As an aerobic exercise and competitive sport, running offers a miscellany of impressive body-and-mind benefits ranging from a tougher musculoskeletal system to a longer life span.
Mark Gurney, a part-time Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club resident and former chairman and CEO of Tetra Therapeutics began running in his fifties for wellness and as a way to enrich his relationships with younger executives during business trips that took them to some of the most beautiful places on Earth. “I remembered thinking that if I wanted to be their peer, I had to run, too,” says Mark, who ran with colleagues in bucket list destinations like The Green Park in London and the pathways around Tokyo’s Imperial Palace. “It’s an excellent way to see a city and we ran at a speed where we could talk to each other about things like family. It became a bonding experience.”
It wasn’t long before Mark took the salubrious pursuit up a notch. “I started competing in 5Ks and won a whole bunch in my age group,” he says. Next, he joined RunGR, a premier running club in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he lived with his wife, Dr. Mary Yurko. Every week, he took part in the workouts organized by the club as well as speed sessions and long runs that drew over 100 participants. When he learned that other runners in his pace group were also competing in marathons, he decided to give 10Ks and half-marathons a try.
As it turned out, Mark accomplished his raison d’être in record time. In 2021, the middle-of-the-pack runner amazed everyone by competing in the Boston and TCS New York City marathons, two of the world’s largest and most renowned races, in less than a month. Two years later, he pushed himself even further by rounding out the remaining three Majors—Tokyo, TCS London, and BMW Berlin—in consecutive competitions.
The California native is quick to point out that neither medals nor glory were ever his impetus. It’s more an affirmation he has maintained throughout his meritorious careers in academia and neurology and now serves him as an angel investor. “The challenge is to keep pushing along until you finish,” he says.
Today, Mark is retired from running and now hits the road on two wheels. “I ruptured a tendon in my ankle and it is not repairable,” he says. While he misses his daily runs, he takes the setback in stride. Each week he averages 50-70 miles on his bike and and laces up for rejuvenating walks around Orchid Island and Grand Rapids where he and Mary split their time. Two of his favorite routes are the Jungle Trail and an eight-mile course through the community’s private cul-de-sacs that offer stunning vantages of emerald fairways and glistening lakes. Last year, the couple participated in Orchid Island’s annual Family 5K Walk & Run and look forward to walking for charity again this year.
Q&A with Mark Gurney
When did you move to Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club?
2022
What was your most recent professional position?
I’m the former chairman and CEO of Tetra Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops treatments for neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and Fragile X syndrome. In 2020, Tetra was acquired by Shionogi, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, for $500 million. I stayed on for a year then retired two years ago. I didn’t get the half a billion, but it was a nice exit.
Why did you retire?
I was traveling two weeks a month and I wanted to run more and go fly fishing.
What is one of your crowning achievements?
In 1994, I created the country’s first transgenic mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which still serves as the industry standard. It really revolutionized how we approach finding drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. There are one or two drugs that have recently been approved for ALS and those were explored in this particular mouse model before they were tested in humans.
Can you share another career highlight?
When I worked at Pharmacia as director of genomics research from 1995 to 2000, I was on one of the scientific teams that discovered the plaque-producing enzyme in Alzheimer’s Disease. Our drug was not effective for diagnosed patients, but it laid the groundwork for Leqembi, the first amyloid beta-directed antibody to be approved by the FDA to reduce amyloid plaques in the brain and be used to treat adult patients with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Other than long-distance running, did you ever run competitively?
I ran cross country in high school.
How many marathons have you competed in?
8
Four years. The 2019 Chicago Marathon was my first World Marathon Majors. I did well enough to qualify for Boston and run in Berlin, but then all of 2020’s major marathons were canceled due to COVID-19. I ran the 2021 Boston Marathon in October then New York City in November. An injury kept me from competing in 2022 and I resumed racing last year, finishing Tokyo in March, London in April, and Berlin in September on my sixty-ninth birthday.
Paris. It’s held in April and starts on the Champs Elysée in front of the Arc de Triomphe. You run past all the major monuments, including the Paris Opera House, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower, and along the Seine. It was a beautiful sunny morning with bands playing music and cheering sections organized by nationality.
Your most challenging race?
Definitely New York City, which is run mostly uphill and you have to cross many bridges. Boston follows with a fast downhill section for the first 16 miles followed by four big hills as the marathon climbs east into the city. The last, and longest, hill is named Heartbreak Hill for good reason.
What were your best finishes?
In Chicago, I finished 16 out of 355 runners in my age group (65-69) with a time of 3:43:22. When I finished 17 out of 252 runners in my age group in New York, Strava posted a picture of me on Instagram with a big, sloppy smile on my face.
Any advice for someone who wants to run marathons?
Start with a local Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. Most cities and running clubs do 5K races on Thanksgiving morning. These are generally fun runs with runners and walkers of all abilities. Marathons will require commensurately more commitment and training.
What’s next on your marathon bucket list?
I would like to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. and Arlington County, Virginia.
Orchid Island is located at One Beachside Drive, Vero Beach. For more information, visit OrchidIslandFL.com.
