Retired NY Police Officer Runs Boston Marathon 6 Months After Lung Cancer Surgery
When Vinny O’Shaughnessy crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon, he says he was the “happiest guy on earth.” Mostly happy it was over— each step of the 26.2 miles hurt because of some bruised ribs sustained in a fall while training — but also because even cancer couldn’t keep him from his goal.
Vinny O’Shaughnessy pushed through the pain of broken ribs sustained in a training fall to run the 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon.
The retired New York detective and first responder at Ground Zero was no stranger to cancer. But his previous experiences with thyroid and brain cancers didn’t prepare him for a lung cancer diagnosis in the summer of 2023.
“This was the first one that really, really scared me,” O’Shaughnessy said. “When you hear lung cancer, you get the feeling that this is the end.”
The 63-year-old went in for a scan when he felt abnormal pain running a marathon in Maine. He thought it was a kidney stone, but a radiologist noticed fluid in his heart and a tumor in his lung. Having recently relocated to Sarasota, FL, he was referred to Moffitt Cancer Center.
O’Shaughnessy’s cancer was caught early and could be treated with surgery. He underwent a laparoscopic right lung lobectomy in October. After a few weeks of recovery, he decided to try and run again.
“It was pretty ugly. I am missing like 25% of my lung capacity, and I was bloated from the surgery which doesn’t allow your diaphragm to expand or contract,” he said. “I was nowhere near I was before.”
Already an avid runner who had competed in four Iron Man races and marathons all over the world, O’Shaughnessy set the goal in 2017 to run a marathon in every state. Before his lung cancer diagnosis, he had run 54 marathons across 42 states.
“I decided to give it one more shot and started training strenuously,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Boston was going to be my litmus test. If I could run Boston, I could do the eight remaining marathons.”
"I was going to do Boston if it killed me," O’Shaughnessy said.
O’Shaughnessy started by running a few 5K races in Sarasota, then worked his way up to running a half marathon. Two weeks before Boston, he fell during a practice run. The fall bruised some ribs and caused some fluid to build up in his other lung. But he didn’t let the injury put him on the sidelines.
“I was going to do Boston if it killed me.”
He crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2024, almost exactly six months after his surgery. He ran for Cops for Kids with Cancer, raising $13,000 for the nonprofit.
O’Shaughnessy will tackle his next marathon in Fargo, North Dakota in June. That will the second of six marathons for 2024, and he will complete his final two next year to reach his goal of 50 states.
And after that? O’Shaughnessy can’t help but laugh when he gets that question. Maybe half marathons in every state, he responds. Or maybe finishing the last three races he hasn’t completed of the Big Six: Tokyo, London and Berlin (he has already completed New York, Boston and Chicago).
No matter what he decides, he will keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing not even his greatest obstacle can slow him down.
