Preaching & Running

Last September, Tony Foglio suffered a major heart attack, and immediately underwent triple-bypass surgery. Just 4 days later, the 55-year-old past preached to his 3,000-strong congregation at Sunrise community Church in San Diego. Two months after that, in November, he finished the New York City Marathon in 5:32.

Five years ago, the overweight Foglio couldn't even walk around the block without getting out of breath. His doctor told him he needed to start exercising and change his diet - or else. Foglio listened, got busy, and soon dropped 50 pounds. "I was felling great," says Foglio, show has since inspired hundreds of his parishioners to start exercising.

Despite his changed lifestyle, 5 decades of bad eating habits and unlucky heredity eventually caught up with hime last September. Things could have been much worse, however. After Foglio's heart attack last fall, his doctor told him that if he hadn't been a runner, the heart attack would've killed him.

*Reprinted by permission of Runner's World magazine. Copy written 2002, Rodele Press, Inc. All right reserved.