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03/06/2023 03:39 PMThe announcer and voice of many Connecticut road races, Mark Gilhuly of Branford, is undergoing treatment for a serious, early-diagnosed cancer.
You may not be able to pick him out of a crowd, but runners all over Connecticut could recognize his voice anywhere. Mark has announced hundreds of races, including the Faxon Law New Haven Labor Day Road Race, coordinated by JB Sports.
His upbeat demeanor got the crowd pumped up at the start line. He has a special way of encouraging a runner to sprint to the finish line. Mark has also announced the Hammerfest Triathlon to support Brian’s Hope charity in Branford.
Mark is an accomplished runner, having completed 24 Marathons including two U.S. Marine Corps Marathons, five Boston Marathons and five New York Marathons.
He has participated in over 50 triathlons and completed an Iron Man distance triathlon. Prior to each, Mark developed and followed a detailed training program so that he could meet his time goal.
Now Mark is working with his physicians to develop and follow a comprehensive treatment program that starts with chemotherapy. Mark is facing a difficult journey ahead with grace and optimism alongside his wife, Linda Kowalski.
Mark’s medical team is superb and includes Yale-New Haven Health Care’s Dr. Jorge Moreno, his primary care physician, who caught the disease early and referred Mark to Smilow’s Dr. Jeremy Kortmansky, medical oncologist, and Dr. Ron Salem, surgical oncologist.
Frank Alvarado, a longtime New Haven public servant, said, “Mark has a passion for runners and has been an inspiration to many over the years. He will always seek to meet his goals, including this new one to beat cancer.”
Michael Dolan, New Haven Road Race president, said, “one time a runner came up to Mark after the race and said, ‘you made me feel like I was the only one running and I wanted to tell you how much your words meant to me.’ That says it all.”
JB Sports and the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race look forward to welcoming him once again at the finish line this Labor Day, to announce and encourage thousands of runners to finish their race while he continues his.