His story, stealing words once spoken by Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers, should be called: “I am third.”
Once he was told his cancer treatments could be scheduled around his patients’ medical appointments, thus reducing the burden on his fellow physicians, and his cancer was curable, Dr. Marin returned to distance running.
Call him Marin the Marathon Man.
“The world makes sense when I run,” the 42-year-old Centerville resident said.
Next Sunday, Dr. Marin will compete in the New York City Marathon, a grueling 26.2-mile test that features several step inclines through five boroughs.
The race that draws about 50,000 runners begins on Staten Island, crosses the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn and Queens before crossing into Manhattan.
Runners head next to the Bronx, and then back into Manhattan to the finish line in Central Park.
Dr. Marin’s among five charity runners selected by the American Neuromuscular Foundation, and he’s running in the marathon because he knows the toll neuromuscular diseases can take. Not only does he suffer from muscular neuropathy after undergoing chemotherapy, but he also sees patients who suffer from neuromuscular diseases.
He had a goal of raising $3,500 for the foundation, and has already surpassed that by more than $200. He has been amazed by the generosity of people, some he barely knows through their connection to long distance running.
“There are some amazing people out there,” he said. “People are good people.”
He called fundraising for a marathon “a new and challenging experience that’s been a fun ride so far.”
This will be his first New York Marathon and while the course will offer its challenges, just getting to the starting line will be an accomplishment. He will board a bus at 5:15 a.m., get dropped off 7 a.m., and start the race at 9:10 a.m.
That will be a long four hours.
Runners don’t like standing around.
Dr. Marin said his grade “A” finish time would be in less than three hours, 10 minutes. His personal record is three hours, 5 minutes.
When Dr. Marin was diagnosed in February 2022, he discussed his treatment options with his oncologist. One doctor talking to another doctor.
“It was a weird world in a way,” he said, managing a laugh. “She talked to me like I was a doctor. Then she mentioned all these medications.”
He told her to slow down, a feeling felt by a lot of us.
“This isn’t my world,” he told his oncologist.
During his “pretty intense” cancer treatments, Marin left his running shoes in the closet.
“My energy was zapped,” he said.
He eventually started feeling stronger and returned to training. He has run in several marathons since, including the Air Force Marathon in Fairborn.
On Sunday, his wife, Leslie, their three children, Isaac, 17, Kaylie, 15 and Jessica, 13, and his patients will be on his mind again.
He was third then. And he’s third now.
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