Howard seeking world record in OC Marathon

A few days before a life-changing surgery, reality hit and tears flowed from C.J. Howard’s eyes. The crying would eventually make him feel better, but at that moment, while watching a video of amputees running, Howard painfully wept.

He had already been battling chemotherapy and tried his best to stay positive, but he couldn’t find any sunshine when reality set in. Because of bone cancer in his left heel, Howard, who at the time was a cross country runner for UC Irvine, had surgery to have a part of his leg, just below the knee, amputated.

That was in April of 2003. Now, there are no more tears. They’ve all dried up and Howard’s still running.

Today, Howard will attempt to complete his first marathon in the Orange County Marathon, that starts at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and ends in Irvine. He wants to set the world record for amputees, which is three hours, four minutes, 16 seconds, by Amy Winters.

Howard, 23, actually wants to get in under three hours. Just completing the 26.2 miles would be rewarding. If he does, he’ll flash back to memories such as the one when he confronted reality and then went through his catharsis.

“Everyone goes through cycles of coping, especially dealing with a loss and this was the loss of my foot,” Howard said. “Eventually you come to acceptance. There are some denials.”

Howard described his initial reaction to his diagnosis as, “maybe a form of denial,” when he learned on Dec. 23, 2002 that part of his leg would be amputated because of the osteosarcoma (bone cancer).

Turns out Howard’s self-proclaimed form of denial was more of a foreshadowing. Upon hearing the diagnosis, Howard said he wanted to search the Internet to find out the world records in running events for amputees, and he wanted to beat them.

“That was my gut response, that I was going to make the best of it,” he said. “That was my attitude. It just sort of came out.”

Howard said he was lucky to have the surgery four months after the diagnosis so he could deal with the reality. During that time, he also set goals and put those records in his sights. He is the world-record holder in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters as well as the half marathon for amputees.

Less than a year after his diagnosis, Howard ran a 1,500-meter event, another one of his many goals. Another great accomplishment came last spring, but it wasn’t on any track or half-marathon course.

Howard graduated from UCI with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science.

“That meant more to me than all the running I’ve done,” Howard said. “I was more proud of that than any thing I ever accomplished.”

Yes, the kid from La Crescenta came a long way. He was an average student coming out of Crescenta Valley High, yet eager to make a name in running as a walk-on at UCI. He was among the Anteaters’ top seven and, “made a big impact,” UCI Coach Vince O’Boyle said.

All along, Howard felt pain in his heel. Howard sought after doctors, but still he said he was misdiagnosed for about a year by six doctors, who had told him he was fine until they found the cancer. Then he battled myriad emotions.

The chemotherapy, losing his hair and appearing sickly, made him depressed. The loss of support from those he thought to be friends caused anger.

“I dealt with those [people] the same way I dealt with cancer,” Howard said. “I thought ‘This is not healthy for me, so cut some of them loose.’ Just like the way I had to have my foot cut loose to get rid of the cancer.”

Instead, Howard found supportive friends, and he read about inspirational people, including Lance Armstrong, who overcame cancer and won the Tour de France seven times.

Howard’s story is posted on Armstrong’s livestrong.com website. After receiving the Junior Livestrong Award in Oct. of 2004, Howard met Armstrong.

“It was real cool,” Howard said. “A lot of people want to have a great conversation with him, but there was this sort of unspoken nod when I met him, like, ‘I know what you’ve been through and you know what I’ve been through.’ ”

Howard also shared his story to close the International Union Cancer Congress in Washington D.C. in July. That story included another scare from tumors found in his lung four months after the surgery. But fortunately the tumors were benign.

“C.J. is truly an inspiration,” said Eric Anderson, Howard’s coach and a former UCI professor. “Not just because he has come back from cancer to set records, not just because of the livestrong attitude, but in addition to coming back with the physical aspects, he graduated with honors a few months ago. He’s a great inspiration all around as a pillar of success. He’s probably never going to make a career out of distance running, but he’s certainly capable of making a career out of his intellect.”

Anderson has been helping Howard with his running form, which Anderson said is amazingly smooth. Howard’s left leg runs on a prosthetic called the Flex Run by Ossur, which looks like something robotic out of a Star Wars movie.

It doesn’t generate any power, just returns energy, forcing Howard to use more strength from his quadriceps. Howard will most definitely be using those muscles today.

“This is a culmination of months and months of training,” said Chuck Boone, who adopted Howard as his son. “It has been an interesting time. He has been able to meet a lot of people and do a lot of things. I’m very proud of him. He has done extremely well.”