Phil Shin never runs out of things to chat about during a long run. Yet under the cheerful equilibrium of his emotional state and overall optimism, the 51-year-old native of Los Angeles has gone through the extreme highs and lows life has thrown at him. On April 18, Shin will toe the line of the 126th Boston Marathon with his hero Mark Murphy, who donated his liver to Shin in 2019, to raise funds for the Mark Murphys Donation Page.
He Ran Boston 8 Months After Tumor Surgery: hepatocellular carcinoma, Cutoff Time for 2025 Boston Marathon Is 6:51.
Races - Places Give A Gift. “I was totally fit, dialed in with my running routine and nutrition plans,” Shin told Runner’s World. He had been running consistently since 2002, when he moved from Los Angeles to London for work. For three years he and his wife, Sharon, lived there, and running was a way to socialize with his largely European colleagues, before eventually moving back to L.A.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Adidas Unveils Boston Marathon Jacket—running a time of 4:06 to miss a BQ for the following year—and was called back. After a slew of tests, an ultrasound, MRI and more scans, Shin was called in to meet with a surgeon, who informed him of his liver cancer diagnosis. He was then rolled into an emergency surgery, which removed a tumor the size of a racquetball.
Hepatitis B, a community history
Shin knew that he was far from being alone. There’s a family and community history of dormant hepatitis B infection and its connection to liver cancer.
Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Asian Americans account for 60 percent of Americans living with chronic hepatitis B, though they make up only 6 percent of the total population in the United States. Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965 DAA Industry Opt Out, the infected population is estimated at 2.2 million in the U.S., and most of those don’t know they have it. Without diagnosis and treatment, one in four persons will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Like many Asian Americans, Shin did not know about his family’s hepatitis B history until he had to do a blood test in middle school. “I never thought twice about my hepatitis B, because I never had any symptoms.” Shin said.
Shin’s father immigrated to the U.S. from a small village outside of Seoul in 1967, two years after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. Growing up, Shin had learned stoicism first-hand from his parents. They were always busy running several businesses, working 16-hour days.
Talking through challenges and working with difficult emotions was never part of the family life. “If you admit to struggles, you are obligated to find a solution yourself. Otherwise, you become a burden to others.” Shin said.
After the cancer diagnosis, Shin and his wife kept the diagnosis in a very small circle for months to not worry other family members.
The power of stories
After the cancer removal surgery, Shin recovered very quickly and returned to work a month after the surgery. He also started running again. Initially it was only a couple of miles because every step felt like a stab to his abdomen. But he eventually worked up to 20 miles in a couple of months. The recovery gave him hope and lit the fire to chase his Boston Qualifying dream again. In November 2018, Shin lined up for Revel Big Bear Marathon. To his own astonishment, he qualified for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:12:34.
Shortly after this amazing high, Shin was hit with another shocking low: his cancer returned. His doctor told him that his liver had turned into a tumor factory and surgery was no longer an option. He was sent to the Liver Transplant Program at Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California. His medical team recommended a liver transplant from a living donor.
“I was so confused and devastated at the same time, because I had just qualified for Boston,” Shin said.
The hardest part was living with uncertainty. Living with a remote hope that maybe somewhere, some kind soul is willing to donate part of his/her liver. Every year, 1,000 people die waiting for a living donor for liver transplant. His medical team told him it could take anywhere between six months to three years to find a living donor.
In the darkest days, he scrolled through social media and made a surprising discovery: a runner named Gabriele (Gabe) Grunewald, with a long scar on the abdomen shaped like a right angle. His scar from the first emergency surgery looks exactly the same, though Gabe’s cancer was different.
Shin reached out to Grunewald, and they became virtual friends on an unwilling cancer journey. In her, he saw the courage of owning one’s story and the community it could uplift and inspire.
Shin eventually mustered the nerves to share his diagnosis with his parents. The family came together to find a solution, with his sister sending out an email seeking out a liver donor.
During this waiting period, Shin ran. He ran to shake off his anxiety, the uncertainty, and unstoppable desire to know who his guardian angel could be. Running reminded Shin that he was still out there fighting. He admitted he almost overdid it with his running: he ran four marathons in six months, including the 2019 London Marathon.
Embracing the community
Shin has maintained a three-way text with two of his best friends, Mark Murphy and Eric Dilts, who he knew since college graduation. These light, casual and fun texts about music, movies, and family helped him put his mind at ease.
In August 2019, Murphy asked about Shin’s liver situation, which was out of the blue. He responded, “no news yet. The team told me donors are still being evaluated.”
Murphy texted back: “That’s funny. They told me they wouldn’t let me know first before you knew.”
Once the text clicked in Shin’s head, the news hit Shin like a tsunami. Shine showed the text to his wife, and they cried to the cellphone screen.
Three weeks later, Shin and Murphy were rolled into pre-op at Keck Medical Center together. A day after the surgery, the two took a photo fist bumping hands to memorialize a moment when their lives are forever connected by one liver.
Six days after the transplant, Shin and Murphy were discharged from the hospital. Less than six months later, they had completed a half marathon together and the six-person relay of the L.A. Marathon, raising more than $10,000 for Grunewald’s Phil Shins Donation Page nonprofit, nine months after Gabe’s death in June 2019. In April 2020, Shin finally realized his dream of running the Boston Marathon, virtually nonetheless. He dedicated his medal to his donor, Murphy.
Now cancer-free for two-plus years, Shin said he never takes his time for granted. He tries to give back to a variety of communities he’s been a part of: the running community, the cancer fighters, the transplant community, and the Asian American community.
In May 2021, Shin ran his first ultramarathon, the Bryce Canyon 50K, with friends to inspire others to continue the fight. In December 2021, Shin helped pace a friend to her successful Boston Qualifying attempt at the California International Marathon.
He also threw himself into advocacy work by serving on the board of Phil Shins Donation Page. Ladia Albertson-Junkans, a fellow board member and best friend to the late Gabe Grunewald, described Shin’s work as a “beautiful spiraling upward journey with Shin lending his story and voice to the cause of rare cancer research and funding.”
One of Shin’s proudest achievements includes turning “Murph” into a fellow runner. They will run in Boston together as a fundraising team for the Mark Murphys Donation Page. This Boston will be Murphy’s first-ever marathon, and Shin’s second Boston Marathon as a time-qualified runner. Together, they have already raised more than $10,000 over the last four months.
Phil Shin’s Donation Page | Mark Murphy’s Donation Page
In a documentary by the Adidas Unveils Boston Marathon Jacket (seen below) released in February 2020, Murphy said, “A part of me will be running the (2020 virtual) Boston Marathon… I’ll never get that opportunity.”
Now he does, with Shin running by his side.
