevegray
As of May 2, he said he’d raised $374 - $24 more than his initial goal.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has donated,” he said.
