Photo courtesy of Adam Scully-Power

Adam Scully-Power ran 163 miles without sleeping.

It took him 41 hours and 33 minutes and he did it to raise money for cancer and to honor Boston Marathon victims. He only stopped to stretch his legs, eat and change his shirt. Otherwise, he kept going, all the way across Massachusetts.

Scully-Power, 39, ran the Pan-Mass Cycling challenge, an annual bike-a-thon that raises money for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He started at 5:45 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2 and finished at 11:18 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3.

“It was two sunrises, two sunsets and lots of running and no sleep,” he told For The Win. “Slowly but surely trucked through and covered the distance.”

A year ago, Scully-Power was 50 pounds heavier and didn’t recognize himself in pictures. He had wrestled in high school and did triathlons in his early 20s, but he’s married, has four kids and a full-time job, so staying in shape fell by the wayside. He couldn’t even run a 2-mile loop near his house without stopping.

He watched the documentary film “Forks over Knives,” which promotes healthy eating through a whole food, plant-based diet and cuts out meat, dairy and processed foods. A couple weeks later, Scully-Power changed his eating habits.

“What I found was that the first two weeks was like going through a detox program, or what I envisioned that to be like,” he said. “And then all of a sudden, my energy levels went through the roof. It was amazing.”

Photo courtesy of Adam Scully-Power

Within six weeks, he was running 12-13 miles. One day last December, he  ran into his friend David Green, who competes in ultramarathons, at Starbucks. The two talked about a 110-mile race in their hometown of Ponte Vedra, Fla. Green was training for.

“Then he stopped talking, looked me square in the eyes and said, ‘You should do it with me,’” Scully-Power said. “I thought he was insane. Running over 100 miles was incomprehensible.”

But in February, Scully-Power ran 110 miles in 24 hours and 38 minutes.

Before running a second ultramarathon in May, the Boston Marathon occurred and Green was at the finish line when the blasts went off. Scully-Power immediately texted his friend to make sure he was OK. Green was fine, and had snapped one picture before helping victims. Green later sent his photo to the FBI, which was then released to the media, because unbeknownst to him, he had captured a “crystal clear” image of accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev walking away from the scene on Boylston Street.

Scully-Power’s friend David Green snapped this photo of the explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line. You can see Dzhokhar Tsarnaev walking away from the scene on the left side. (Courtesy of David Green)

That photo became the catalyst for Scully-Power running a 163-mile bike race.

“It was a sign it was meant to be,” he said.

In the days following the tragedy, Scully-Power recalled a conversation with a co-worker at their investment firm Columbia Management, which is based in Boston, who had told him about the Pan-Mass Challenge, and that they might get a company team together. He emailed the race director and inquired about running instead of biking.

“I think he thought I was crazy,” Scully-Power said.

But the mission was a go. To train, on weekends Scully-Power would wake up at 3:30 a.m. and run from 4-9. If one of his kids had a lacrosse game 20 miles away, he’d run there instead of drive.

Scully-Power ran across Massachusetts by himself, but he wasn’t alone. His wife, brother, father and father-in-law followed him in their own vehicle with supplies like water, food and change of clothes. Scully-Power did a TV spot on CBS the week before his run and people driving by on the street would recognize him. He said one man joined him at 10 o’clock Friday night and they ran together for a couple of hours. He also received encouraging text messages and emails along the way.

Photo courtesy of Adam Scully-Power

“I wasn’t trying to put up a specific time,” he said. “I had a relaxed mentality. It was all about raising money and awareness, not trying to set world records.”

Each year, those riding in the PMC must raise between $500 and $5,000 in order to participate. Scully-Power’s goal was $25,000 and just like in his training and eating habits, he exceeded expectations, raising over $26,000 through his website whywerun.com.

“It fundamentally changes your perspective of what’s possible in all facets of your life,” Scully-Power said of running and raising money. “So what’s next? I’m not sure, but there will be something.”