Who am I?
My real name is Mark, and I live in Northern Kentucky, in a suburb of Cincinnati. I am 38 years old, married to Kristen, my wife of 13 years. We have two kids, Michael and Katie. I am the baby of 13, and three of us were born with Cystic Fibrosis. My second oldest brother, Timmy, died at the age of 5 days from a bowel obstruction. My sister Judy also had CF, and lived to be almost 31. Quite an accompishment, considering she was born in 1957.
What is Cystic Fibrosis?
Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that involves the respiratory and disgestive systems. Average lifespan for a CF patient is 36.2 years, as of May 2006. For more information on CF, click here.
Activities
I participate in several activities to keep me “young.” I play with Michael and Katie, which keeps me young but makes me feel old. I am a first degree black belt in Aikido, although I have not been to the dojo much since 2002. I am also a runner. I run for the Team for Life, raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Our coach, Wayne, is a 67 year old machine. In 20 marathon tries, he’s never been able to been on the slow side of a 3:59:59 marathon. (I’m disgusted, but still love him!) I am also a reseach study patient (lab rat) for new CF Treatments.
Running Personal Records
5k – 27:07 (2008 Firecracker 5000)
10k – 1:00:17 (2007 Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race)
15k – 1:30:45 (2010 Heart Mini Marathon)
Half Marathon – 2:06:20 (2007 Dayton River Corridor Classic)
Marathon – 4:30:53 (2008 Flying Pig Marathon Adjusted 26.2 Mile Course)* (Happy now Amye?)
Ultra-Marathon – 4:33:28 (2008 Flying Pig Marathon Fire Detoured Course 26.47 Miles)**
* – The 2008 Flying Pig Course was .27 miles long due to a fire on the course.
** – Hey, it’s over 26.2 so it’s an Ultra, at least according to PacerChris of the Clif Team.
Identity Crisis
There is another CfKid out in CyberSpace somewhere. I don’t know how long they have been around, but I’ve been using this alias for over 20 years. So, if you see the name, don’t assume it’s me, unless my blog is in my tagline. If you are the other CfKid, drop me a note please.
Hello Mark.
My name is tod. Im from Ireland. Im 22.
Just found this site by pure mistake. I too have cf and am training for a marathon to raise money for cf. its on the 29th of october. Not long to go now and everythings going great. I have the run in the bag. haha. Im aiming for 4 hours. I too have interest in martial arts. Especially jiu jitsu. I trained mixed martial arts for about 18months and have taken a break to do the run. My next goal is hopefully sometime to have a mma fight. (HUGE UFC FAN) Never let my condition get in my way no matter what. Keep up the good work man….. Best of look.
Tod,
Thanks for the message. Good luck on your Marathon in a month. Let me know how you do!
Mark
Mark, good luck with your training. I’m 43 and I am also a runner with CF. In fact, I just finished the Twin Cities marathon this past weekend. My time of 5 hours and 30 minutes is not great but it was the hottest TC Marathon on record and I had severe leg cramps the last 6 miles.
If I can do it, so can you.
Good Luck,
Todd
Todd,
Great job on TC, and thanks for the encouragement. I’m running a half marathon this Sunday, shooting for a 2:05 or better!
MArk
I just wanted to tell you that as a mother of a 14 month old boy with CF (and not knowing much about CF), it is very encouraging to hear of the athletic accomplishments you (and Tod) have made. Keep up the good work!
I am Bob (aka Ace8) from coolrunning.com. I am interested in joining a marathon training team in the Cincinnati area, and running for a cause would be icing on the cake. I am interested in your training days/times to see if it will work for me (my wife is training for the Boston Marathon and we have little kids, so we need to work around each other’s schedules). I put my email in the reply field, so i think you will have it. Thanks.
Hi Mark, my name is Michael and I am a 17 and I have cf. I found your blog by accident while being stuck in the hospital. Which I am sure you know what that is like. I was typing in my screen-name that I created and use for everything I sign up for. My screen name is cfkid23. Well, I typed it wrong, I left off the 23 and by chance I saw your blog. I recently, as of a few days ago, started my own blog with wordpress and in the process of fixing up the site. Drop me an email at cfkid23@gmail.com.
🙂
Hey Mark. I just ran across your site, by accident. I love your spirit. I’m 47 with CF, and ran a half marathon last year. I think I’ll do one more so I can say I’ve done a full marathon!
Keep running, and being a great role model!
Congratulations on all of your running accomplishments!!! It is great to know I am not the only crazy CF marathon runner!!! I completed my first marathon on September 22, 2008. I live in pancake flat Florida so why I chose “very hilly” aka “mountainous” Adirondack Marathon in New York is beyond all comprehension! I was supremely satisfied with my finishing time of 4:22:35, and plan to do many more!!! (probably a little closer to “flat” though! HAHAHA! Hope to see you a Boston in the near future, I want to get the qualifying time first—all things are possible!!! Kudos!!!
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the comment on my post about CF. I’m certainly glad we aren’t adding one to the CF tally, as well. One thing that this whole experience has done for me and my family is increase our awareness about CF. It’s unfortunate that it takes something like this to really “get it,” but better now than never. I plan to help out in any way I can. Congratulations on your awesome running accomplishments, and keep on going! I plan to follow your site and progress – I’m sure you’re in inspiration to many!
Thanks again,
Mindy
Mark, I have to admit surprise to seeing CFKid and seeing good spelling and grammar. The CFKid I know is David, a regular on the Cystic-l list and who has considerable learning disabilities. While his heart is in the right place (like yours), his abilities with the English language are lamentable. So, yeah, keeping you two straight shouldn’t be a problem.
You and I are very much alike – similar age, similar running abilities, judging from your posted PRs. Sounds like you’re getting faster, though, and I’m getting slower. And unlike you, I’m single w/ no kids.
The rest about me you know from the CBS segment. 🙂
Anyway, I hope we keep in touch. CF runners are powerful people when they put their minds to it.
Hey Mark: I am the parent of a CF adult/runner. I know that we are very proud of Cris and that his running is saving his life. He was just in Charleston to run the Cooper River Bridge Run and was spotlighted on the local ABC news. I’ve put in some money to take you over the top on your fundraising for MassGeneral – so do us all proud and good luck.
Cris Dopher’s Mom and Dad (Former Hamilton, OH person)
You have a great blog here and it is Nice to read some well written posts that have some relevancy…keep up the good work 😉
[…] 30, 2009 I love this man’s story. His name is Mark and he is a 36 year-old marathon […]
Hi Mark,
I love the blog! Amazing job with the marathons. My wife has CF (she’s actually a patient of Dr Allen Lapey), and I’ve been trying to utilize my running to raise money/awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation… Is Team For Life looking for runners? I’m 3 months into my running, and hoping to run my first marathon in 2010. If not, any suggestions on starting up something would be super helpful. Consider your blog bookmarked!
Mark,
I am humbled by your accomplishments. I lost a friend in high school to CF and saw how ugly it can be. I am also in the Cinci area and run the Pig every year, although I have stuck to the half since 2008. I will pray for your continued health.
Happy running,
Rundad
Mark,
I am a fellow CF’er.
I have always been a very sporty person
Every Sport I have played in, was always in top 5%
But now, for the past 2 years ish, Cf has caught up to me.
My best PFTs are about 35-40%. I am 39.
I’d to try and do a marathon.
Other then the obvious, (like starting with shorter distances, walking / running) do you have any CF related running advice?
Thx for help
and CONTINUE to kick ass 🙂
P.s. I am doing TOBI as I am writing to you …lol
Marc in Ottawa, Canada
Marc, I’m also 39 and my FEV1 right now is 25%. 😦 I can run, but not well. In fact, I’m doing a half-marathon next weekend and just hope I can finish in under three hours.
There are four things to train up: lungs, VO2, leg & heart muscles, and willpower. Not much we can do about increasing lung capacity, but we can work out breathing techniques that help us keep going. I breathe in for two steps and out for three. That’s unusual, but it’s what I can do.
VO2 will increase as the heart enlarges. The heart and leg muscles will learn to work harder, longer, with less O2. (They’re pretty inefficient before training.) This all takes time. Be patient. It will be a few weeks before the first changes are obvious.
Willpower is another question. For most athletes, the willpower training comes with continual success and improvement. That may not happen for those of us with CF; but in a race, I can gut out moments I’d not fight through in training. And in training, I rarely cut a run short, because it isn’t JUST about my health, it is also about my pride. I need to be able to finish the target race.
An average normal person could train up for a marathon (enough to finish at least) in four to five months. For people with reduced lung function, our training improvements will come slower, so the training period needs to be longer – probably six to nine months, somewhere in there. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of research are lung-impaired athletes that firm recommendations can be drawn from.
I just wanted to say: You rock, Mark. I definitely hope you get that sub-4 marathon.