A video version of this interview is available on YouTube.
There’s something profound that happens when you sit down with someone who has stared down death twice and emerged not just alive, but thriving. My recent conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds on The John Passadino Show wasn’t just another interview about overcoming adversity. It was a masterclass in what it means to truly live, even when everything inside you is screaming to give up.
Dr. Reynolds is the President and CEO of Family and Children’s Association in New York, but his story goes far beyond the impressive credentials. He’s completed five New York City marathons, four Long Island marathons, 30 triathlons, and seven Ironman races. And somewhere between mile markers and finish lines, he was diagnosed with cancer. Twice.
The Unexpected Journey from Barstool to Marathon
The way Jeff tells it, his running career began in the most unlikely place: a bar in Tampa at 2 a.m. during a professional conference. Someone suggested a 5K race that morning. Jeff, in his mid-40s and admittedly not an athlete (he was kicked off the track team in ninth grade for getting other kids to smoke), showed up wearing shorts and shoes that were definitely not made for running.
“The gun goes off. I take off like a bat out of hell, and 90 seconds later, I am huffing, puffing, cursing, and walking,” he told me with refreshing honesty. That 36-minute 5K became a turning point. A couple years later, he won that same race.
But here’s what struck me most about our conversation: Jeff doesn’t just run to finish. He runs to understand himself.
Mile 18: The Dark and Lonely Place
There’s a moment in every marathon, Jeff explained, that tests everything you think you know about yourself. It happens around mile 18. You’ve been out on the road for a couple of hours. Your body is breaking down. Your nutrition is failing. The finish line is too far to see, but you’ve come too far to quit.
“Your mind starts playing games with you,” Jeff said. “You could just stop. You could walk. Nobody really cares. You’re getting the same free banana and bottle of water and dumb medal you can’t even wear to work at the end of it.”
When he found himself two-thirds of the way through his chemotherapy treatments, he recognized that same dark, lonely place. The parallel was undeniable. His body was breaking down. The end wasn’t in sight. Every cell in his body wanted to quit.
But he didn’t.
Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
This is where Jeff’s story transcends athletics and cancer and becomes something much more universal. We live in a world engineered for comfort, he pointed out. Want dinner? Order it to your door. Feeling stressed? There’s an app for that. But real growth, real transformation, happens in the spaces where we’re uncomfortable.
“Part of that for me was getting comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Jeff explained. “Acknowledging the uncomfortability. Yeah, this sucks. Yeah, my body hurts. And then you acknowledge it and you put it aside and you keep going.”
This isn’t toxic positivity or “just push through it” bravado. It’s something deeper. It’s about being present with your pain, naming it, and then making a conscious choice to continue anyway. It’s about finding meaning in the struggle itself.
The Things Men Don’t Usually Say
What really got me about Jeff’s book, “Every Mile Matters: Turning Triathlon Training into Cancer Triumph,” was how he talked about things men don’t typically discuss. Friendship. Isolation. Vulnerability. Spirituality.
“You say so many things from a personal point of view and from a guy point of view that I normally don’t hear,” I told him during our conversation. And it’s true. Men are conditioned to tough it out, to not need people, to handle everything alone. But Jeff’s book and our conversation challenged all of that.
He writes about the importance of having people in your corner. About the spiritual questions that arise when you’re facing your own mortality. About what we’re made of and what really matters when everything else falls away.
From Cancer Survivor to Community Champion
Today, Jeff channels his experiences into his work as President and CEO of Family and Children’s Association, one of Long Island’s oldest and largest nonprofits. Under his leadership, FCA operates Thrive Recovery Centers, a revolutionary approach to addiction recovery that recognizes a fundamental truth: you can’t just take drugs out of someone’s life. You have to help them put really good stuff back in.
“Rehabs are designed to help you take drugs out of your life,” Jeff explained. “Recovery centers help you put really good stuff back into your life. Unless you do both at the same time, somebody’s going to stumble and relapse again and again and again.”
Thrive operates three centers across Nassau and Suffolk counties, serving about 10,000 people. And here’s the beautiful part: anyone can just walk in. No judgment. No barriers. Just support.
They help people write resumes, socialize with other sober people, learn to express themselves without substances, and figure out how to relax without a pill or a potion or a powder. It’s about rebuilding a life worth living, not just surviving another day.
The Funding Reality
Jeffrey was refreshingly candid about the challenges facing nonprofit work today. While Thrive’s funding from New York State has remained stable, the money hasn’t kept pace with rising costs. Landlords want their 4% increases. Staff deserve raises. Everything costs more, but the funding stays the same.
“We’ve been fortunate to be able to fundraise the difference between what the state pays and the actual costs,” he said. “Really, it’s about community coming together.”
And isn’t that the point? Whether it’s mile 18 of a marathon, the middle of chemotherapy, or trying to fund vital community services, we need each other. We’re not meant to go it alone.
The Finish Line Is Just Another Beginning
As our conversation wound down, I kept thinking about something Jeff said early on: “For me, it was the journey.” Not the finish line. Not the medal. Not even the victory over cancer, though God knows that’s worth celebrating.
It was the journey itself. The miles that mattered. The moments of doubt overcome. The community that showed up. The person he became through the struggle.
Jeff’s story reminds us that transformation doesn’t happen when everything is easy. It happens in those dark, lonely places where we have to choose who we’re going to be. It happens when we acknowledge the pain and keep moving forward anyway. It happens when we let people in and ask for help.
And maybe most importantly, it happens when we take what we’ve learned from our own struggles and use it to help others find their way through theirs.
Resources
If you or someone you know needs support:
Thrive Recovery Centers serve the Nassau and Suffolk County areas on Long Island. Visit fcali.org or just walk in.
Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds’ website: jeffreyreynolds.com
“Every Mile Matters: Turning Triathlon Training into Cancer Triumph” is available on Amazon
Where to Listen and Watch
The John Passadino Show is available on:
Substack: Lens of Hopefulness
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Audible
YouTube
Subscribe, share with someone who needs to hear this message, and remember: every mile matters. Every step forward counts. And you don’t have to run this race alone.
As we said during our conversation, in times of uncertainty and budget cuts, we can still show up for each other. We can still volunteer. We can still give. We can still be the community that shows up at mile 18 for someone who needs us.
That’s the real finish line.
Copyright and all rights reserved: Passadino Publishing LLC
