Runner’s World, 30th March 2021
Kevin Quinn (41) was a young track runner. At age 11 he ran the London Mini Marathon in memory of his sister, Lucy, who had died from cerebral palsy.
In 2006 he and his dad watched a friend run the London Marathon and he’s dad remarked that he’d love to see Kevin try it the following year. Unfortunately his dad passed away (aged 52) the next day after a heart attack. So in 2007 Kevin ran the London Marathon in memory of his father.
Kevin took on a further 2 marathons (Hamburg in 2012 and London again in 2015). After the 2015 marathon something didn’t feel right. Thinking about his dad’s heart condition he went and spoke with his doctor who dismissed him. This was when a friend told him about Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). In September 2015 at a CRY screening at St. George’s Hospital in Tooting a second scan revealed he had atrial septal defects (4 holes in his heart) and would need an operation to fit an occluder device to close them. The operation took place in February 2016.
In an unlikely turn of events the operation has made Kevin a better runner and 8 months after the operation he managed to win the Surrey Cross Country League Division 1 event in Richmond Park which he had been attempting to do for 20 years. Coming 12th in the Great South Run a week later.
Kevin went on to come first in the virtual New York City Marathon in 2020 by running laps around Dulwich Park. In March 2021 he helped to pace an Olympic qualifying time for Steph Davis at the British Olympic marathon trials.
