{"id":201516,"date":"2026-02-18T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=201516"},"modified":"2026-03-24T12:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:55:06","slug":"the-life-we-have-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/the-life-we-have-film","title":{"rendered":"The Life We Have"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I last spoke to Rob Shaver, in December 2024, he said he hadn\u2019t had a bad day in 20 years.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had previously said the same to film director Sam Price-Waldman, soon after their first meeting. Price-Waldman thought he had misheard him. How could a man who had been living with cancer for two decades, undergone more than 60 radiation treatments (twice the typical lifetime amount) and lost his hair five times to chemotherapy speak this way?\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price-Waldman was about to direct a short documentary about Shaver, The Life We Have<\/em>, which would follow the latter\u2019s journey through illness over the years and how the profoundly difficult experience inspired and influenced his love of the outdoors. <\/em>Though Shaver\u2019s persistence surprised the filmmaker repeatedly over the months of the shoot\u2014running daily despite chronic pain, for instance, or even climbing out of an easy chair to talk passionately with visitors despite feeling exhausted\u2014Price-Waldman was particularly touched by Shaver\u2019s gratitude and presence in the face of constant setbacks.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Life We Have <\/em>is a deeply moving glimpse into the daily life of Shaver, an REI sales specialist since 2016 (he is currently on medical leave), a son and a runner diagnosed with Stage 4 Ewing\u2019s sarcoma at age 28, in 2004. Ewing\u2019s sarcoma is a rare and ruthless cancerous tumor that usually appears in children and young adults. Doctors gave Shaver 15% odds of surviving for five years. He had a burial fund ready.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, Shaver beat those odds, and he kept beating them, even as the cancer returned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Life We Have<\/em> shows us a tenacious, clear-eyed man who has lived nearly two decades with cancer. The film forces us to look life\u2019s biggest questions straight in the eye: How should we approach the time we have on earth? What is a life well-lived? And how do we go on with purpose when we know our time is near its end?\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Streak\u202f <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaver gained wider attention for his unlikely three-year-long daily running streak \u2013 a stretch that saw him covering 7,000 miles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Streak\u201d began modestly enough: In 2021, despite being exhausted by still another round of treatment, Shaver decided to shuffle one mile around the block. A lifelong athlete who missed using his body. He also missed being outside,<\/s> after so much time in hospitals. Shaver\u2019s doctor had told him to exercise his lungs, which the cancer had spread to and damaged over the years, or else he\u2019d have to use an oxygen tank soon. He decided he would run a mile every day as long as his body allowed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That first day was more like a walk, Shaver recalled. But one day became two days, then 10 days. One mile became farther. An unbroken string began. He ran marathons around his neighborhood. He undertook multiday runs through the Colorado Rockies. The runs often were hard, and they didn\u2019t cure him. Still, the streak was helping him. As Shaver recounts in the film, \u201cI used to go see my doctor. And he\u2019d be like, \u2018Are you having a hard time getting up <\/s>stairs?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018I ran 7 miles this morning.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Run for Rob<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To join the Streak or start your own, check out the Life We Have Strava Club<\/a> and REI Run Club<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Events: <\/strong>There will be an REI community virtual run on February 21 and an in-person run in Denver on March 1. More dates are being confirmed across the country. See here for details<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Choice to Live Deeply\u202f <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Price-Waldman first envisioned a documentary about running, and about triumph in the face of adversity.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very quickly, though, he realized that Shaver\u2019s running streak was the least interesting part of his story. Price-Waldman was much more captivated by the athlete\u2019s philosophy and approach to the time he had left.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Life We Have<\/em>, Shaver shares this outlook. \u201cIt\u2019s about so much more than just running,\u201d he says of the Streak. <\/em>\u201cIt\u2019s literally a choice, daily, to live deeply and thoroughly, and with beautiful effort. Not for results. Not for money or for fame or lifestyle. But for the richness of being alive.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview last December, Shaver explained that he ran daily out of a desire to \u201cdo justice to the gift that is now.\u201d Cancer has taken so many things from him, but the disease had done him one kindness: It awakened him to a deep, daily gratitude for life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaver brushed off those who call his outlook special or praiseworthy. \u201cI didn’t have a choice. Either I could live kind of angry and bitter and always find ways that this was unfair, or I could choose to see the ways in which I was still quite fortunate,\u201d he said. \u201cI could use it as an anchor for perspective. I could use it as a pathway to empathy and compassion for others.\u201d\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaver told me he hopes that the perspective he found over years of illness might be useful to others in a similar position.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Podcast<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Listen to the Wild Ideas Worth Living episode: The Life We Have with Rob Shaver<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

If you would like to support Rob Shaver and other cancer survivors, please donate to the Cancer Support Community<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I last spoke to Rob Shaver, in December 2024, he said he hadn\u2019t had a bad day in 20 years.    He had previously said the same to film director Sam Price-Waldman, soon after their first meeting. Price-Waldman thought he had misheard him. How could a man who had been living with cancer for two decades, undergone more than 60 radiation treatments (twice the typical lifetime amount) and lost his hair five times to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30729,"featured_media":201561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[359],"internal-tag":[2011],"class_list":["post-201516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-run","tag-run","post_format-post-format-video","internal-tag-home-secondary"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/run\/the-life-we-have-film","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"The Life We Have","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/the-life-we-have-film","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/the-life-we-have-film"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/TheLifeWeHave_1.png?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/TheLifeWeHave_1.png?fit=3840%2C2160"},"articleSection":"Run","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cassie da Costa"}],"creator":["Cassie da Costa"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["run"],"dateCreated":"2026-02-18T10:00:00Z","datePublished":"2026-02-18T10:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-03-24T19:55:06Z"},"rendered":"