Five years ago, John-Hanson Machado, CCAS BS ’16, lost his mother, Carol, to gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) cancer. And he started running. Those two events may have seemed random and disconnected at the time, but the years since have seen him weave together these two facets of his life in ways he never could have imagined.
This summer, Machado embarked on an epic adventure, crossing the United States on foot for Ulman 4K for Cancer Team Boston, a team part of the Ulman Foundation, a Baltimore-based nonprofit supporting young adults impacted by cancer. Over 4,800 miles, he and 28 relay partners battled high altitude, heat exhaustion, boredom, viral illnesses and personality clashes.
The group didn’t know the people they’d stay with each night, relying on the good will of strangers. Take the pastor of a church in Broadus, Mont., population 481, who welcomed them, let them enjoy a much-needed shower, cooked them a meal and opened her church for their shelter.
“That’s kind of what I wanted out of this run, is just a reminder that there’s still good people out there,” says Machado.
More important than the feat of physical endurance — each relay runner ran about 400 miles of the journey, which started in San Francisco and ended near Machado’s home in Boston — was the $8,000 Machado raised and the messages he and teammates delivered about cancer. The runners volunteered for various cancer-related causes at nonprofits along the way, using the platform provided by their cross-country trek to preach a message about helping those in need.
In Chicago, the group helped out Imerman Angels, a nonprofit that provides one-on-one support for cancer patients, their families and their caretakers. That help took an unusual form — handing out Lemonheads candies and brochures about Imerman Angels to passersby at The Chicago Bean, the famous reflective sculpture that’s a tourist haven. As they handed out the candy, they explained that many people undergoing chemotherapy get a metallic taste in their mouths, and suck Lemonheads to get rid of it.
In Utah, they stayed for a night inside the arena where the Utah Jazz play basketball. There, on the court, Machado got an opportunity to share publicly why the cause means so much to him.
“That was a very special moment for me, just to be able to share my story, especially at a big stadium like that,” he says.
Machado’s mom passed away at age 50 when he was a junior at GW. In her honor, he includes her maiden name in his hyphenated first names. Through this tragic loss, he was still able to excel in his promising academic career. His advisors at GW granted him a leave during his mother’s last months, allowing him to care for her while staying on track academically. He took a single course at Bridgewater State University close to home so he could keep his enrollment status. The next year, as a senior, he became the first GW student to win the Joseph Breen Memorial Fellowship, which goes to undergraduate chemists.
He continued at GW as a graduate student in chemistry and is currently focused on research of nerve gas agents and other chemical weapons topics with professor Stefano Costanzi (American University). He also has ongoing research into cancer-related topics.
“I always knew that I wanted to kind of put myself in a position to help others. And if there was a way that I could mix my historical background with cancer and how it’s touched my family in so many ways with my professional background in chemistry and science, I knew that would be an ideal career path,” he says.
In addition to his academic endeavors, Machado picked up running late in undergrad.
He first ran, 15 or so minutes a day, as an escape from the sorrow of losing his mother. Then, a cousin asked him to run a marathon with her, and he agreed.
“I figured the endorphins would be good for me,” he says. He did the first marathon a year after his mother’s passing. Then he did seven more marathons, from Honolulu to Washington, D.C. But those races — 26.2 miles each — served as mere warmups.
When this summer’s epic run ended in August on Boston Common, a large contingent of family & friends, all wearing shirts hand-made by his sister, greeted him with cheers, tears and hugs. All that he’d passed, from white-capped mountains of the Grand Tetons to the sizzling summer days in Iowa to the last stretch along the Boston Marathon course, flashed through his mind, with an appreciation for his mom, whose spirit guided him to an accomplishment few can claim.
-Dan Simmons
