I've lived in Boston since 1971, a transplanted New Yorker and have always felt a connection to the Boston Marathon. Since crossing its finish line on April 20, 2009 just 3 years after having been told I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair after the diagnosis of Post Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease, the Boston Marathon is a part of my heart and soul.
I was blessed to be a member of a panel, "Late Life Running and Whole Life Running," at this year's Virtual Boston Marathon Expo
and support crew for our dear friend Rachel Glazer last Saturday:
This was the final weekend of the Twelve Days of the Boston Marathon.
We decided to get our 5K in on Heartbreak Hill with the hope that we might see a Virtual Runner or two out on the course.
The Hills were alive with the Spirit of the Boston Marathon. Charity Teams were advised to not run on the course and finish at Boylston Street, but Tedy's Team was very creative in creating an out and back route that took them from the Boston Common to the Newton Hills and back for a finish at the Boston Common.
There was a DJ blaring music, cheering on the runners saying, "Welcome to Marathon Monday - Saturday Edition."
Charity teams' support crews and family members lined the marathon route.
On our outbound route we encountered Dana Farber's Unicorn:
There were hydration stations set up with a wide selection of foods to fuel the runners:
while blue and yellow balloons and ribbons lined the course like a hashtag for #bostonstrong and #finishstrong.
We discovered that it is quite challenging to simultaneously be a spectator and a runner. We got in our miles but the pace was slowed by the need to social distance while cheering on those incredible virtual Boston Marathon runners who experienced a historic longest training season ever that extended from January to September.
The only other time I experienced the intensity of the Spirit of the Boston Marathon was in 2014. Just as the bombs stopped runners in their tracks on 4/15/13, so too did the pandemic stop runners in their tracks. Half of the runners who were registered for the 2020 Boston Marathon took on the challenge of a Virtual Boston Marathon around the globe. The BAA, and Conventures, Inc., under the leadership of T.K. Skenderian made sure that even though the world couldn't come to Boston, Boston would go to the world.
A hawk soared above; a harbinger of hope and a message from Spirit to see things from a higher perspective rather than feeling the constraints of the current reality.
We took our traditional photo of the Johnny Kelley statue and our selfie.
As we drove home, we honked and cheered on runners along Heartbreak Hill and Beacon Street.
Tomorrow wraps up the Twelve Days of the Boston Marathon 2020.
We don't know when there will be the next Boston Marathon. September registration is on hold for now while a panel convenes to develop a plan.
There were many "Marathon Mondays" shared and celebrated in Boston and around the world during these 12 days.
Team McManus was thrilled to be a part of the Saturday edition on Heartbreak Hill. While our hearts were broken with the news that the Marathon would be postponed, then cancelled, then made into a virtual event, we rose above with resilience and strength as we in the Boston Strong community have always done and will continue to do.
To be inspired and motivated by my health and wellness journey from having been told to prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair to the finish line of the Boston Marathon and beyond, be sure to visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com
My books are available on Amazon
To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary
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