15 Years to Boston -- Worth the Wait!

Stephanie Tang

 

Some people qualify for the Boston Marathon on their first attempt, but, for others, it can take years. I qualified for Boston on my 25th marathon, 10 years into my marathon journey and 7 years after my first BQ attempt!  It took another 5 years after my first BQ to finally toe the line this past April 😊

Bib Pick Up Before the 2016 NYC Marathon
At 36 Weeks Pregnant 👶

I ran my first marathon, the 2008 Potomac River Marathon, in 5:25:17. I was the second to last finisher, and my husband Ray walked me into the finish during the last 10K. I had only run a half marathon distance as part of my training, and the race was painful, to say the least! Still, I was hooked. The oxytocin released on my runs and higher highs when I conquered goal races replaced my former addiction to smoking cigarettes.

Reuniting with the Family after the 2019 NYC Marathon

Three years later, I had shaved more than 1 hour and 30 minutes off my marathon time and felt ready to attempt a 3:40 goal at the 2011 Chicago Marathon. I missed the mark by 4 minutes, and the BAA announced that BQ times would be made 5 minutes faster the following year, making a BQ feel even more like chasing an imaginary unicorn 🦄

In 2011, I opened a yoga studio, Sacred Sounds Yoga. I turned to distance running as my “moving meditation,” helping to lessen any feelings of stress and anxiety while keeping me sane. After Ray and I had two children in 2014 and 2016, my entire social life was centered around running, the only time I spent interacting with adults sans children outside of work. Through growing the business, moves, pregnancy, breastfeeding and sleep regressions, I ran.

I started training with Coach Brian Rosetti and the Flyers Marathon Training Program (MTP) the year Brian took on the role of Head Coach with the NY Flyers in 2013, but it wasn’t until after the births of my children that I was able to train consistently. I strongly believe in the VDOT method that Brian employs in his coaching and noticed that I continued to see improvements in my time with every season. In late 2018, I finally achieved my first BQ at the Clarence DeMar Marathon in 3:32:06, a 9:35 PR!

I was set to run Boston in 2020, but the world had other plans - COVID.

I was also set to run last year, but this time it was my body that had other plans - I tested positive for COVID the Friday before the race 😢 Six weeks after COVID, I hurriedly signed up for the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City, MI, and ran a PR of 3:25:48!

TCTC Bayshore Marathon 2022

This past year brought more changes, as I graduated from accelerated nursing school, and started working night shifts as a labor and delivery nurse. Despite the lack of sleep and training, I was excited to finally run the Boston Marathon, with Ray, my children and parents cheering me on. We celebrated with friends from NYC and where I now live in Westport, CT, and reunited with some of my father’s family after 15 years!

Family Cheering Squad at Mile 17 😍

Race day looked promising for runners, though not so for my family and other spectators, as it was cloudy and the forecast was for rain. I planned to hold back my pace for the first 16 miles, which I was aware was mostly downhill, and then reassess whether I could continue the pace or pick it up at that point. However, as with others, I got swept into the excitement, and ran 15 seconds per mile faster than I had intended for miles 1 through 16, and then struggled over the hills, finishing with a big positive split.

Family Reunion Dim Sum Lunch

Flyers Pre-Race Indian Food Dinner

Despite the race pace challenges, I was moved to tears as I high fived the Wellesley College girls through the scream tunnel, overwhelmed with gratitude at the opportunity to run such an historic race, one in which women only became allowed to run starting in 1972. I gave big hugs and kisses to my family at miles 17 and 25, as they stood out in the pouring rain, cheering me and others on with fervor. I grinned as I caught sight of the infamous Citgo sign, and as we made the right on Hereford and left on Boylston before the finish line.

I finally finished the Boston Marathon 15 years after my marathon journey started. I would not have changed a thing. As one journey ends, another begins.

-Stephanie Tang

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Super Bowl Monday -- The Boston Marathon 2022

Guy S.

If you call yourself a runner, the Boston Marathon is your Super Bowl.  I’m in my 60’s and started my running obsession just 10 years ago. 

I had run various small-time races all of my life. The 7-mile Bay to Breakers in San Francisco was a favorite. It has its own “Heartbreak Hill”. So, I obviously I had experience on my side. 

To prepare for Boston I read every advice column I could find. “How to train for the downhills”, “How to train for the Newton Hills”, and finally and most importantly, “How to hold it for an hour on the bus.” I kept that one for next year. It’s okay to overtrain in some areas.😅

I qualified for Boston for 2021, but injured my Achilles training for the October race, which had been postponed from April due to the pandemic. The decision was to take it easy and run the 50^th anniversary of the NYC Marathon in November 2021 and be ready to go for this spring. There was also something about running on Patriots' Day in Boston to cast aside the pandemic blues. I got what I was hoping for.

The vibe in Boston is intoxicating. Everyone, everywhere seemed focused on this iconic race. A fellow runner on the train was running in his first one. Small world story, he met me when I ran the last 21 miles 3 weeks before. Which ended up being 22.5. NOTE: Turn right at the Firehouse, don’t go straight.

Pasta in the North End on Saturday night, the Expo Sunday morning, and hopefully a good night’s sleep for Monday morning. It goes without saying that the night before a marathon will be a restless sleep. Goal achieved.🙌

The Gang met at The Four Seasons Hotel and of course, took a photo and posted it on Facebook. Our troop leader, Hiromi N, shepherded us to the bus line where we waited to sit together (another photo posted to Facebook).  We all waited together in the bathroom line (no photo taken for obvious reasons), and then each proceeded to get into our various assigned corral.  

I’m not sure how it happened, but in the scrum of getting through the security and taking off my wool slacks with the moth hole in them, I lost The Gang. Which in turn, made me miss my corral start time and landed me way back in the last corral of my wave. You know you’re in the back of the heap when the guy next to you is in a Benjamin Franklin costume.

Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, the Newton hill before Heartbreak Hill, Boston College, Brookline, and then finally – under the tunnel, right on Hereford, left on Boylston. As you approach each town there are banners announcing your entrance. It’s like an announcement to a party – and it is! It’s New Year’s Eve in each town. A celebration of runners and life!

I couldn’t write this without a note about our boy Ed A.who has been cheering us on in Boston for 25 years. Every year he makes the pilgrimage, toting the Flyers banner, and HE CHEERS!! It’s an emotional moment seeing Ed. So brother, a huge thank you from me and all of us. We love you!

“You’re only as good as the support around you”. This is not a jock strap tag line, it’s the truth. And I have it. Flyers Marathon Training Program (MTP) leadership from Flyer Coaches Brian Rosetti and Amy Sitar, my “Rat Pack” posse, competition and unbelievable camaraderie from the Flyers Gang, and the love of an amazing woman – Anne H. Anne introduced me to The Gang and I am who I am today because of her.

 

1 more mile to go!

I’ll leave you with a song I wrote the week of Boston. I was on a high getting ready for it all. Because we all want “One Good Life to Live”.

Thanks for reading, listening, and just being here.

-Guy S.

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Only Boston?

Days before the Boston marathon, a global Boston-based shoe company launched a media campaign featuring the tag-line "Nobody Runs Like Boston". Another catchy tag-line was "Only Boston Makes You Train With Three Feet", alluding to last winter's

historic snowfall. "Only in Boston Do A Million People Take The Day Off So 30,000 Can Work", went another one. Runners flocking to Boston for the marathon were greeted by these ads at stations and bush shelters throughout the city.

The campaign perpetuates a vision of Boston as the breeding ground of a unique athletic event, the Boston marathon. But is this vision realistic? Is the Boston marathon really unique, when compared to other marathons? I was among the 26,610 who ran (and finished) the Boston marathon this year -- I was running it for the fifth time -- and I decided to give some thought to this question.

Let's start from the facts. For many seasoned runners the Boston marathon is a bucket-list marathon. For one thing, the first Boston marathon was held in 1897, making it the world's oldest annual marathon. This is also the first marathon that established strict qualifying standards for registering to run: among runners achieving a coveted Boston qualifier (BQ) is the highest distinction - short of winning a marathon. These alone are pretty extraordinary facts. But how could one talk of

Boston without thinking of its tremendously challenging marathon course and the notorious Newton Hills, which culminate in the mother of all hills, Heartbreak Hill? And also, has anyone ever heard of another marathon run on a Monday? All these elements contribute to creating an aura of sacred, to the point that the horrendous events of 2013 were not just sad and tragic, they were viciously sacrilegious.

This year, I arrived in Boston, as I always do, the Sunday before race day, excited to be back, but on the look-out for a hint - any hint - at some profound reason why anybody should regard Boston as a unique sport event. As I disembarked from the plane, took the T and reached the Hynes Convention Center in downtown Boston to pick up my bib, a familiar scene appeared before my eyes: the whole city was bustling with thousands of marathoners, mostly taking great pride in wearing their purple jackets (yes, this year's color, officially known as "night flash", was a combination of purple, grey and orange).

During my pilgrimage to the finish line, packed with marathoners, I ran into a family of tourists from India with their baby in a stroller, amused at the scene of this crowd of ecstatic runners around them, and when I proposed to exchange photo shoots on the finish line, they eagerly accepted. Then, after the customary pasta dinner with two marathoner friends from New York (this year I skipped the official pasta party at the city hall for a tastier dinner at a Back Bay Italian restaurant - again filled with marathoners), I retired into my hotel room to get some rest and a good night's sleep.

To put things in context, I am a competitive, sub-3, addicted marathoner. I qualify for Boston every year without major difficulty, but I consider the course so adverse that I usually think it ten times before re-registering the next year. Anyway, here I am again, in the 2015 edition. I know it is a hard-fought privilege to be here, and many friends back home are looking at me with a mix of envy and admiration. Here I am, worried about the weather forecast - with conditions expected to be rainy and windy, and temperatures in the mid-40s - and, in addition, with the remnants of an injury that is still haunting me. Here I am, totally absorbed with a new existential question: why am I here? Is Boston such a unique experience after all?

To me, there is definitely one thing that sets Boston apart: because it is filled through qualifying, the concentration of fast runners is astounding. Where else would a runner with a qualifying time of more than 3:10 be relegated to a second-wave start? Statistics speak clear: in 2015, as it turned out, as many as 49% of the Boston runners attained a BQ and can register for Boston in 2016, if they so wish. Boston is the marathon with the highest percentage of marathoners who re-qualify for Boston. It is a humbling experience to be surrounded by so many strong athletes, and at the same time there is something exhilarating in knowing one belongs in this selective circle.

So, is this the answer? Does Boston only feel special because it strokes our ego? Heck no!

40 minutes into my running, it starts drizzling. I think how lucky I am to have started in the first wave and to have stayed dry that long. I have been running for one hour or so when the drizzle turns into a full shower, and the shower into a downpour. The heavy rain is on and off. Between the start and the finish I count three, maybe four showers. Yet I go on, struggling with a cold headwind, my shoes wet but not yet drenched. And as I keep going, the truth finally dawns on me. The people lining the streets through the course, the Wellesley students screaming and offering kisses, even the police cheering on the runners, are really a special breed. This thought brings me back to my happy years as a young student in Boston. It is hard to imagine people more devoted to their city's glorious marathon, more overjoyed with taking part in this celebration of life. 

I cross the finish line at 3:11:42. I am thrilled, even if this is far from my PR and not even my Boston PR. I am soaked, and my body has suddenly stopped producing heat. I proudly collect my medal from a smiling woman, pick up my goody bag and snacks from more volunteers, while another gracious woman swiftly wraps me in a poncho. Within minutes, in spite of the poncho, I start shivering. One volunteer opens my protein drink, another one goes out of her way to take out my miraculously dry hat from under my belt, and helps me put it on my head. Still shivering, I sneak into a medical tent to seek warmth. 

Three medics offer seats and assistance to the shivering runners, and one of them brings me a towel and a "heatsheet", while a policeman walks around pouring hot coffee to us. I stay there for a few minutes, confused and uncertain what to do, until, on the suggestion of a medical volunteer, I step across the street into the John Hancock building, where I manage to warm up, get a warm broth, relax and get a recovery massage, treated and pampered by an array of courteous volunteers! I think I may have finally discovered what I had been looking for. All the volunteers I have come across, a tiny sample of the army of 9,000 volunteers deployed across the city, are disarmingly cheerful, energetic and naturally effective! They are truly unique, and deserve a special tribute.

As I shower and get changed to fly back to New York, and I think of all the special things I have experienced and all the amazing people I have met in the past 24 hours in Boston, I feel overwhelmed. Yes, they are what makes this event so special!

That's right. "Nobody Runs Like Boston". And who knows, I may run Boston again, next year.

-Francesco P

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The Boston Marathon: A Revolutionary Experience

Karin A.

With the sudden crack of a gun the journey started, reminiscent of the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord that would lead to one of the greatest battles of all time for freedom and independence. The runners were off and there was no turning back.

“The Boston Marathon is an experience like no other race.” I continued to hear this up until race day. For me, it was hard to grasp until I experienced it first hand. This is the story of my first Boston Marathon; the people I met, the energy I felt, and my renewed determination to become a better runner.  

Boston is held on Patriots' Day, and it’s no accident. The American Revolution was a hard-fought battle with ups and downs, wins and losses. A ragtag group of citizens, disorganized and without military experience, picked up arms to go up against the mightiest military power in the world. They were on a quest for freedom, and in the process they built strength as a community and tested their limits of endurance. Great sacrifices were made, but in the end they prevailed.     

When I arrived in Boston on Saturday, it was clear that the city belonged to the runners that weekend. The streets were dotted with banners, and the runners were easily identifiable by their Boston garb. Mostly veteran runners, they proudly donned their colorful jackets corresponding to the year (or perhaps one of many) when they previously ran. It was a little intimidating to see so many fit athletes strolling confidently with their jackets, wearing them as well-earned badges of honor. As for myself, I had my purple 2015 jacket neatly tucked away in my suitcase with the tags still attached. I figured I hadn’t earned it yet, and while still nursing an injury from February, I was concerned whether I would finish the race at all.

RACE DAY

On race day morning, I was wandering around Boston Commons with countless other runners waiting to board the big yellow school buses that would drive us to the start in the town of Hopkinton. In and around the Commons, I could hear runners clickety-clacking about the route, the weather, and their times. The morning was unusually cool with the promise of rain and headwinds in the forecast, and runners puttered around in throwaway clothes trying to keep warm.

The BAA is extraordinarily organized, including everything from the pre-race newsletters to the hyper-detailed instructions on what to do before, during, and after the race. In preparation at Boston Commons, much of this organization was apparent; runners were gently directed to fill the buses early and often, and when it was time to head to the start, a fleet of yellow buses would take off one wave after another. It was an impressive sight.   

We arrived at Athletes' Village, which housed amenities for runners waiting their start times where they could indulge in last minute necessities; more potty breaks, extra carbs, and warm coffee to quell the shivers. When the wave was called, runners would walk nearly three-quarters of a mile to the start line. On the way, BAA volunteers offered pre-race waters and collected discard clothing. 

Volunteers Collecting Clothes

The local residents were already outside in the cool weather watching and supporting the runners as they approach the start line. A woman in her pajamas, swaddled in a blanket, waved warmly from her porch as she shouted words of admiration and encouragement to the lot of strangers walking past her home. 

As soon as I reached my corral it started to rain on cue, like the first note of a great symphony about to engage in a seemingly endless and magical musical journey. It was invigorating. The excitement of the race was palpable and the runners were ready.

THE RACE IS ON

Crack! The gun went off. So would start the 26.2-mile journey that we had been waiting for months or maybe even years to take. It was a mixture of exhilaration and the slow onset of wistfulness, in anticipation that in a few short hours it would be over.

The route is a series of gently rolling hills streaming like a ribbon through quaint towns. Locals lined the route to cheer on the runners as we made our way into Boston proper. From Hopkinton to Ashland to Framingham and onward, the borders from town to town were peppered with fun-loving rowdy early-morning drinkers and loud rock. At one point, we came across a small group of men cheering in front of church wearing denim and bright orange shirts, joined by more official-looking uniformed officers. A few of us runners commened quizzically that they looked like prisoners. 

As soon as we hit the 12-mile mark, we knew we were approaching the famous Wellesley girls and their Wall of Sound. Admittedly, I wasn’t looking forward to the overwhelming sound of screaming young ladies. You could definitely hear them at least a mile out. As soon as we hit the heart of Wellesley, it was a delight. The enthusiasm from the girls was infectious, and the vibration I felt throughout my body from the sound was elating.

Around mile 16, before the famous Newton hills, I saw a sign that read, "The Kenyans are drinking your beer." Needless to say, this gave me an extra boost to power over the dreaded hills. And those Newton hills weren’t so bad. In fact it was the smaller and seldom-mentioned mini hills after Heartbreak that were the real kicker. But it didn’t matter. I felt great and I was within reach of my goal (and on my way to earn my purple jacket!).

As you enter Boylston Street, the buildings get taller, the street gets wider, and wide-eyed crowd thickens with shouts of encouragement – “You got this!” – “You look great!” – “You’re almost there!” I felt cloaked in their cheers and roars as I raced ahead for the blue and yellow banner.   

POST-RACE REFLECTIONS

One of the most remarkable aspects of the race is the strong will of the runners. Many people I spoke to were aiming for times well under 4 hours and some even less than 3. But it wasn’t only about time. Victims of the 2013 bombings, including some of whom lost limbs, were there in a show of resilience and determination. There were also cancer survivors and people with severe physical disabilities who finished the race in triumph. It was awe-inspiring and moving.

At a post-race Sam Adams brewery tour, I met Bill Iffrig. Bill was knocked down by the blast in 2013 just 20 feet from the finish line. He was featured in what’s now an iconic photograph from the cover of Sports Illustrated, with him on the ground and three police officers coming to his rescue. 

Fortunately, Bill sustained only minor injuries, and in the midst of the smoke and chaos, he stood up and assessed himself and decided he was well enough to continue and cross the finish line. And he did. He was 78 years old. He ran again this year at the age of 80 and finished in 4:23:13.  

 

With Bill Iffrig

The day after the race, I strutted down the streets in Jamaica Plain in my well-earned purple jacket on my way to the famous Doyle’s Cafe for one last Sam Adams and a bowl of clam chowder. A man shouted congratulations from his car as he drove by, and a woman with four small kids did the same as we crossed paths on the sidewalk. I felt like a celebrity. Boston is a city with great pride, history, and strength, and this was tangible in all corners of this city of rebels. 

Back in NYC, it seemed as though spring had arrived in my absence as trees in all directions were blooming fiercely. The feelings of my brief stint as a celebrity were diluted and I went back to being just another runner in Central Park. But I put on my purple badge of honor and began to plot how I would work my way back to qualify for Boston. I reflected on the great runners that I met on my journey and took inspiration from the resilient souls that prevailed against the odds to run the Boston Marathon.

I want to say a special thanks to the many friends, family, fellow runners, and acquaintances that showed me an overwhelming amount of support; people that took time to say good luck and congratulations in the midst of busy schedules, personal struggles, and even family tragedies. Your selflessness and warmth will not soon be forgotten. 

-Karin A.   

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Run for Boston

Mary Wittenberg

It snuck up on me.  On Sunday, April 6, the day after so many of you ran in the Scotland Run –– our second Club Team race of the year - we gathered for our four mile “Run for the Parks,” benefiting City Parks Foundation. It’s always fun and gratifying to stage this event in support of CPF and their important work in our neighborhoods. This year, with the buzz and energy created by the “double” race weekend, I jumped on stage extra pumped-up to welcome the runners and thank our staff and volunteers.

The view from the stage took my breath away. I had a major flashback. My voice caught for a moment when it all came back.  Last year, we gathered for this race six days after the Boston bombings.

I took some pictures of that race and had them put together into the following video:

Just short of a year ago, the Run for the Parks was an overwhelmingly poignant race for which our running community gathered to honor Boston and to be together. The scene from the stage that day was incredibly moving. Run for Boston shirts. Red Sox hats. Grief mixed with resilience. Total silence as runners stood shoulder to shoulder for a moment to remember those lost and hurt in Boston. Tears rolled and applause surged as our national anthem singer, a Bostonian, fought through her cracking voice, “…and the home of the Brave….,” to unite us with Boston in that moment.

Last Year at Run for the Parks
"I Run for Boston"

I had planned to run London that day. It was to have been my first marathon in 19 years and the last for likely as many. I was super fit for me, and was going to squeeze the marathon in before I had foot surgery, just in case the result was a premature end to my long distance runs.  After Boston, my London run lost its significance for me.  It was more important for me to be with our running community at our CPF race as we gathered together for the first time post-Boston.  On that day, as I’m sure many others felt, too, I wanted to run a marathon for a bigger reason than my own time or personal experience. Boston 2014 became my new goal.

Last year’s Boston Marathon was a moment of tragedy and clarity for us all at New York Road Runners (NYRR) and in running. I’ll never forget flying high as I cheered on my idol and friend, Joan Benoit Samuelson, at the finish line. Joanie represents the best of Boston and running for me. 

With Joan Benoit Samuelson

I was so excited for her, as I watched in the brilliant sunshine with her husband Scott, daughter Abby and our friend, Josh Rowe of New Balance, as Joanie was on track to smash her goal of 2:52:43 (typical Joanie!). Josh and I dashed to the finish line barricades to give Joanie a big hug and snap photos in celebration of her feat –– and then I was off to make my train, with minutes to spare.  Then, just over an hour later while riding home with George Hirsch and many others from NYRR, I received a heart stopping text from Josh….our “worst nightmare…” 

With NYRR Board Chair George Hirsch

My heart was broken that day, and remains heavy today, when I think of Martin Richard and his family, and every single person and family hurt or killed that day. For those of us who spend our lives providing people with the opportunity to dream big through running, cheering and volunteering at our marathons and races, there is no worse nightmare than what happened in Boston that day. People are supposed to come away from our races feeling uplifted and hopeful –– healthier, fitter and enriched –– after having been part of something so positive and bigger than themselves.  What happened last year on Patriots Day was the opposite of that. 

Bonnie Ford of ESPN wrote a beautiful piece on the tragedy on that Boston Monday with a headline that will stay with me forever, “Attack Will Test Marathon Community.” I read that piece to my NYRR staff as we gathered in mourning at the office the next day. Bonnie’s words captured the day, from the pain and heartache to the challenge ahead. She magically captured the essence of what Boston, New York and marathons worldwide are all about - the coming together of people in an extraordinary way.  She wrote of  “….a celebration of a range of achievement, not just the top percentile….an impressionist painting of accomplishment” and, “...a collective civic experience…” and, in Boston, “…with more than a century of history.” Many of those same sentiments were captured beautifully by President Obama when he addressed the nation. 

On that emotional Tuesday morning after the race, I looked into the eyes of our NYRR team –– many in their 20s and 30s –– and saw their concern for those lost and hurt, and for a meaning to it all.  Many NYRR staff were in Boston the day before, running, volunteering, cheering, doing what our running community does so well –– supporting each other.  One thing was clear to me –– that this was a moment that would only deepen our resolve to ensure that the beautiful essence of what our marathons and races are all about would go on. Bonnie’s words gave me expression better than my own on that day. “The next time this –– or any  –– marathon is run anywhere in the world, they will run for yet another [reason].  To show that the power of communal achievement can be beaten on one day, but not on most days and never indefinitely.”

That sense of community, as well as President Obama’s words in Boston, inspired all of us at NYRR and heightened our focus on our road to the 2013 NYC Marathon. Now, in addition to all the meaning of our marathon for NYC, we would work for Boston, for running and for all that we hold dear about the spirit of our communal marathon days.  The 2013 NYC Marathon became about lifting all. “On that toughest mile, just when we think we have hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. We know that.”  Those words also continue to inspire me –– and our team –– as we prepare to honor every person in Boston lost or hurt, and run and work in fullest support of our friends at the B.A.A. and the entire running community. 

There we stood in Central Park almost a year later, following hundreds of races being run in New York and elsewhere around the world, including a record field of more than 50,000 people crossing the finish line on NYC Marathon Sunday last November in front of throngs of cheering New Yorkers. The view from the stage this year was a study in contrasts.  Smiles, laughter, spirited chatter, kids, adults, people swaying and warming up for their run to the music of the race DJ.  I was most struck by so many smiling faces. Other than the sprinkling of Boston Strong tee shirts, there was little hint of the trauma and tragedy of the year before among the sea of beaming faces and colors. But just beneath the surface, the memory lingers.

I am a bit anxious about my run in Boston. I am less fit than a year ago and the prospect of warmer weather scares me after our training through a chilling winter.  I want to make it a good run, not so much for me, but for what the day represents.  I am incredibly excited to be part of a day when we will honor and remember so many just by being there….by carrying on….by doing our best.

I feel privileged to be one of over 40 NYRR staff members who have volunteered to work that day or will run the race in support of the Boston community.  I will run for my amazing husband Derek, our two sons Alex and Cary, who we cherish so much, all of my friends and family, and you, our local runners, who inspire me every day.  As I run for Boston and for the many young people who deserve the same opportunity to discover how running can change lives, I run with you and for us all.

I don’t plan on running another marathon until Alex and/or Cary decide it’s their turn (that’s if they’ll have their mom in the same race!), and I have never raised money personally in connection with a race. This time is different.  Like many of you, I am moved to make the most of this day for others –– to add to its positive impact and legacy.  No pressure here, but I welcome you to join me and our NYRR team as we Run for Life, by making a donation to benefit One Fund Boston –– which provides critical support to those affected by the bombings, and our NYRR youth programs –– which share the gift of running with kids throughout our city and beyond.

Blogmaster's Note:  You can click HERE to view Mary's fundraising page  –– 50% of the funds raised will go to One Fund Boston and the other 50% to fund NYRR youth programs.  

Our running world may look much the same post-Boston 2013, but it will never be the same, nor should it be.  Just like we did at Run For the Parks on April 6th, and on NYC Marathon Sunday on November 3, 2013 when all ran strong towards the Central Park finish line following a specially painted yellow line (next to our normal blue line) to honor Boston, we’ll forever run with those lost and those hurt that day in our hearts.

Line-Painting Ceremony Prior to the 2013 NYC Marathon
With Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) Exec. Dir. Tom Grilk

At NYRR, we’ll strive more than ever to empower the dreams of so many and to protect that most unique aspect of our events and our marathons  ––  those amazing days when as volunteers, spectators, runners, friends and strangers, we come together and become part of something so much bigger than ourselves.

-Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO, NY Road Runners 

#BostonStrong #MarathonStrong #RunforLife

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