It begins at the Fire Station on the corner of Route 16 and Commonwealth Avenue:
Last Saturday, Tom and I joined the throngs of runners training for Boston. There's a special place in our hearts for those running for charities as Tom and I ran for Spaulding 10 years ago.
As we run on Heartbreak Hill for our Saturday runs, the memories ignite of our magical moments that happened for us on Heartbreak Hill.
I felt a thrill and a sense of awe after meeting Johnny Kelley's nephew on our flight returning from Puerto Rico in January 2009. We took a 5 day hiatus from training in the brutal New England cold to train in Puerto Rico. A casual conversation turned into a moment to last a lifetime. From The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953:
Two weeks before our first run on Heartbreak Hill, we returned from Puerto Rico, after a brief hiatus from the never ending brutal New England cold weather. On the plane ride home, we met Tom Kelley and his wife, Dottie. We shared the story of Team McManus not knowing the names of the people with whom we shared pleasant conversation to pass the time on the flight back to a snowstorm in Boston.
“Hi there…my name is Tom Kelley. My uncle was Johnny Kelley.”
“I’m Dottie.” “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Johnny Kelley” I thought to myself. “As in the Johnny Kelley. Olympian and Boston Marathon champion through the decades?!”
Dottie shared with me that Tommy lives with Parkinson’s Disease but he keeps on running as best he can. Running is his therapy. She asked for our mailing address. They had something they wanted to send to us. I had goosebumps all over.
As we parted ways heading to baggage claim, Dottie said, ‘Good luck with the rest of your training! Come see us at the Expo at Packet Pick up. Remember, Johnny will be watching over you.”
“Thank you. Get home safely and we’ll definitely come see you at Packet Pick Up. You sure made my day!” I said with a broad smile and a full heart.
A week later a package came in the mail with a note written in Dottie’s perfect cursive handwriting dictated by Tommy:
This is a poster created by Adidas for the 2004 BAA Marathon. I had Johnny sign a few when we roomed together at the Copley Plaza that week, and I know he would have gladly signed one for your family if he were here. Perhaps it will inspire you to run a good race, especially the last 6 miles. Johnny was an inspiration to many of us amateur runners and he lives on in the memories of countless runners. You can get a copy of his book Young at Heart on Amazon I believe. You'll note that his forefathers came over to the USA on the SS Marathon!!! Keep on running as I do. We loved your website and maybe some day we can meet again.
The energy healer I worked with to help me train for Boston waited for us on Heartbreak Hill with this sign that we carried with us to the finish line:
Our Coach, Domenick D'Amico waited for us on Heartbreak Hill:
At mile 20, we saw Domenick just as he had promised us. He had tears in his eyes as he embraced Team McManus.
He put his hands on my shoulders and said, “You're gonna qualify - go finish. I'm so proud of you.”
In 2009 if you ran the Boston Marathon in under 8 hours as a mobility impaired runner, you qualified to run Boston again.
Our personal trainer who could have easily run as far away from me as she could when I set a new health and fitness goal to run the 2009 Boston Marathon, even though I'd never run a day in my life, met us on Heartbreak Hill to run us into the finish line.
My cell phone rang. It was Janine checking in with us. As I saw her in the distance standing atop one of the inclines on Heartbreak Hill with her Spaulding Rehab t-shirt and a white long sleeve shirt underneath, I saw an angel who was going to take us to the finish line.
“I’m amazed at how great you guys look,” she said.
“We went out slowly and ran steady so we could finish. But I’m sorry about the pace….”
She cut me off and said, “Did you know that the guy who won last year had to be taken off the course? You need to leave those thoughts and all of your baggage out on the roads. Just look at how great you are doing!”
Our son, Autumn, met us at Cleveland Circle and joined our entourage to the finish line!
Although Team McManus is not planning on running another Boston, it is a special treat to run on Heartbreak Hill, celebrating the tenth anniversary of when we ran Boston and share in Boston's rite of spring on Heartbreak Hill.
To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary
Be sure to visit my website by following this link.
My books are available on Amazon.
“The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance tapping into the powerful connection she experienced to the Divine from an early age. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running. Her story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog, discovering the meaning of different ability and experiencing the stunning view from the back of the pack of a race. You will have the privilege of bearing witness to how Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her. The sport of running provides the backdrop for her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary that tested her mettle while forging friendships to last a lifetime. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life.
Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life
Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:
Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):
My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.
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