TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa Bay area runner living with cystic fibrosis is training for his third marathon. For this athlete, the sport represents a double-edged sword.
“Exercise is obviously very good for your lung health, for your aerobic health, so it’s a good thing to do,” said Ryan Matthews. “And it’s something that they’ve always recommended growing up as, like you should stay as active as possible, but at the same time being a lung disease, it makes it harder to run because it’s harder to breathe.”
Matthews was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that devastates the lungs and other organs. But it isn’t slowing down this athlete. He ran his first marathon in 2024 to mark his 30th birthday…