Runner credits road to recovery for helping him rebuild life after tumor diagnosis

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- When thousands of runners take their marks at next month's Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run, Howard Chan will be among them.

But for him, running is more than a race. It's the lifeline he says helped him reclaim his health after a massive tumor was removed from his neck in his 20s.

Chan said he first noticed the growth during his senior year of college.

"My senior year of college, and I noticed there was a mass growing on my neck," he said.

Doctors later confirmed it was a baseball-sized tumor.

The recovery that followed was physically and emotionally difficult.

"The tumor was from up here all the way down here," Chan said, gesturing to his neck.

After surgery, he said he spent months isolated.

"Afterwards, for a period of five months, I just was better for it. And just in my room with the shades down," he said. "And just one day, I just told myself I need to get out and do something."

That moment led him to lace up a pair of sneakers.

Running did not come easily at first.

"It was really rough. I just felt tired within the first 10 minutes and just went back and fell asleep," he said.

But he kept pushing.

"I just told myself I need to make myself better," he said. "And then from there just started with half a mile and then just increased up and just one changed my life for the better."

Today, Chan is a senior business analyst with Independence Blue Cross in Center City and an accomplished runner. He has completed 60 races, including 25 marathons.

Next month will mark his fourth Broad Street Run, the nation's largest 10-mile race, which draws thousands of participants from around the world.

Chan said the running community has become a meaningful part of his life.

"I just met a lot of people in the community. This is one of the few opportunities where I actually see all types of walks of life, from different ages and different jobs," he said.

One of his most memorable moments came during last year's Paris Marathon.

"I was running like a turtle near 20 miles, 24. And then this random French guy just came up to me talking to me in French, and I'm just speaking broken French. And he just keep encouraging me," he said.

Asked what his younger self might think of the runner he has become, Chan said, "My college version of me probably say, but it's like this is not me in the future."

After a pause, he added, "He will be proud, but he'll be surprised."

Chan will join thousands of others on Broad Street next month, continuing a journey that began with a single, difficult run - and grew into a path toward healing.