All about heart: Young lad beats odds to complete marathon
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By STEPHANIE CHAMBERS
Standard Examiner correspondent
Five hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds can seem like a lifetime, especially while slogging step by step through 26.2 miles of wind and rain.
The legs hurt, the T-shirt is hanging, dripping and cold.
Sound like the life a 10-year-old?
Well, this was just a short moment of triumph in a life that almost wasn't.
For Caleb Tanner, a 10-year-old boy from Liberty who recently completed the St. George Marathon, life began with a complication -- a heart that wasn't functioning properly.
"We had an ultrasound at (age) four or five months at McKay Dee Hospital and the technician was concerned about his heart. She set up an ultrasound with a heart specialist and she came up and looked and said, 'Well his heart's definitely not right. Worst case scenario is he may not make it. Next worse is he may have to have a heart transplant. The best case scenario is that it might not be quite that bad; it will just be some surgery and stuff,' " said Caleb's dad David Tanner.
When Caleb was born he had a coarctation of the aorta, a condition that causes fluctuations in blood pressure throughout the body and puts extreme stress on the heart. Four days after he was born he had surgery to correct the condition, but the surgery changed the pacing of his heart, so they also installed a pacemaker.
"I think after he was born and he didn't need to have a heart transplant, and they did a few surgeries and put the pacemaker in, I think we just knew Caleb was going to be able to do anything he wanted because he had made it that far and had fought," said his mom, Teresa Turner.
"We've always been the type to believe in positive imagery, not putting limits on our kids or ourselves, and giving nature and God and our faith a chance to overcome things," said David. "We always had hope he was going to be OK. Gradually over the years, his heart got better and better and overtook his pacer. Four years ago last month he got his pacer out."
The Tanners were already a family of marathoners when Caleb had his pacemaker removed -- Turner has completed three marathons, David has done St. George for 21 years, and all their children, Josh, 26, Cassandra and Adrianna, each 19, and Cheyenne, 14 completed marathons at age 11.
So when they brought Caleb's silver-dollar-size pacemaker into the room, David caught his breath.
"It was almost prophetic," said David. "The brand or model had 'marathon' etched in it. I said, 'OK, we're saving it.' "
When David started marathoning 21 years ago he fell in love with the sport and he saw a way to teach his children.
"I realized when my oldest was 10 years old, 'I want my kids to learn this experience, because it takes such dedication and sacrifice.' If they can run a marathon and go through all the training -- it just teaches so much about life, about setting goals, and about the joy of achievement," he said.
David said 11 seemed like a good age because the kids were still open to the idea of running a marathon and old enough to handle the training commitment as well.
"My kids will tell you, 'Being in our family, we didn't have a choice,' " said David. "They had a little bit of a choice, I was just very persuasive."
For Caleb, the chance to win some 'youngest in the family' bragging rights pushed him to do St. George this year, a month before he turns 11.
"All my brothers and sisters had done them, so I kind of had to," said Caleb.
David said he keeps the routine down to 25-35 miles per week for the kids, but they have to complete the training before the attempt.
"You know with the kids, I've had people almost critical that I'm having them run marathons at that age. But I've talked to a couple different doctors (and running experts) and as long as you don't overtrain kids in running, they're fine."
For Caleb, his doctor gave the OK, and even encouragement, for the training.
"He's played every sport," said Turner. "And he plays football and wrestles. He just loves sports and they told him he wouldn't be able to do any of those. But as he got older and stronger and he started running, it has actually helped his heart. His heart actually works better when he's running than when he's resting."
Last Saturday during the race, Caleb said he wasn't thinking about his heart or any life lessons to be learned.
"It was really rainy and windy and I was tired and it was way hard," he said about what was going through his mind. "But he (my dad) stayed with me the whole way and talked to me."
David said a few times Caleb was discouraged. "You could tell he wanted to cry. Several times he said, 'Dad I hurt so bad,' and I said, 'I know buddy. Just keep running,' and he hung in there."
Across the finish line, Josh and Cheyenne, who also ran the marathon that day, came back to cross with Caleb and David. And with two American flags flying (David carries them in every marathon to show support for the troops), they crossed together.
"I was glad to be done," said Caleb.
"As soon as he got warmed up a little bit, you could just see the sense of satisfaction in him," said David, who said Caleb asked him later about running more races. "All the pain, all the misery, it was gone. He was just totally happy that he did it."
"It was something I didn't think I'd ever see," said Turner. "It was pretty emotional, that he had worked so hard. Every time one of my kids finish it's just awesome, but just because of everything he'd gone through, that was like, 'Now he really can do anything.' And I think he believes that too. Now there's no more limitations."
Reader Comments
I live in St George, It took alot of gutts to run in the Marathon that day.
It's neat to see youth achieve their dreams. The lessons extend beyond the race. Lives are changed. Way to go to the whole family.