Liver transplant patient runs Bank of America Chicago Marathon: 'The hardest thing I did'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It is recovery Monday for the 50,000 runners who completed the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday.

It was a great accomplishment for all of the runners, but especially for a northwest suburban man who ran with a transplanted liver.

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Thousands of finishers from the Bank of America Chicago Marathon got massages and commemorative photos at the Fleet Feet store in the South Loop on Monday. Few of them, however, are feeling as fortunate Bat Tserendorj.

The marathon was like a 26.2-mile celebration of life for 61-year-old Tserendorj. He ran with a new liver, and he finished, proudly displaying his finishers metal. But it was not easy.

"It was the hardest thing I did, yesterday," Tserendorj said.

A year ago, the night before the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, doctors notified him that a donor liver had suddenly become available. But after training all summer for the marathon, Tserendorj made the difficult decision to pass on that one so he could run the next day and take his chances that another would be available later. His doctors were worried.

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"Usually, we don't recommend people to pass an organ, because many of them die in the process, waiting for a second one," said Northwestern Medicine Dr. Juan Carlos Caicedo.

Nevertheless, he took his chances letting the next patient in line take the available liver. And Tserendorj went ahead with his plan to run the next day. He finished the marathon last year, and somehow, less than a month later, another donor liver became available, and he had the surgery.

"It was kind of a stupid thing to do. I would never do that again. Never encourage anyone to do that again," Tserendorj said.

But he was not done. He wanted to run the marathon again with his new liver. But this time, he also struggled with knee problems that slowed him considerably. But again, he finished.

"Everything worked out both ways. It's good," Tserendorj said.

Now that Tserendorj has completed marathons both before and after his liver transplant, he said he would love to do more if his knee holds up.