MTV’s Cory Wharton Shares His Biggest Wish for Daughter Maya’s Health
Some days, being a dad is more challenging than others.
And The Challenge‘s Cory Wharton faced one of those difficult moments when he missed the New York City Marathon after his 6-year-old Mila—shared with ex Taylor Selfridge—was hospitalized for a broken arm.
“Mila ended up breaking her arm and had to have surgery yesterday. As a dad, there’s nothing worse than seeing your babies in pain,” Cory explained on Instagram Nov. 3. “Unfortunately, that also meant I wasn’t able to make it to NYC to run the marathon this year.”
The update answered fans’ questions about the reality star’s conspicuous absence from the race, which he noted he had been “training for and looking forward to for months.”
In fact, Cory told E! News about his excitement for the race shortly before Mila’s medical incident, explaining how his 4-year-old daughter Maya—also shared with the Teen Mom: OG star—battling complications from her rare congenital heart defect was the ultimate inspiration to cross the finish line.
As such, the 35-year-old was honest about his disappointment in missing the competition, yet named raising money for The Children’s Heart Foundation as a priceless silver lining.
“To everyone who was looking forward to seeing me run the NYC Marathon, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it this year,” Cory continued on Instagram. “But one thing I AM proud of is that we raised $12,000 for congenital heart defect research. That means more to me than any finish line ever could.”
Cory Wharton/Instagram
While the athlete admitted he was “mentally, emotionally, physically” tired from the health struggles surrounding his family, he added, “I know I still have to find the strength to show up for the people who depend on me.”
Keeping up the positivity, the MTV personality added, “Life doesn’t always go according to our plans, but that doesn’t mean we stop moving forward.”
In addition, the unexpected change of plans allowed Cory to spend Halloween with his little ones—including Ryder, 9, with ex Cheyenne Floyd—after he previously told E! News that his kids were upset he had to miss out on trick-or-treating.
Cory Wharton/Instagram
He also expressed optimism about Maya’s continued recovery.
“We’ll continue to fight, and she’s doing great. She’s smiling. She’s starting to talk a little bit more,” Cory told E!. “We’re just so happy that she’s here, and we just want to share her journey because there’s other families out there.”
Read on for more stars who traded the walk of fame for a 26.2-miler.
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Harry Styles
The singer was heading in one direction—towards the finish line—at both the 2025 Tokyo Marathon and Berlin Marathon.
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Tayshia Adams
“NYC Marathon, round 2!!” the former Bachelorette wrote on Instagram ahead of the 2024 race after having run it three years prior with her former fiancé Zac Clark. “Bib #38793 in hand and ready for the big day! Can’t wait to see you all cheering out there — I’ll need every bit of that energy!”
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Claire Holt
After finishing the 2024 Chicago Marathon, The Originals star reflected on her journey.
“I think one of the most important traits in life is humility, but I’m going to let myself feel proud,” she wrote on Instagram. “I woke up at 4am all summer to train for this race. It was really f*cking hard and I asked a lot of my family during those 4 months.”
“I doubted myself more often than not, and I was sick to my stomach at the thought of letting anyone down,” Holt added. “But today I ran a personal best by 19 minutes (3:44:14), 11 months after having my 3rd kid. I did it because of the unbelievable generosity of friends, family and kind-hearted strangers. I did it because you believed in me, and the cause. Together we raised over $100,000 to help Boston Children’s Hospital tackle the mental health crisis. I am so beyond grateful to you all. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
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Colin Farrell
The Banshees of Inisherin star ran the 2024 Irish Life Dublin Marathon.
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Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes
The Amy & T.J. podcast hosts flashed their medals after finishing the 2023 New York City Marathon.
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Cynthia Erivo
“So I did a thing….26.2miles of a thing…. In 3hrs35 minutes,” the Wicked star shared on Instagram after finishing the 2022 London Marathon. “I’m proud and I’m exhausted and I’m grateful!! X. @londonmarathon was emotional.”
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Ashton Kutcher
Hello Wisconsin, er, New York! The That ’70s Show alum celebrated after finishing the NYC Marathon in 2022.
Willie Geist
The Sunday Today host helped raise more than $400,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease while participating in the 2021 New York City Marathon.
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Matt James & Tyler Cameron
The Bachelor Nation stars posed for a pic at the finish line of the New York City Marathon with Matt’s now-ex Rachael Kirkconnell in 2021.
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Nev Schulman
We’re not catfishing you. The Catfish host has run several marathons, including the 2019 New York City Marathon.
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Andi Dorfman
Though the former Bachelorette told People her goal was simply to finish the hilly 26.2-mile course in New York City (“I don’t want to be disappointed,” she explained of getting her heart set on a specific time) the reality star walked away from the 2019 event with an impressive sub-four-hour finish time.
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Kevin Hart
A year after he tackled his first marathon in NYC, the comedian participated in the 2018 Chicago Marathon to raise funds to help send kids to college. “The reason behind this run is simply first and foremost personal greatness, personal achievement but also what I can bring awareness to, what I can raise money for,” he shared on Instagram, shouting, “Education!”
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Karlie Kloss
For the model, the 2017 New York City Marathon was, “Singlehandedly the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Still, she crushed the course in four hours, 41 minutes.
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Alicia Keys
“One foot in front of the other was my mantra,” Alicia posted about finishing the 2015 marathon in the concrete jungle where dreams are made of. (She notched a time of 5:50:52.) And for the Grammy winner, the race was an energizing challenge. “I’m all about breaking mental boundaries,” she wrote in a Refinery29 blog post, “and training for a marathon falls right into the Jedi mind-training I need.”
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Natalie Dormer
Though the Game of Thrones star insisted she didn’t care much about her time in the 2016 London Marathon—noting raising upwards of $7,000 for The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s ChildLine service was more important—she admitted to reporters she was “a tiny bit peeved,” about her three-hour, 54-minute finish considering it was 24 seconds slower than her 2014 debut.
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Uzo Aduba
Running the Boston Marathon in 2015 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Orange Is the New Black star listened to Sara Bareilles‘ “Brave” in tribute to a friend she lost to the disease. “That was her motivator getting through every single day of treatment, every single round of chemo, that was what she was listening to constantly,” she explained. “And I listen to that when I’m training now, and I can hear her telling me, ‘Keep going.'”
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Ryan Reynolds
Seeing his dad battle Parkinson’s disease inspired the Deadpool actor to run the New York City Marathon in 2008. Finishing in three hours, 50 minutes, he also raised money to help fight the disease by teaming up with Michael J. Fox‘s Team Fox.
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Katie Holmes
After finishing the NYC marathon in 2007, the actress turned up (in heels!) alongside then-husband Tom Cruise for his Lions for Lambs premiere.
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Will Ferrell
“Running a marathon is not a question of whether it will be painful, but when it will be painful,” the actor said after finishing his third marathon—Boston’s 2003 race—in less than four hours. He later noted to Podium Runner that people “are terribly underwhelmed when they recognize me in a race. There’s nothing funny going on. It’s just a lot of silence and pain.”
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Oprah Winfrey
After vowing to take on a marathon before she turned 40, the queen of daytime television ran 26.2 miles in Washington, D.C. in 1994. In the pouring rain. As two National Enquirer reporters tagged along tracking her every move. She finished in an impressive four hours, 29 minutes.
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George W. Bush
Having kept up with the sport long after he ran the Houston course in 1993, Bush accepted few excuses from people who said they simply couldn’t squeeze a workout in.
“I believe anyone can make the time [to run],” he told Runner’s World during his term. “As a matter of fact, I don’t believe it—I know it. If the President of the United States can make the time, anyone can.”
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