Start Line Stories: From Stage 4 Cancer to Boston & Back

Two years ago, Oregon runner Matt Hazard was out on his final long run before the 2024 Eugene Marathon when excruciating stomach pain stopped him in his tracks. He couldn’t complete his training run that day, but four weeks later, the then 40-year-old did manage to get to the finish line of his first-ever marathon in a Boston-qualifying time of 3:08.54.

Unfortunately, his symptoms returned after the race, so he scheduled a colonoscopy at the urging of his cousin Koree — who was in treatment at the time for colorectal cancer. Two months after that first marathon experience, he received his own cancer diagnosis: Stage 4 rectal cancer with synchronous metastatic disease to his liver.

Treatment commenced almost immediately, but Hazard didn’t give up on his Boston dream. He kept running through eight rounds of chemo, then took a break after recovering from liver surgery and during 27 rounds of radiation, after which he was declared cancer free.

In January of 2025, following six straight months of cancer treatment, Matt started training for Boston and a year after Eugene 2024, he finished his first Boston Marathon. This year he’s still cancer-free and training harder than ever to be back on the start line in Eugene — primed for a comeback and hoping to break 3 hours.

Read more about Matt’s journey back to Eugene in his Start Line Story:

Name: Matt Hazard

Age: 42

Where are you from and where is home now?

I was born and raised in Eugene and now I live in Tualatin (a suburb of Portland).

What’s your local run club or training group and tell us about it?

I don’t have one, but I wish I had the time to join one. I do meet up with a neighbor four days a week at 5:00 a.m. to run, but I’m at the point in life with two young kids at home where if I don’t get my run in before the family wakes up, it just won’t happen.  

Why Eugene 2026? 

I ran it in 2024, not knowing I had Stage 4 colon cancer. I ran a 3:08.54 that day, which was a BQ, but I still didn’t get in, so I ended up running Boston 2025 through a charity group. I want Eugene 2026 to be my comeback-from-cancer race and I’m hoping to go sub-3 this time around.

Current Total Marathon Count:

2 - I decided when I turned 40 that it was time to run a marathon and Eugene 2024 was my first.

Favorite road race or racing experience?

Definitely Boston! It’s hard to describe… it’s a whole experience. The city transforms and the celebration is amazing. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

What kind of training plan are you following and do you have a specific goal on race day?

I’ve been using the Runna app and it’s by far the best app and training program I’ve used. I’ve been pushing really hard and I’m so excited to see what I can do and hopefully all the hard work pays off and I get under 3 hours.

Finish the sentence: What I love so much about running is _____

__ the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment after completing a hard run – knowing you can do more than you think you can.

Why the marathon?

I’d always had Boston in my mind growing up, but I just never got there distance-wise. I ran the Eugene half marathon in 2012, but after that, running slowly slipped away. I had a major surgery for appendicitis, I got married, and I just put running on the back burner. But I always wanted to do a marathon — it’s always been the ultimate challenge, a top-of-the-mountain kind of goal — and I knew someday I’d do one. When I got close to 40, I knew it was now or never, so I signed up for Eugene 2024 and took my shot for Boston. 

What started your running journey?

I started running cross country and track in high school (at Marist High School in Eugene for coach Cathy Twomey-Bellamy) and I started doing really well. I ran my freshman year of college at Southern Oregon, but sort of fell out of love with it there and took a break from it for almost 20 years. 

How has running impacted your life?

I truly feel like running saved my life. Right before Eugene, I noticed weird symptoms, and I couldn't finish my last 20-mile long run. I ended up getting a colonoscopy two months later and I had Stage 4 cancer. I remember looking at my wife and saying “I’m gonna fight this,” and running became a part of my fight.

I started with eight rounds of chemo in July, then liver surgery in November, then 27 rounds of radiation. I couldn’t start training for Boston until January of that year, so I had less than three months to get ready. But I ran as much as I could through treatment. From July to October, I would do chemo every two weeks from Wednesday thru Friday, then I’d be back at it on Monday and would be able to run for 10 days straight. Each run gave me a purpose. I would always say to myself:  “just keep running,” like “just keep swimming” from the movie Finding Nemo. Now they’ve come out with studies that say exercise can help during treatment, and I definitely think running helped me.

Now, my wife and I have been getting into advocacy work for early screening of colorectal cancer. There’s a local 5K that we’ve been involved in each year and last year we got OHSU involved as a presenting sponsor… Cancer has hit our family really hard. My cousin Koree died in the fall of 2024 from it. So we’re just trying to do whatever we can to share our story with the hope that it could help someone else.

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If you see Matt in your start corral on race morning, wish him a big good luck, and follow his journey back to the Eugene start line on Instagram at: @hazmatt10