From left: Dr. Vance Broach, Pauline Larkin, and Dr. Maureen Byrne at the finish line of the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon
When 51-year-old Pauline Larkin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in January 2024, she wasn’t sure she would ever lace up her running shoes again.
It all started a few days after finishing the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon, when she felt cramps and bloating. Maybe she went too hard in the race, she thought. Or maybe it was the beginning of menopause. It turned out to be two masses on her ovaries. “I felt like I was watching a car crash in slow motion,” she says.
Her Mind on the Marathon Even During Treatment
Pauline went to MSK right away. After surgery and as she prepared for chemotherapy, she couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to conquer the marathon again after everything she’d been through. She was determined to make something positive out of her diagnosis. She asked her surgeon Vance Broach, MD, for advice.
As it happened, Dr. Broach and several of his colleagues were planning to run the marathon with Fred’s Team, the official running program of MSK, and raise money for ovarian cancer research. He gave her medical clearance to start training, as long she took it slow and listened to her body. They decided that if all went well, they’d race together.
Training Runs After Every Chemotherapy Session
Pauline decided to run after every chemo session, starting with three miles. Step by step, she increased her distance and on the last day of treatment, she ran five miles from MSK all the way to her home in Brooklyn.
Some days, she wasn’t sure she could do it. Her muscles felt like they had stopped working. Her bones felt stretched and stepped-on at the same time. But she stayed motivated by the goal of running the marathon with her doctors.
“I wanted my baldness and my Fred’s Team T-shirt to capture attention so people could see a different image of chemotherapy than they expected,” she says.
A Massive Fundraising Run for Ovarian Cancer Research
Pauline kept at it, and by race day, she was ready. On November 3, 2024, she crossed the finish line alongside Dr. Broach and GYN Oncology Fellows Aaron Praiss, MD, and Maureen Byrne, MD, MSCR. Together, Team Ovary raised nearly $100,000 — and every dollar went directly to ovarian cancer research at MSK. Pauline was one of 110 former and current MSK patients running with Fred’s Team at the NYC marathon to fund research and help imagine a world without cancer.
“I’m proud to support MSK and run with the people who saved my life,” she says. “You bet I’m planning to lace up again for the marathon this fall.”
To learn more about Fred’s Team, visit fredsteam.org.