Cancer doesn’t stop Setauket marathon runner

Cancer doesn't stop Setauket marathon runner

November 18, 2009 | 08:13 AM
Just four months after completing six months of chemotherapy, Gary Resnick of East Setauket ran the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1.





	Dr. Kevin Watkins, left, and Dr. Jeffrey Vacirca, congratulate Gary Resnick. Photo courtesy of SBUMC (click for larger version)

Resnick, 47, said he began running to lose weight after retiring in June 2008 from the New York Mercantile Exchange. In five months, Resnick, who weighed 202 pounds at the time, lost 53 pounds by running and dieting. While he concentrated on trimming down, however, another health concern loomed ahead: stage three pancreatic cancer.

When he spotted blood in his urine, not uncommon in distance runners, Resnick said his wife Christine, a nurse, suggested a CT scan of his kidneys. In December 2008, Resnick was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent a six-hour surgery on Jan. 16 at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

Shortly thereafter, the 14-year East Setauket resident began chemotherapy at North Shore Hematology and Oncology in Setauket — but he didn't stop running. Resnick, who participated in the NYC Marathon 20 years ago, said he slowly began testing himself seven weeks after surgery and eventually started running to and from the oncology center on Belle Mead Road, nearly four miles from his home.

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On March 29, Resnick finished the Suffolk County half marathon in 2:06, followed by the Long Island half marathon on May 2, finished in 1:54. "I was determined to get out there and start to get healthy," he said. Citing "Get busy living, or get busy dying" from the film "Shawshank Redemption," the runner added, "I decided to get busy living."

With hopes of participating in the 2009 NYC Marathon, Resnick, a 1980 Comsewogue High School graduate, said he began running 40 to 55 miles five to six times a week. With a 30 percent chance of qualifying for the marathon through a lottery, the East Setauket resident said he was willing to pay the required fee if he wasn't selected by lottery. "I was getting in no matter what."

When selected in the marathon lottery, Resnick, now cancer free, said he was determined to complete it in under 4 hours and 30 minutes. Instead, he finished the 26-mile race in just 4:01:37.

"I was very, very tired but happy," he said. "I had a big smile on my face and a sense of accomplishment."

Resnick, who will run half marathons in Las Vegas next month and Phoenix in January, said he encourages people to "participate in whatever makes them feel good." "I just love the freedom of being out there running," he said, noting that he hopes to "just try to live and beat [the cancer]" to watch Thomas, 12, Ashley, 9, and Anthony, 7, grow up. "That's the biggest goal of all."

Dr. Kevin Watkins, Resnick's surgeon and chief of the Upper Gastrointestinal and General Oncologic Surgery Group at SBUMC, said his patient's accomplishment is "something that should motivate everybody else undergoing treatment not to limit themselves." While running a marathon is a "difficult task for anybody," Dr. Watkins said, finishing the NYC Marathon after completing six months of chemotherapy is a "whole different ball game."

"You want people to do what they enjoy and what fulfills their lives," the surgeon said.

Dr. Jeffrey Vacirca, Resnick's oncologist and director of clinical research at North Shore Hematology and Oncology, said of his patient, "I think he's remarkable. Right now, he's doing wonderful. He looks fantastic."

Dr. Vacirca, who initially recommended Resnick run the 2010 NYC race, said his patient "did his best to prove me wrong." "You really can never count a person out," Dr. Vacirca said. "Gary's motivation and determination not only got him through chemotherapy, but to finish a marathon within four months of finishing six months of chemotherapy treatment is truly phenomenal."

Citing the supportive care in oncology that makes it possible for patients to overcome various illnesses, Dr. Vacirca said of Resnick, "I have no doubts he'll finish the 2010 New York City Marathon in less than four hours."

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