{"id":340715,"date":"2025-10-29T12:08:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340715\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:08:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:08:17","slug":"nyc-marathon-cancer-wont-stop-pauline-larkin-from-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/340715\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC MARATHON | Cancer won\u2019t stop Pauline Larkin from running"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Pauline\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Pauline Larkin running in the TCS New York City Marathon.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center<\/p>\n

The TCS New York Marathon is an annual race that people from around the world participate in. It is a trying 26.3 miles to the finish line, and even the strongest runners struggle to the end. What Pauline Larkin didn\u2019t know was that she would be running with an added challenge, one that would change her life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI first ran the marathon in 2018 with a friend of mine, and I ran it again in 2023 with my brother,\u201d Larkin said. \u201cIn 2024, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and decided after I had this major operation and gone through chemo that I was gonna show up and run. In 2025, my cancer came back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin\u2019s diagnosis has been an extensive challenge both physically and mentally. Chemotherapy affects everyone differently, and for Larkin, chemo affects her feet. The first time Larkin got Chemotherapy, she lost her hair. Being bald, she said, was much easier than having overly sensitive hands and feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Training for the New York Marathon has been especially difficult for Larkin, as her training regime is constantly having to change.
\n\"Pauline<\/a>Pauline LarkinPhoto courtesy of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interrupted by these weird chemo bullets that happened. It\u2019s interrupted by going for chemo, it\u2019s interrupted by being tired from chemo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though Larkin is facing a tremendous amount of trials, she still believes that continuing to run is essential, \u201cIt\u2019s important because it keeps me sane. I think that running is one of the best mental health tools ever. It reduces my stress.\u201d She said,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin runs for Fred\u2019s Team, a group of current and former cancer patients of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. All money raised goes directly towards the labs which develop groundbreaking discoveries, making change around the world. This is also where Larkin has received all of her treatments. Running through treatment gives Larkin an enormous purpose, she explains. She is running to fundraise, she is running with people who have been affected by cancer, and she is running to raise awareness of cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my personal story about being a runner who is running while they\u2019re receiving chemotherapy treatment is that I want to run to show that there is a different experience for everyone,\u201d Larkin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though Larkin is going through such a challenging hurdle in her life, she still believes that getting to run is a privilege. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a privilege to get to run with Fred\u2019s team and to have this other side, that you can be sick and vibrant, you can be tired and energized,\u201d she said, \u201cyou can have stillness and apathy, and you can show up and you can move your body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pauline<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s important because it keeps me sane,\u201d Pauline Larkin says about running.Photo courtesy of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center<\/p>\n

Larkin has not always been a runner, and shared that her journey started with lots of laughs. She decided that she wanted a change in pace, and joined her friend for a run at the park, \u201cI was wearing a velour leisure suit. It was so warm and hot and heavy. I had no idea what I was doing and she\u2019s like, \u2018we\u2019re gonna run around the track\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

After this moment, Larkin knew she wanted to take agency over her body, and running was her solution. So, she laced up her new shoes and tried running with some different, less sparkly gear. Though her journey started slow, she started to enjoy it more and more every mile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The beauty in running, as explained by Larkin, is the connections you make along the way. Running long distances means you get to interact with people. \u201cYou run and you talk,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re not running fast, so you get to really connect with people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin has not lived in the city her whole life; she is originally from Scotland. \u201cI think that running the New York City Marathon would make anyone fall in love with New York City,\u201d Larkin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being a runner in the marathon is a unique moment to feel like you\u2019re on top of the world, and Larkin feels that the support from New Yorkers is one of the most magical experiences. \u201cNew York has a magic energy about it that I absolutely adore,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Larkin\u2019s favorite memory from running the New York Marathon in the past was when two of her surgeons joined her in the final mile.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw my surgeon, we just started crying. We never really expected that I was going to be able to run. That moment of connecting with the two of them was just amazing, amazing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Larkin could share one message with those who are affected by cancer, it would be to never be afraid to ask for help, \u201cShare your story, seek other people who have similar experiences, to allow yourself to be vulnerable and strong all at the same moment,\u201d she said, \u201crecognize that life has an enormous purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Larkin, a strong race isn\u2019t a first-place medal, but a positive attitude, \u201cA perfect day for me is gonna be that I finish and that I finish smiling,\u201d she said, \u201cA perfect day is going to be me remembering why I run. That I run because I can, because my body lets me do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every mile when I feel defeated, it is going to be a success because you\u2019re alive and because you can do that,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that is, that is a privilege.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pauline Larkin running in the TCS New York City Marathon. Photo courtesy of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":340716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,235,210,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,166135,167845,1236,167846,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-340715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cancer","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-nyc-marathon","18":"tag-pauline-larkin","19":"tag-running","20":"tag-tcs-new-york-city-marathon","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115457380436870690","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}