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Dr. John Carraher runs the Boston Marathon.

Jackson urologist John Carraher, MD, finds it very rewarding to set a goal, work toward it and accomplish it — both in his practice and in his passion for running.

“With urology, you can fix many of the problems that patients bring to you,” said Carraher. “If it is a kidney stone, we can remove it and immediately give the patient relief from the pain. With incontinence, we can surgically correct the problem and help make a positive change in the patient’s life. I find setting a goal to fix those problems is rewarding. In running, you set a goal as well, and you work toward accomplishing that goal. Once you reach the goal, that feeling of accomplishment is very rewarding, too.”

Although he grew up in Pulaski, Tennessee, life had Carraher moving around some in his teen years. He ended up graduating from University School of Nashville. He went to the University of Alabama to major in electrical engineering, but he realized that he was drawn more to the sciences and dealing with people rather than equations, so he transferred to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and graduated in 1989 with a degree in biochemistry.

Carraher entered medical school at the UT Health Sciences Center in Memphis and realized he enjoyed the surgical side of medicine. “I was sort of torn between orthopedics and urology,” said Carraher, who completed his internship and six-year residency in urology in Memphis, rotating through all of the downtown hospitals. “I met some urologists who were on the staff at medical school who really seemed to like it. I knew I wanted to do surgery and discovered that urology was the specialty for me.”

By the time he completed his residency in 1999, Carraher had gotten married in 1993 to Rachelle, a dentist, and had a 6-month-old daughter, Sarah. While in the process of looking for a job, Carraher ran across an opening with Jackson Urological Associates. “We liked Jackson and it was a good opportunity for me,” said Carraher, who is a board-certified urologist and a diplomate of the American Board of Urology and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. “Four years later, I joined Jackson Urological.”

An avid runner all of his life, Carraher caught the marathon bug with his first one – the 1995 St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. “I ran track in high school and 5K races all along,” he said. “In 1995 I ran my first half marathon, and I was hooked. I hadn't really trained for the full marathon, but now I train year round.”

Running a marathon is a great achievement in itself, but when it is the prestigious Boston Marathon, that is even more impressive. Carraher qualified to run the Boston Marathon at the 2008 St. Jude Marathon, finishing with a time of 3:19. He was an official pacer for that marathon, in that runners who wanted to finish within a certain time followed him to make sure they were keeping a pace to meet their goal.
“I always aspired to run the Boston, as it is the most prestigious and oldest marathon,” said Carraher, who completed his third Boston Marathon on April 19, 2010, with a time of 3 hours, 17 minutes and 59 seconds. “We had great weather and I didn't labor at all. It was one of those marathons that went as well as I could have expected.”

Marathon running is not a new hobby for Carraher, who has run more than 30 marathons over the past 16 years. His marathon journey has included the New York Marathon, the Disney Marathon, as well as others in Georgia, Arizona, Utah, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee. “My best time ever running a marathon was in the St. George Marathon in Utah in 2007, when I finished under three hours with a time of 2:59:29,” he said. “I also completed the Chicago Marathon in three hours and fifteen minutes, which I was pretty happy with.”
Carraher’s running is not limited to the road, however. He has run many a trail over his career. In 2010, he ran the Trans-Rockies Run, a 115-mile, six-day trail run, which he completed with Jackson ENT physician, Karl Studtman. This year, he has completed a 50K trail run in Arkansas. “It was a diverse terrain and scenery that is rocky and full of up and down hills,” said Carraher. “It took me five hours and 19 minutes to complete. I also have done an ultimate cross country trail run in Canada that was 35 kilometers and took me over a mountain.”
Carraher takes the family along for his running adventures. “We have been to Quebec for one of my mountain runs, and we love to go to Chicago,” he said. “I think they love the food on our travels, as we love to eat, especially Chicago pizza.”

This December, Carraher will be back in Memphis running the St. Jude Marathon. Other runs in his sight are The Mountain Mist trail run outside Huntsville, Ala., and another run up Pike’s Peak with his running buddy, Studtman.

“Running is a part of my daily routine,” said Carraher, who even tries to get a run in on his on-call days. It is a great stress reliever and keeps me in shape. Training for the trail runs is a bit tricky in Jackson, but I run the bike trails around town and do treadmill incline runs. When I have a long run approaching, I increase the distance and try to get in runs of 20 miles or longer. My wife says running is like breathing to me.”

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