Ultra marathoner Matthew Porter with a life-changing of back neurolical disorder diagnosis is training for the Leadville Trail 100

A St. Charles man faced with a life-changing diagnosis will embark on a challenge that will push his body to the limit. As the sun rises over the Colorado mountains Saturday morning (Aug. 18), Matthew Porter will begin running and will not stop for nearly 30 hours. For two years, Porter has been training for the Leadville Trail 100, an annual ultramarathon that will take him on trails and dirt roads near Leadville, CO through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Porter's journey to the 100-mile race began eight years ago. He was married with three kids and growing a new company. Porter, admittedly, was not living the healthiest lifestyle. An innocent conversation with his then six-year-old daughter about her wedding day was the turning point for the rest of Porter`s life.'She pokes me in my stomach," he said. "'You have a lot of squishy. I don`t know if you`re going to make it,'" Porter's daughter said to him. The very next day, Porter took the first steps towards changing his life, but it was easier said than done.'Wrong shoes, wrong gear," he remembered. "Got up, went to go run a mile, made it about 100 to 150 feet.' Porter walked the rest of the mile that first day. Each day after, Porter ran a little further. Then a little further. As he ran, the pounds melted away. I look back at who that person looks like, and it almost looks like a different person. Feeling good about the changes he was seeing both physically and mentally, Porter continued running. However, the long-distance runs led to some wear and tear on his body. Three and a half years ago, a doctor ordered an MRI to look into some tension Porter was feeling in his back. That is when the doctor first noticed signs of Multiple Sclerosis.

posted Wednesday August 15th