You can鈥檛 say 24-year-old Sean Harris of Odenton, Maryland, doesn鈥檛 have heart. All his life he鈥檚 pushed himself as hard as he could, especially physically. The problem is with his actual heart in the center of his chest. The way his heart beats is different from how most people鈥檚 hearts beat.
Harris, who grew up in Philadelphia, was born with congenital heart disease. Since he was a kid, he鈥檚 had to go to the hospital at least once a year. He鈥檚 had open heart surgery and countless tests. Nonetheless, his heart keeps getting worse.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 lift over 50 pounds, and I鈥檓 severely limited in what I can do with sports and physical activity,鈥� said Harris. 鈥淢y cardiologist tells me every year that I should avoid strenuous activities.鈥�
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Watch video of WTOP’s interview with Harris ahead of the big race.
That meant his hopes of joining the military were dashed. The Marine Corps Marathon is sort of his way of getting in for at least a day. Believe it or not, his cardiologist is on board with it.
鈥淚 understand the risk involved, and one of the awesome things about the Marine Corps Marathon is anyone can run in it,鈥� said Harris. 鈥淚鈥檝e gone through life getting waivers and permissions and being told I couldn鈥檛 do a lot of things. But with regards to the Marine Corps Marathon, as long as you sign a waiver you can run in it.
鈥淚 accept the risk and I鈥檓 looking forward to it.鈥�
But he鈥檚 not just running the marathon, he鈥檚 doing the full 50 kilometers with a heart that won鈥檛 be helping him the way it should.
鈥淎s I put more pressure on the heart through physical activity, more blood gets pumped backward in the heart,鈥� said Harris. 鈥淎s I run it gets harder. If I were to run a mile, it鈥檚 equivalent to a healthy person maybe running half a mile.鈥�
Do the math. While everyone else will be running 50K, it鈥檒l feel like Harris is doing 100K. Physically he started training for it a year ago. He keeps it slow and steady, trying not to get his heart beat too high, and always making sure there are people around him.
He鈥檚 had no setbacks.
So why risk it?
The answer to that is about five years in the making. As a kid Harris would go back to Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia every year for a battery of tests. It鈥檚 an all day sort of thing, and in between tests he would go to lunch. Once he turned 18, those tests moved next door to the University of Pennsylvania Health System, where it turns out, the food isn鈥檛 as good. At least not compared to what they served at the Children鈥檚 Hospital next door.
So the next year, when he was 19, he went back to Children鈥檚 for lunch instead.
鈥淚 ended up sitting with a bunch of kids who were 5, 6, 7 years-old and their associated families,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淭he families told me how they have to now prepare for their children to go through life being told what they can and cannot do.鈥�
Conversations Harris himself was familiar with.
鈥淲hen I was 5 years old I didn鈥檛 really know what was going on and I thought it was all part of life, what I was having to do,鈥� he admitted.
Reality hit him as he got older and became a teenager and was prohibited from playing football and other contact sports, though he did manage to get on the ice to play hockey.
That鈥檚 one of the reasons he鈥檚 running 鈥� to be an example to them and 鈥渢o prove to all those kids and families that you can鈥檛 really judge someone by the size of the heart on a piece of paper or by a tests or what鈥檚 on a waiver.
鈥淲hen these kids do get to the teenage years and start reading the writing on the wall, they can point to this story and say that there鈥檚 hope in what they can do,鈥� he added.
Harris said his family will be coming down from Philly to be here for the race weekend. After hockey games, lunch or dinner was always a Wawa sub, and don鈥檛 think he hasn鈥檛 been scouting out the closest Wawas to the racecourse either. He knows there鈥檚 one in Dupont Circle and he might even walk around the city a bit after all that running.
鈥淚f you want to go do something then you can go do it,鈥� said Harris. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to do it. It鈥檚 going to be a long race but I鈥檓 going to do it.鈥�
