Ethan Zohn Stands Up to Cancer, Finishes NYC Marathon

Despite recently being dealt a diagnosis that has cancer has indeed returned, former “Survivor” champ Ethan Zohn ran and finished the New York City marathon on Sunday, November 6.

Zhon, who finished the 26.2 mile race with an unofficial time of 4 hours, 20 minutes and 46 seconds, (just 4 minutes off his previous year’s time of 4:16) said his main purposes for running were to raise money for his Grassroot Soccer organization – which aims to take on the AIDS epidemic in Africa – and to send a “message of hope” to others suffering from cancer, HIV and anything else that keeps them down.

“Cancer’s not going to slow me down,” Zhon, 37, told E!Online, “and it’s not going to slow anyone else down. I’m going to continue to charge forward and do the things that I love. “I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a horrible diagnosis, and I want to do everything in my power to make sure nobody else has to go through the same crap that I’m going through, [whether that’s] cancer, HIV, etc.”

To prepare for the big race Zohn says he focused more on his diet, eliminating white flour and sugar, eating more complex carbohydrates, fish and whole grains, and supplementing with Muscle Milk and Soy Joy bars to keep his weight up. He also credits SGN-35, a new smart chemotherapy which only targets the cancerous cells, with providing him the ability to continue training.

“If I was on the other type of chemo, I wouldn’t be able to run,” Ethan told People magazine.

Following the marathon, which also saw a handful of other celebs running for good causes, Zohn took to Twitter to thank his fans:

“Everyone who was supporting me and GRS gave me the strength to finish! THANK YOU,” he posted Sunday night. “I kinda love everyone right now.”

via THR