When Running a Marathon Becomes a Blueprint for Surviving Cancer: My Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds cover art

When Running a Marathon Becomes a Blueprint for Surviving Cancer: My Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds

When Running a Marathon Becomes a Blueprint for Surviving Cancer: My Conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds

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 A video version of this interview is available on YouTube.There’s something profound that happens when you sit down with someone who has stared down death twice and emerged not just alive, but thriving. My recent conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds on The John Passadino Show wasn’t just another interview about overcoming adversity. It was a masterclass in what it means to truly live, even when everything inside you is screaming to give up.Dr. Reynolds is the President and CEO of Family and Children’s Association in New York, but his story goes far beyond the impressive credentials. He’s completed five New York City marathons, four Long Island marathons, 30 triathlons, and seven Ironman races. And somewhere between mile markers and finish lines, he was diagnosed with cancer. Twice.The Unexpected Journey from Barstool to MarathonThe way Jeff tells it, his running career began in the most unlikely place: a bar in Tampa at 2 a.m. during a professional conference. Someone suggested a 5K race that morning. Jeff, in his mid-40s and admittedly not an athlete (he was kicked off the track team in ninth grade for getting other kids to smoke), showed up wearing shorts and shoes that were definitely not made for running.“The gun goes off. I take off like a bat out of hell, and 90 seconds later, I am huffing, puffing, cursing, and walking,” he told me with refreshing honesty. That 36-minute 5K became a turning point. A couple years later, he won that same race.But here’s what struck me most about our conversation: Jeff doesn’t just run to finish. He runs to understand himself.Mile 18: The Dark and Lonely PlaceThere’s a moment in every marathon, Jeff explained, that tests everything you think you know about yourself. It happens around mile 18. You’ve been out on the road for a couple of hours. Your body is breaking down. Your nutrition is failing. The finish line is too far to see, but you’ve come too far to quit.“Your mind starts playing games with you,” Jeff said. “You could just stop. You could walk. Nobody really cares. You’re getting the same free banana and bottle of water and dumb medal you can’t even wear to work at the end of it.”When he found himself two-thirds of the way through his chemotherapy treatments, he recognized that same dark, lonely place. The parallel was undeniable. His body was breaking down. The end wasn’t in sight. Every cell in his body wanted to quit.But he didn’t.Getting Comfortable with Being UncomfortableThis is where Jeff’s story transcends athletics and cancer and becomes something much more universal. We live in a world engineered for comfort, he pointed out. Want dinner? Order it to your door. Feeling stressed? There’s an app for that. But real growth, real transformation, happens in the spaces where we’re uncomfortable.“Part of that for me was getting comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Jeff explained. “Acknowledging the uncomfortability. Yeah, this sucks. Yeah, my body hurts. And then you acknowledge it and you put it aside and you keep going.”This isn’t toxic positivity or “just push through it” bravado. It’s something deeper. It’s about being present with your pain, naming it, and then making a conscious choice to continue anyway. It’s about finding meaning in the struggle itself.The Things Men Don’t Usually SayWhat really got me about Jeff’s book, “Every Mile Matters: Turning Triathlon Training into Cancer Triumph,” was how he talked about things men don’t typically discuss. Friendship. Isolation. Vulnerability. Spirituality.“You say so many things from a personal point of view and from a guy point of view that I normally don’t hear,” I told him during our conversation. And it’s true. Men are conditioned to tough it out, to not need people, to handle everything alone. But Jeff’s book and our conversation challenged all of that.He writes about the importance of having people in your corner. About the spiritual questions that arise when you’re facing your own mortality. About what we’re made of and what really matters when everything else falls away.From Cancer Survivor to Community ChampionToday, Jeff channels his experiences into his work as President and CEO of Family and Children’s Association, one of Long Island’s oldest and largest nonprofits. Under his leadership, FCA operates Thrive Recovery Centers, a revolutionary approach to addiction recovery that recognizes a fundamental truth: you can’t just take drugs out of someone’s life. You have to help them put really good stuff back in.“Rehabs are designed to help you take drugs out of your life,” Jeff explained. “Recovery centers help you put really good stuff back into your life. Unless you do both at the same time, somebody’s going to stumble and relapse again and again and again.”Thrive operates three centers across Nassau and Suffolk counties, serving about 10,000 people. And here’s the beautiful part: ...
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