Marathon man beats the odds by overcoming illness
Oceanport resident recently completed third New York City Marathon
Seven years ago, George Boscarino was staring into the abyss, his life apparently slipping away. Then 44, the Mercedes-Benz salesman from Oceanport underwent a routine physical examination only to learn that he was suffering from hepatitis C, a potentially deadly disease contracted sometime in his youth.
As a consequence, he was also stricken with cirrhosis of the liver, one of the condition’s grave complications.
"In 1993, a gastroenterologist said the only possible treatment was interferon," said Boscarino. "The side effects were devastating. They brought me to my knees. Eventually I went to the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Hospital to be placed on a waiting list for a liver transplant."
Months dragged by and Boscarino grew weaker, losing 65 pounds off his 6-foot frame.
"I had little muscle tone and could barely move," he said. "Finally I called one of my close friends, attorney James McDonald, and told him I have to go to the gym and try to do some exercise. He was kind enough to go with me, but I could barely climb the stairs. I walked a mile on the treadmill and went home.
"A couple of months later, in November 1994, a friend took me as a guest to the New York City Marathon," he continued. "I was so inspired that I decided that one year I’d run it myself. Everyone thought I was crazy."
Everyone was wrong. For in fact, George Boscarino did run, and complete, the 1995 New York Marathon, the first of a dozen marathons he has run in the past five years. Last month he completed his third NYC race, running as part of a 12-person team representing PHS Health Plans.
"The thrill of finishing the New York Marathon that first time," Boscarino said. "I can’t even begin to tell you how it felt.
"I’m in better shape than I was when I was 30," added the 51-year-old, whose weight is back up to 200 pounds. "By October 1996, I was removed from the liver transplant waiting list entirely. They told me it was only for sick people. It was satisfying when I ran in the 1997 Pittsburgh Marathon, and the course took me right past the hospital."
Over the years, Boscarino has participated in marathons in San Diego and Washington, D.C., as well as in New York and Pittsburgh. Obviously, he’s a walking, make that running, medical miracle. So how did he make it back from the brink?
"I decided to focus on alternative therapies, like massage and acupuncture. I tried meditation, herbs and vitamins," he said. "I eliminated stress from my life and got rid of all the negatives I could. I focused on the positive. The glass was always half full."
Boscarino also ran, of course, and he gives enormous credit to his road companions, who offered unstinting support for him during his ordeal.
Now a key figure in the local running community, he is a co-founder of the New Jersey Road Runners Club and an organizer of the New Jersey Shore Marathon.
"All my running activities are charity-related," he said. "That’s my payback to the world."
Boscarino (whose marriage ended during the course of his battle against illness) has boundless affection for runners’ culture.
"When you run a marathon, the great stories are in the middle and the end of the pack," he said, noting that he pays no attention to his own finishing time. "These are all great people united by a love of running. What a thrill it is to talk to them."
He dedicated his most recent NYC Marathon to his brothers, John and Joseph. Boscarino is also eternally grateful to his employer of 17 years, Contemporary Motor Cars of Little Silver, which allowed him a great deal of leeway at the times when he was too weak to go to work.
Running and working out three or four times a week, he is preparing for the DisneyWorld Marathon in January and April’s fifth running of the highly successful N.J. Shore Marathon. Savoring his astonishing health revival, Boscarino counts his blessings.
"I was very, very lucky," he said. "Millions of people have hepatitis C and several hundred thousand will die of cirrhosis without ever knowing they had it. Hepatitis C is a silent killer."
Boscarino acknowledges that he may need that transplant sometime in the future. But then, he’s not one to dwell on the negative, preferring to live in the moment and glory in the visceral and emotional rush he derives from running marathons.
"Whenever I cross that finish line," he says. "I stop, double over and cry like a baby."