A cancer diagnosis at age 15 brought three-and-a-half years of challenges for Jacob Pletan. A 5”x7” mass in his chest, a collapsed lung, paralysis, a burned brain from methotrexate toxicity and a fungal infection that had his parents planning his funeral were only the obvious obstacles. He’s still facing the long-term effects of his treatment and recovery, which include physical and neurological issues (he has no feeling in his hands or feet), moments of forgetfulness due to “chemo brain” (when chemo breaks the blood/brain barrier and causes short circuits in the brain) and is slower in cognition.
With treatment behind him and the recent news that there isn’t much else doctors can do for him, Pletan decided he wanted to see what he was really made of. Jacob went on a run.
“I had never run a mile before in my life. I had put all my confidence into my body being repaired like new, and after five years, that confidence turned null. Thus I felt compelled to inventory my body for both function and for mental clarity. So what would happen if I ran ‘til I couldn’t anymore, in order to put a metric to my abilities?” Jacob wrote in a diary entry.
After the run, he realized what was possible. He signed up to run the 2025 BMW Dallas Marathon.
After just 30 weeks of training (a program he learned from a book he purchased) during which he went on 128 runs covering 618 miles and wearing through three pairs of shoes, Pletan tackled his next physical test – running through the city which, for years, he only saw from a hospital room as he fought for his life.
On Dec. 19, Pletan completed his first-ever marathon. Out of 3,742 participants who finished the race, he placed 1,477 (landing him in the top 40 percent). Of the 2,608 males who finished the race, he was 1,166 (in the top 45 percent). Of the 356 males in his age group, he was 189 (the top 54 percent of his gender and age). And, including aid station stops, Pletan averaged 9:51 minutes per mile resulting in a finish time of 4:17:52.
The marathon, much like his cancer treatment journey, brought some unexpected challenges. First, the weather presented some harsh conditions with temperatures plummeting to 21 degrees – quite different from the warm summer heat in which he had trained.
About halfway through the race, Pletan began experiencing some mental and physical challenges that many others were facing – the realization that there was still so far to go.
“My legs were killing me, they felt like they had been chained down with weights,” Pletan said. “But I had the flashbacks of being in that city five years and nine months prior, not being able to walk, not knowing what was going on, not knowing whether I was going to live or die.”
And so, he pressed on, with the same determination he’s mustered for the past five years of his life. In the end, Pletan was proud that he gave the race his all, and he is already thinking ahead to a possible IRONMAN competition down the road.
“The truth of the matter is that I hope I have been an encouragement to at least someone,” Pletan shared on his Facebook page after completing the race. “I have always said that if sharing my story can make just one person’s journey better, it was worth all the embarrassment, nervousness, publicity, time, work and everything else... I can officially close the chapter that defined much of my 2025.”
To keep up with his future endeavors, follow Jacob Pletan on Facebook.
Read the full story of Jacob’s journey in the Nov. 21 issue at whitesboronewsrecord.com.