Tony Morrison strapped a 93-pound fridge on his back in 2011 and began running to raise money for cancer research. Since then, he has carried that same fridge a total of 2,700 miles—from 5ks to ultra marathons and the entire length of Great Britain. He ran 40 marathons in 40 consecutive days. Along the way, he has become known simply as Tony “The Fridge” and has raised more than $165,000.
A veteran runner, Tony lives outside of Newcastle in northeast England. Having lost family members to cancer, Tony carries a fridge on his back as a way of demonstrating the burden of cancer on patients and their families. He hopes his personal feats of endurance might inspire cancer patients and their loved ones to persevere and overcome the extreme challenges of cancer.
Tony is an ordinary man doing extraordinary things. During his runs, he has fallen and sustained injuries, including broken limbs. He ran 800 miles on a fractured leg after learning that a leukemia patient who had planned to meet him en route had died before they could meet. In 2014, Tony and his fridge completed the London Marathon and turned around and ran it a second time for a total of 52.4 miles. He is returning in 2015 to attempt to run the London Marathon four times back-to-back– all while carrying the fridge.
The 51-year-old has already set his sights on his next challenge, a 2,811-mile run across the U.S. in January 2016. His spirit never falters.
“If I can make a difference by carrying this fridge, then I will run to the four corners of the earth,” Tony says. “If you have lost somebody you love to cancer. If you are fighting cancer right now. If you have been affected by cancer in any way. Every step I take is a tribute to you. Be relentless – live in the moment – we can beat cancer.”
