00:01All right, you know, a while back I had a chance to walk with a courageous man.
00:07His name is Terrence Hartnett.
00:09This guy is a cancer survivor who wants to one day run a marathon with one lung.
00:17And he is a stand-up comedian, he has a great show, and he's on the One Lung Comedy Tour.
00:24So you could check him out there.
00:26But let's hear what he has to say about surviving cancer, comedy, and running as we go on a Frank
00:34Walk.
00:35Frank Walks, Frank Walks, it's time for Frank Walks.
00:41Frank Talks while Frank Walks, it's time for Frank Walks.
00:51All right, Terrence, tell me a little about your story.
00:53Yeah, so I got diagnosed with cancer in 2021, but it was testicular cancer, so I have one ball as
01:01well as one lung.
01:02That got diagnosed in 2021, we took care of that pretty quickly.
01:05But then a year and a half later, they found more cancer in my lung, a five and a half
01:10inch tumor in my lung, same cancer which had spread.
01:13And then I did chemo, and then they ended up cutting out the whole left lung, and that was just
01:19over two years ago.
01:21And I was always a runner before that.
01:23And then since then, I've been sort of training from absolutely zero all the way up to marathon pace.
01:30So I totally understand your journey, it's one step at a time, you start slow, you keep up a habit,
01:37and then eventually I got to do the New York Marathon this last week.
01:42And you did it under about five hours.
01:44Yeah, which is, I'm very proud of that.
01:47I'm very proud of that.
01:48I got friends of two lungs who are very jealous of this time.
01:51I'm very happy I was able to do that.
01:53I got the good pace.
01:54But I was a runner before I lost the lung, so I know how to do the training.
01:59I'm used to it.
02:00My legs are used to it, you know.
02:01But I was able to keep up pace, you know, for the whole marathon.
02:06I kept about a nine and a half minute, nine and a half mile pace.
02:11That's a great pace.
02:13Now, you're a comedian.
02:14Yeah, yeah.
02:15So what type of, how do you incorporate this into your shows?
02:20Yeah, so, I mean, obviously, as a comedian, having one testicle is a huge advantage.
02:26Oh, yeah, it's a great joke.
02:27It's the funniest cancer you can get.
02:31I think even colon cancer, it can't touch it.
02:33I think having one ball was absolutely hilarious.
02:36So I did a whole, I did a one-hour show.
02:38It's going to come out soon, a one-hour show, all about the ball.
02:41And all my friends knew me as the one-ball guy.
02:44I had a show that was called One Ball Show.
02:46And so everyone knew me as that.
02:47And then, and then now I have one lung as well.
02:51And that's less funny, you know.
02:53Yeah, that's a little more funny.
02:54Because you have the same ring that one ball has to it, you know.
02:58But I'm doing another hour now about having one lung.
03:02But One Ball was very funny.
03:03Now, you've got a documentary coming out, a little film.
03:05That's right.
03:06So my friend, who's a filmmaker, he just happened to be around the whole time.
03:12And we're best buddies.
03:13So he films everything that we kind of do.
03:15And so he got footage from the whole thing.
03:18And what's crazy is that he got footage for when the first cancer and the second cancer.
03:23He has the first time where I go, ha, ha, I got one ball.
03:25No chemo, not that big of a deal.
03:27Lance Armstrong jokes, whatever.
03:30And then he has the footage from when it gets really serious.
03:33So it's kind of a crazy arc over these few years.
03:36It really was a journey because it was like, it started off being easy and chill.
03:40And then it got really serious with chemotherapy and surgeries and everything.
03:44So it's called cancer-free.
03:46Now, one of the things you do is you try to raise money and awareness and support for cancer initiatives.
03:53Yeah.
03:54How much were you able to raise by running in the marathon?
03:58Now, for you Barstool guys, this is chump change.
04:01This is nothing, you know.
04:03But me and my friends and acquaintances, family members, we raised over $6,000 for an organization
04:09called Fred's Team.
04:10And they do research for cancer.
04:12They do cancer research.
04:13You know, they're trying to find a cure.
04:15You know, they work with Sloan Kettering and they do cancer research.
04:19So that was pretty good.
04:21Pretty good for my first big fundraising effort.
04:24Now, was this your first marathon or do you plan to do more?
04:29It was my first one-lung marathon.
04:30I did one with two lungs.
04:32And so I don't think I'm ever going to beat my two-lung time, which is 3.49.
04:37That was good, you know.
04:39That's probably my best time.
04:41I think I can safely say that's my world record fastest time.
04:45And I plan to do more.
04:47Yeah, I think it's an inspiration to people.
04:51It's exciting for me.
04:52And most importantly, it keeps the bar really low, you know.
04:57Like that under five hours is really impressive, but only if you have one lung.
05:01And then it becomes really impressive, you know.
05:04I mean, I mean, most people probably couldn't do a marathon.
05:09So, I mean, I'm just happy I get my 20,000 steps a day.
05:13Well, how many steps to a marathon?
05:15You're well on your way there, Frank.
05:17You could do one.
05:18What do you think?
05:18Any plans for you?
05:20I'll walk it.
05:21You can walk it.
05:24I mean, maybe one day I'll walk the marathon route.
05:28Dude, I just opened up my health app and I looked at my steps for the marathon day.
05:33I did the marathon in like 35,000 steps.
05:36You know, you might be already a good chunk of the way there, man.
05:42Okay, we had to go back this way.
05:45Should I be on this side of you?
05:47Ah, it doesn't matter.
05:49Okay, maybe we'll stay on the...
05:50All right, good.
05:51Well, that's how you're comfortable with.
05:52All right.
05:54So, now, I saw some of your stuff that you were shooting.
05:58You were like doing a tour of the Grand Canyon when the news came.
06:01Yeah, yeah, right.
06:03So, the reason my buddy was filming me this whole time is because we were making a National Park documentary.
06:10I was kind of like a van lifer during COVID.
06:12I bought a van that was living out of the back of it.
06:15Yeah, your van down by the river.
06:17Down by the river was my podcast at the time.
06:19I was exploring the country, talking to different people and living in my van.
06:24And so, National Parks are the best for that kind of lifestyle.
06:26You can park outside.
06:27You can just live there.
06:29I tried to go to the Four Corners about two years ago.
06:35And I got there like five minutes after five.
06:39And it's basically, it's like, it's like they're holding the guns.
06:43Get out of here!
06:44We're closed!
06:46They close it?
06:47Why?
06:47I don't know.
06:49It's four corners.
06:50I mean, there's nothing there.
06:52Yeah.
06:52You just walk.
06:53All I want to do is walk around in a circle and say, hey, look, I'm in Colorado.
06:56Hey, look, I'm in Arizona.
06:57Hey, look, I'm in New Mexico.
06:59Now, I'm in Utah.
07:00And they wouldn't let me do that because I got there five minutes too late.
07:03Let me in.
07:04You don't need to involve a gun here.
07:06No!
07:06Just let me in there.
07:07I mean, it's like hyper-aggressive.
07:09I mean, what is there?
07:11There's nothing there.
07:12Nothing.
07:13You're seeing the four corners coming together.
07:15There's nothing.
07:16I don't understand the security for that.
07:18What are you guarding?
07:20What do you have to hide?
07:21You know, that's the question we have to ask about the four corners.
07:24But these National Parks is a great place to film.
07:27It makes the whole thing very beautiful.
07:28So while we're talking about this intense kind of stuff, we have a beautiful backdrop of these mountains and canyons
07:34and rocks and that kind of thing.
07:36And we always loved that, which is why we had the footage from National Parks to begin with.
07:40So it wasn't quite the plan A to have it be National Parks, but it worked out well for the
07:45documentary to make it a very beautiful documentary about cancer.
07:49Because usually they're in hospitals or they're in beds, you know.
07:52But there's a guy sitting in a beautiful place.
07:54I shave my head out there, you know.
07:56All the cancer hair blowing in the wind.
07:59A beautiful thing, Frank.
08:01I mean, so what's going on with your comedian career, right?
08:06Between the running?
08:07Yeah, so I just did the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
08:11And that's the largest performing arts festival in the world.
08:14And they love narrative comedy.
08:17You know, they love when you tell a story.
08:18So it's my fourth one in a row.
08:20And I go there every year and I tell them my cancer story so far.
08:26So two years ago I went there and I was totally still bald from chemotherapy.
08:31And I'm telling jokes about being bald and losing my hair, you know, because you lose your head hair, but
08:36you lose your pubic hair and your asshole hair too.
08:39You know, all of it goes.
08:40So I was able to tell jokes about that stuff.
08:42And I was talking to bald guys in the crowd like, you know, how do you deal with it?
08:45You know, I don't know how to deal with this bald thing.
08:48So just trying to make as light as possible from the tough thing.
08:55Hair is overrated.
08:56Hair is overrated.
08:57Well, yeah, I'm not sure what you're working with.
08:59All right, all right.
09:00Exactly.
09:00It's overrated.
09:04Hair is overrated.
09:05Well, I'll tell you, I told the bald guys in the crowd.
09:07I was bald from chemotherapy.
09:08And I would tell them, I go, hey, man, my hair is going to grow back.
09:11Unfortunately, you're going to be like that for a long time.
09:13Yeah, well, it could be worse.
09:16You could have, I know these guys go out there and they get the plugs.
09:20They kind of look like a chia hair.
09:21Oh, no, no, don't fake it.
09:22Don't fake it.
09:23Just own it.
09:23I think you're better off.
09:24Yes.
09:25Get a nice collection of hats.
09:26All natural.
09:27Wear a hat.
09:29And I'm a hat aficionado myself.
09:31I had to have a collection of hats for that time of my life.
09:34But right now, luckily, by God's grace, it's all grown back.
09:38Thank goodness.
09:39So how are you feeling these days?
09:42I feel good, man.
09:43I mean, like, you know, I feel grateful to be alive.
09:47I got that sort of like post-cancer glow.
09:50Although it does fade fast, you know?
09:52Like you start off, you go like, you know, when I get back, I'm going to be grateful for everything,
09:56you know?
09:56And then you miss the train and you're like, you know what?
09:59Life sucks.
10:00This world is terrible.
10:00You get one of these days in New York where the winter hawk's beating down upon you.
10:04This thing.
10:04Yeah, you're cold.
10:06It's rainy.
10:07It's miserable.
10:08The Mets lost again.
10:11Exactly.
10:12Life will still give you little tragedies, you know?
10:15But honestly, you know, I try to, I can feel the gratitude of, you know, I'm alive, I'm here again.
10:20You know, like there was a time when I wasn't sure and now I'm happy to be here.
10:24Now, this documentary you mentioned, where is this going to be available on?
10:27That's the question right now.
10:28It's going to be, we're going to premiere at a film festival.
10:32So we are looking around for the best possible way to premiere it to everybody right now.
10:37But it's going to be called Cancer Free.
10:39And it's just a really special documentary because it was shot in these beautiful places and it was shot in
10:43real time.
10:44So you see the actual events happening.
10:46A lot of documentaries you see in just a talking head, you know, just a guy remembering what happened.
10:51But in our documentary we see the whole thing happening.
10:53Hopefully you get something big like maybe Rebecca or something like that, especially with the marathon.
10:57I think, yeah, I think, I think we're headed somewhere good and hopefully you can see that in a big
11:01streamer or, you know, some, you know, a large network will take care of it.
11:05Well, I wish you the best and thank you for joining us.
11:09Thanks for having me, man.
11:10Thanks for inspiring people.
11:11Thanks a lot, Frank.
11:12You too, man.
11:13Thanks.
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