Dad with cancer pushes daughter over the finish line

Iram Leon knows he is not long for this world. At 32, he is battling grade 2 diffuse astrocytoma, a terminal brain cancer that will likely kill him by the time he is 40. Despite the devastating diagnosis, Leon refuses to live life sitting down. Instead, he runs.

Leon had been a runner for a long time, but now, the risks of his condition bar him from driving or playing contact sports. Running, however, is "just one foot in front of the other," as he says. More importantly, he can carry along with him his most precious cargo: His 6-year-old daughter Kiana. Last weekend, Leon and Kiana, in a running stroller, won Texas' Gusher Marathon. Or, as Leon sees it, Kiana really won. He was just pushing her along.

Leon and Kiana's mother are divorced, and Leon says his goal in whatever he has left of this life is to spend time with his daughter. "The one thing I'm not going to say on my death bed is, 'I wish I spent more time with my kid,'” Leon told the Huffington Post.

Now, Kiana has another medal to add to her collection of racing prizes the two have won together. Kiana knows her daddy is sick, she just doesn't know how sick, or why. Leon says there will be a time and a place for that conversation, but it's not now. Now, it's just about the open road, and them, and moving forward whichever way possible.

On the road at the Gusher Marathon, Leon and Kiara were followed by three bikers, who waved and yelled encouraging words. At one point, Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" came on, and Leon decided to sing along:

"It's my life, it's now or never. I ain't gonna live forever. I just wanna live while I'm alive."

The Sports Society of America has created a college fund for Kiara. You can learn more about it or donate here. Leon also maintains a blog about his running and his fight against cancer. It's called Picking up a Hitchiker.