Former Emory Runner Helped Develop One Of The First Diagnostic Tests For COVID-19 And In September Dedicated His Virtual Boston Marathon To Medical Colleagues

By Theresa Juva Brown for DyeStat

Photos courtesy Max Maydanchik

While most people went about their daily lives in late February, unaware of the devastating pandemic that would soon sweep the country, Bennett Shaw was already in crisis mode.

Shaw, 23, had less than a year on the job as a molecular microbiologist and infectious disease researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital when he was put in charge of a team that had to develop a diagnostic test for COVID-19, a new and lethal viral disease that was insidiously spreading in U.S. communities. 

“Over the next month, I worked 12 or more hours every single day in the hospital lab until the (Food and Drug Administration) approved our homemade test as one of the first of its kind in the country,” recalled Shaw, a former distance runner at Emory University who now lives in Cambridge, Mass. 

Not that he had time to relish in that extraordinary achievement. His next monumental tasks were to develop new testing technologies, study the virus’ genetic information in patient samples and track the disease’s spread. 

Earlier in the year, Shaw had been training and looking forward to running his first Boson Marathon in April, but as his work intensified and the virus continued to surge, he quickly accepted that the race — and running as he knew it — wouldn’t happen. 

After long days of handling and analyzing thousands of positive COVID-19 samples while wearing full protective gear, Shaw would go home and immediately fall asleep. 

“I was exhausted all the time,” he said. “You might think I would be frustrated that I was getting quite out of shape, but I really wasn’t. I knew that my time and energy were needed for much more important efforts.”

When COVID cases declined over the summer and work slowed down, Shaw was eager to return to running. At first, he did short runs just to relieve stress and get outside. As he rebuilt his fitness, Shaw was determined to fulfill the commitment he made in September 2019, when he joined the the Massachusetts General Hospital Boston Marathon Team to raise money for emergency response training and preparation.

“I had no way of knowing that a pandemic was coming, or that I would be personally involved in emergency response at our hospital,” he recalled. “So when the option came to run a virtual race, my mind was already made up.”

He logged as many miles as he could over the summer to prepare, but “the hardest part of training was mental,” he said. “I knew I was going to have to run this race alone, and I needed to have the right attitude about it.”

‘This race stood for so much more’ 

One sunny and humid Saturday morning in September, Shaw woke up, walked out his door to the path along the Charles River in Boston and began to run.

Running solo in the absence of cheering crowds, Shaw didn’t get the grand start one would expect for his first Boston Marathon, but that didn’t matter. The run wasn’t about fanfare or time goals.

“This race stood for so much more,” he said. “I would be running for all (my medical colleagues) who had sacrificed so much to care for their patients and our community. I felt inspired by the perseverance and optimism I saw every day in the face of helplessness and tragedy, and in a strange way, this race was a ceremony to commemorate that fighting spirit.”

Shaw was reminded of his purpose every time he ran past Massachusetts General Hospital on his marathon route, which he was covering faster than he expected. 

Knowing he didn’t have solid marathon training under his belt, Shaw was pleasantly surprised when he looked at his watch and realized he could run under 2:35. 

With two miles to go, his hamstring tightened, but he kept pushing ahead. 

“When my watch clicked at 26.2, I just stopped in the middle of the bike path,” he recalled.  "There was no painted finish line and no roaring crowd. It was just, well, over.”

Greeted by a few friends at the finish, Shaw clocked in at 2:34, a huge personal best in only his second marathon.

“I was so happy to just have run it,” he said. "Running it fast was just icing on the cake."

Former Emory teammate Ian George said he wasn’t shocked that Shaw did so well.  

"I definitely didn’t expect him to do (the marathon) completely solo, but in retrospect, Bennett has always been a very strong runner mentally,” he said, adding that he’s “one of those guys who can perform at his best even when circumstances are far from ideal.”

Indeed, Shaw excels in all kinds of challenging situations.

In addition to his high-stakes job, Shaw has been preparing medical school applications and hopes to eventually become a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. 

Shaw’s ambition and zest for life is a big part who he is, George said. 

“I really don’t know if I’ve met anyone else who approaches every day with the same level of genuine excitement as he does,” George said.

Still, Shaw is bracing for tough days ahead as colder weather arrives and the pandemic rages on. 

"Although I don’t see or treat patients directly, I still have to prepare mentally as a first responder," he said. "That is my mindset as we enter winter."

His next big running goal has to wait.