FOX CITIES, Wis. — On Sunday, Fox Valley firefighter Cory Asimus helped raise money for veterans to get cancer screenings by unofficially breaking a world record.
This was no small feat for Asimus, who put his work boots aside and laced up his running shoes. He ran a marathon carrying a 100-pound rucksack.
"It seemed like a nice, good challenge. I felt 50 pounds was a little too light and 100 pounds is just perfect. I guess I'm kind of a glutton for suffering right now," Asimus said.
Asimus endured 26.2 miles of pain and discomfort to raise money for Vaspire 316; the nonprofit helps pay for cancer pre-screening blood tests for veterans who now work as Outagamie firefighters or in law enforcement.
"It's extremely important because veterans are dying every day from all sorts of cancer from all of these burn pits. Firefighters and police officers are putting themselves at an additional risk," Asimus said.
As Asimus began the race, fellow firefighter and veteran Keegan Murphy wasn’t far from his mind. Murphy is now in remission from lung cancer, according to the Appleton Fire Department's Facebook page. So other Appleton firefighters ran alongside Asimus.
"I've got — it looks like half the Appleton Fire Department is running with me. Just fellow firefighters and chiefs that have decided they want to help me out here and we run in every step of the way together," Asimus said.
More Appleton firefighters supported Asimus along the course including five-year veteran Cody "Gator" Peabody.
"Cory is doing a really great thing right now; he's running for a good cause. So we try to get as many firefighters and friends out here — just come celebrate, you know, one of his big accomplishments," Peabody said.
As Asimus neared the 18-mile mark, Peabody said he was proud of this effort to raise awareness for veterans fighting cancer. It morphed into something well beyond the dreams of the Appleton Fire Department.
"It just started off for him trying to accomplish a tough goal of doing something and running the marathon. And then, it turned into, you know, something good, where he can try to raise money to do cancer screenings, you know, for military and fire personnel, which to us is absolutely amazing," Peabody said.
Peabody said he’s watched Asimus train since last December and is confident he’ll cross the finish line in a big way.
"I think it's gonna be pretty easy for him. It's just a matter of time before he breaks the next world record," Peabody said.
That’s exactly what Asimus did, with the support of his fellow firefighters including Appleton Fire Chief Jeremy Hansen. Asimus is now an unofficial world record holder with a time of time of 4:53:07. It’ll take a few months before Asimus’ time becomes an official Guinness World Record.
The previous fastest marathon carrying a 100-pound pack is 5 hours and 3 minutes and 51 seconds.
"The big thing was suffering. For those who can't anymore, you know, I wanted to run to try to raise awareness," Asimus said.
Thanks to Asimus' award-winning dedication, veterans now have another tool to fight cancer.
Before the marathon started, Asimus was already the unofficial Guinness World Record holder for the fastest half marathon run with 100 pounds strapped to his back.