Christine Gary: 13:45:20i ran a half marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...HALF MARATHON!
Christine Gary: 13:53:18
and i was tired from the get go...like i started running and was thinking ooooh boy, this is gonna be a long run, i have no energy... haha... and it was cold
Those were the words I found on my IM window when I came to work this morning. It was my daughter sharing with me the thrill of one more practice run as she trains to run in the 111th Boston Marathon on April 16, 2007, a distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 Kilometers). She'd run 11 miles with her team members and then ran an additional 2 miles on her own to make it a half marathon.
The news that her training is right on track led me to google "Boston Marathon" and, in so doing, I landed on one of the most inspirational stories I've read in a long time. I discovered all about Team Hoyt. This is a father-son team who's now run 24 consecutive Boston Marathons. Their time? One of their marathons clocked in at 2:40:47. That's running 26.2 miles under three hours... and that with the father pushing his son who cannot walk. Watch this 7 minute video and be inspired! Team Hoyt is scheduled to run the 2007 Boston Marathon. I sent an IM to Christine, "Christine! You'll be running alongside them!" And she replied, "or faaaaaaaaaaaaar behind them."
About the Tufts University Marathon Challenge
Christine is running the 2007 Boston Marathon as a team member of The
President's Marathon Challenge at Tufts University. "Each spring for
the last four years nearly 200 Tufts students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents
and friends have taken on a dual challenge: to run the Boston Marathon and to raise funds to help support health, nutrition and fitness programs at Tufts. The participants complete the challenge under the guidance of experts from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts and Tufts sports medicine staff." [Boston Athletic Association News].
Christine and every one of the 200 marathoners with the Tufts University Marathon Challenge Team is committed to their mission: "to raise funding to support nutrition, medical, and fitness research and education at Tufts." President Bacow has a goal of raising $75,000. Christine is half way on her goal of raising $1,000. You may sponsor Christine or any of the runners in the Tufts Marathon Challenge, including President Bacow. You'll receive a tax deductible receipt from Tufts University once your gift is processed.
I was inspired today by a student, a university president and a father and son team. For each of them running The Boston Marathon is a grueling challenge but as President Bacow says, "the pain is temporary, but the pride is permanent." My heart swells with pride for each of these marathoners and the legacy they leave behind as they each run and raise funds for tremendously worthwhile causes.
Last Sunday *thinks* yea it was 2/11/07, I got to run 12 miles over the first half of the official Boston Marathon course. The run was organized by Don Megerle, the team coach. He's amazing. That's about all you need to know.
ReplyDeleteMoving on, I'd have to say it was by far the most enjoyable +10 miler run I've done and I attribute that entirely to President Larry Bacow. I started off running as usual and not too far into the run, I came upon Prez L.Bacs and decided to stick to him because, heck, he's run 4 marathons, he oughta know what's a good pace. And he definately does.
I usually start out way too fast and then burn out by mile, iunno, 5, 7,...you can imagine how dismal the rest of my runs are. But Bacow kept a really steady pace throughout and by following his lead I still felt energized at the end!
I think there's some mental aspect contributing to my feel-good run too. Usually I run off to the side or away from clumps of people. But this time, running behind him and alongside various other runners made me feel like the run was more of a group effort. I wasn't going it alone. Which is a tremendous weight to lift off my shoulders.
I've never run a marathon before, never even ran in highschool...in fact my reason for deciding to run a marathon was because I hated running. That seems counterintuitive, I know, more on that later.
All this to say, I have to break mental barriers daily that tell me I can't do this or I'm too slow or I'm not a real runner. Sometimes they win (skipped practice this morning whoops), but for the most part, I'm slowly bringing this dream into reality.
And as long as Bacow doesn't mind having me in his wake on race day, I feel all-the-more confident that I can do this. :o)
p.s. his son, Kenny, runs alongside him. How cool is that?! And Michelle Paison--like, the FASTEST girl I've ever met--also is running the marathon with her mom. I think parent-kid teams are so awesome. Anyways, until next time. byes.