Editorial:

When someone says they’re running to raise money for cancer research, group runs around a track or predetermined course through a downtown come to mind, not a roughly 1,265-mile trek across four states for a $1-million kitty.

But that’s what local screenwriter Dustin Hucks is taking on. It will be a grueling journey, with plans to run up to 40 miles a day, mostly in the morning and evenings, through a fundraising run organized through the American Cancer Society.

And what would motivate a man to punish his feet from Burbank to Lubbock, Texas? His aunt, who has Stage 4 lymphoma. Perhaps there is no greater motivating force, but plenty of family members contract cancer, and last we checked, we didn’t see a throng of cross-country runners raising millions of dollars.

To be sure, everyone copes and assists cancer-stricken friends and family members in their own ways, but it’s people like Hucks who remind us all how extreme a form devotion can take.

We’re not alone in taking notice. Nike has donated the equipment, including 30 pairs of shoes, and he’s received some expert advice from top trainer Eric Orton. His mom will be able to track his movements via Twitter, a GPS device and interactive maps online.

Even with his aunt digitally connected every step of the way, Hucks has said a key part of his marathon running regime has been the inner phrase “run strong, run long.”

Over the course of his training, he’s already proved he can.

Perhaps without even knowing it, he’s also proved to a cynical public that none of us are helpless against the seemingly impassable chasm of a cancer diagnosis.