Elliot Gordon of West Windsor is running the Philadelphia half marathon on Sunday, November 18. A runner since 1984 when he was 42, he had taken a sabbatical from marathons for more than three years.
“I nearly died from an aortic dissection, a condition that often is fatal and has an array of follow-up complications,” he says. Gordon suffered the condition while training for his 43rd marathon in 2009. The doctor credited his physical fitness for surviving the lengthy operation to repair the aorta.
“I was severely compromised post-operatively due to the loss of circulation but throughout this ordeal I kept a positive attitude and persistence about regaining reasonably good health and strength,” says Gordon, who suffered liver and kidney damage, gangrene of the toes, and other medical problems. Gordon was on dialysis for six months following the operation and still only has a little more than 20 percent kidney function. He began running again about a year later — at a much reduced pace.
In November, 2010, he ran an 8k race as part of the Philadelphia marathon weekend and last year he upped the distance in the WHYY run to 12k. “This year I feel well enough to complete the Philadelphia half marathon,” he says.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Goldens Bridge, New York, where he attended a three room school, grades one to six. “We moved from row to row,” he says.
He graduated from Cornell in 1964 with a degree in biochemistry and earned his Ph.D. in 1972 from New York University with a thesis on liver carcinogenesis of butter yellow, a dye that was used to color margarine.
He moved to West Windsor in 1985 to be closer to his three children. His wife, Linda, was a credit and collection manager for RCA and later worked in finance at Bristol-Myers Squibb for 10 years.
Gordon is a consultant specializing in pesticide toxicology and regulatory support, risk assessment, and litigation support. “Have rat will travel” is his slogan. “If a problem comes up that I can address, I will take it on.”
Gordon has had 38 years experience in the field beginning at the Frederick Cancer Center and including toxicology facility management for chemical manufacturers, and corporate toxicologist for a multinational pesticide manufacturer.
One of his hobbies since age 10 is photography. “I learned at my grandfather’s knee,” he says. His grandfather was a commercial photographer in East New York. Gordon was the yearbook photographer in high school and contributed photos to the Cornell yearbook in 1964. The hobby grew in 2001 after Gordon took a course, “Psychological Portraiture” at the International Center of Photography. In 2009 he received an associate degree in fine arts and advertising design from Mercer College.
“While I doubt I will ever return to running full marathons, due to my damaged kidneys, the fact that I am again back on track is an example that I hope can inspire others,” says Gordon, who wants his story to serve two purposes. “First it will show that a healthful lifestyle is the best insurance we can have to protect us in the event of a medical trauma coming round the corner,” he says. “Second, if you survive the collision, there is always hope for a recovery.”
