Lillie Doss has been a consummate caregiver for a great deal of her life. Her husband had cancer and struggled for years. Lillie was there every painful step of the way. She took care of her father, her mother and other family members who all had slow sad declines preceding their passing.

Then one day, she woke up with no one to care for. She felt lost. She struggled to find a purpose. She didn’t know where to turn. She says she didn’t even want to go on with life. A battle with breast cancer left her feeling hopeless.

She’s not sure why, but she started running … and running … and running! Before she knew it, her outlook had completely changed. Physically, she’d never felt better. She lost weight, started traveling and began to compete.

Here’s the amazing part — she’s closing in on 80 years old. She’s won more than 500 medals and trophies. She runs marathons, but they weren’t enough. So she runs 50 k races (31 miles) as well.

Listen to this and you’ll believe that in life, it really is never too late!

Want to meet more amazing people like Lillie? Check out our Cancer Survivors channel.