{"id":107411,"date":"2026-06-14T01:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T01:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/107411\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T01:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T01:01:11","slug":"tampa-bay-man-trains-for-cystic-fibrosis-marathon-in-berlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/107411\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay man trains for Cystic Fibrosis marathon in Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 A Tampa Bay area runner living with cystic fibrosis is training for his third marathon. For this athlete, the sport represents a double-edged sword.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExercise is obviously very good for your lung health, for your aerobic health, so it\u2019s a good thing to do,\u201d said Ryan Matthews. \u201cAnd it\u2019s something that they\u2019ve always recommended growing up as, like you should stay as active as possible, but at the same time being a lung disease, it makes it harder to run because it\u2019s harder to breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matthews was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that devastates the lungs and other organs. But it isn\u2019t slowing down this athlete. He ran his first marathon in 2024 to mark his 30th birthday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople can kind of put you in a box and say like this is how you should feel, or this is what your life is going to be like with this disease,\u201d said Matthews. \u201cAnd so for me, it\u2019s really important just to show people what is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As part of the 2026 Berlin Marathon Breathe Team, <a href=\"https:\/\/fundraise.cff.org\/berlin2026\/RPMatthews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">he\u2019s raising funds<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cff.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cystic Fibrosis Foundation<\/a>, with hopes of finding a cure and increasing access to new treatments.<\/p>\n<p>Pulmonologist with Tampa General Hospital and USF Health, Dr. Lauryn Benninger, says treatment options have improved dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNewer, highly effective modulator therapies are really revolutionizing CF care. So these individuals are not only living better lives, but longer lives,\u201dsaid Benninger, who serves as the associate director of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tgh.org\/institutes-and-services\/conditions\/cystic-fibrosis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TGH Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center<\/a>\u00a0and as assistant professor of medicine in USF Health\u2019s Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care.<\/p>\n<p>As recently as April, the FDA approved expanded use of two of those drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Benninger said advancements, along with new research are promising.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCystic Fibrosis Foundation is really putting a huge amount of effort into research, looking into gene therapy as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Matthews says he has seen some of those advancements firsthand. He said one example over time is the vest he uses for at-home chest compression therapy \u2014 it\u2019s changed to become more mobile and easier to use. And while he said he\u2019s taking less medication than before, he believes more progress is needed.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why he says he\u2019s doing his part to help move research one step closer to a cure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet people see that it\u2019s possible and you can do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Berlin Marathon is September 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 A Tampa Bay area runner living with cystic fibrosis is training for his third marathon.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[99],"tags":[54504,15606,54506,15604,112,190,5126,393,54502,38,54503,54501,2508,54505,44521],"class_list":["post-107411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-app-good-news","tag-app-health","tag-app-latest-health-stories","tag-app-top-stories","tag-berlin","tag-germany","tag-good-news","tag-health","tag-melissa-eichman","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-trending-topics","tag-vod"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116745763799774049","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}