Andy Lipman doesn't live to run, he runs to live growing up with Cystic Fibrosis

Andy Lipman is running the AJC Peachtree Road Race for the 22nd time this July 4 in Atlanta. His end goal is more than getting his best time. "A lot of people say they live to run," Lipman told 11Alive. "In my case, I truly run to live." The strength and endurance Lipman displays at 44 is a combination he never imagined growing up with Cystic Fibrosis. He's the first to admit that living the life-threatening genetic disorder has been a series of ups and downs. "When I was about eight years old I read in an encyclopedia people with CF don't normally live to the age of 25," Lipman said, "I was devastated." The knowledge haunted him from childhood until college. "I stopped doing my treatments. I stopped taking my meds," Lipman said. "I was just ready to die." But life wasn't done with Andy Lipman, and in his 20's, he realized there was another path. "I realized I'm still alive. What if I tried?" Lipman said. So he changed his life, beginning a daily regime revolving around weights and running. The effort fueled by the realization he had the chance his infant sister never had who passed away at only a few days old, he only later asked his parents why. "I didn't know how she had passed away until finally in my mid-20's I asked them," Lipman said, learning she also had Cystic Fibrosis.

posted Wednesday June 20th