New York, NY - It is with regret the department announces the unexpected passing of former Hunter athlete, Mark Carles, which occurred on Thursday, February 24, 2022.

In October of 2018, Carles was diagnosed with Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma; a rare form of liver cancer. Doctors had discovered a tumor on Carles' liver and determined it was already in Stage 4 and metastasized to the entire right side of his body. He was told he had just three months to live. Chemo therapy was started but it was unsuccessful as his tumor continued to grow.

In February of 2019, Carles underwent a major surgery to remove the tumor and was successful. He continued chemo to try and get rid of the residual cancer that had spread to other organs. Despite being considered a terminal patient, it did not stop him from running over the next three years. He was quoted saying " There are good days, and then there are, we'll call them medium days. I'm just happy to be alive". He continued to run and participate in 5k's and trained as much as he could, pushing through the effects of chemo on his body.

Carles graduated St. Peter's Boys high school and attended Hunter College. As a Hawk, he was a member of Hunter's cross country and track and field teams from 2014 through 2016. During his time in a the Purple and Gold uniform, he helped both the cross country and indoor and outdoor teams to successful seasons. His best race was the 2014 XC championship where he was Hunter's top runner and finished second in the race, covering the difficult 8k course in an impressive time of 27:46. He was also a member of the Staten Island Athletic Club.

On February 24, 2022, Carles lost his battle with the rare cancer. A service will be held at Matthew Funeral Home on Staten Island. Visitation hours will be from 2pm-5pm and 7pm-10pm on Saturday, March 6. Visitation and Funeral Home information can be found here.

Carles' Story featured in Runner's World