Ruth Anne has needed new running shoes for months. Heartbreak Hill Running Company in Newton reopened this week. The salesperson was amazing as he brought out styles of shoes that were similar to the ones she was wearing. Her style of shoe is being discontinued. She fell in love with a pair of New Balance and when we got home I posted a picture on Facebook supporting small business:
As I posted the picture I asked if anyone could name who was in the photo above the bookcase even though it was hard to see. I was supposed to be a speaker as part of the Runner Seminar Series at the Boston Marathon Expo this year. I had author copies of my books on hand and decided to make a contest out of the post.
Here is a closer look at the photo:
It was a "chance meeting" on a plane coming home from Puerto Rico in January of 2009 that led to receiving this photo of Johnny. Ruth Anne had a seat in the row in front of us. The plane was crowded with people returning from a cruise ship and Ruth Anne found solace talking with these two calm older people in her aisle. She bemoaned the fact that we were returning to frigid temperatures and the forecast for a snow storm. 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.
On every training run we did on Heartbreak Hill, we felt Johnny's presence especially when we arrived at his statue.
While we all feel a collective sadness that the Boston Marathon will not happen this year, we can all treasure memories of Boston Marathons past and look forward to many more magical moments that always surround the Boston Marathon.
To be inspired by my journey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond, visit my website at www.marymcmanus.com
The ground was covered with a little snow and ice but temperatures were supposed to moderate on Saturday. It didn't take long for us to end the debate about whether or not we were going to take our run outdoors. We have a commitment that as long as it's safe (ie not blizzard conditions, sub-zero temperatures and wind or lots of ice) we head outdoors for a run.
Since Tom and Ruth Anne are getting ready to run the Hyannis 10K and were still recovering from the Bermuda Marathon Weekend 10K, we decided on 4 miles at my pace.
I love how the little decisions we make place us exactly where we need to be to meet up with whomever we are meant to meet up with on any particular day.
We were going to park at the Johnny Kelley Statue and run two out and two back but Tom found himself pulling into a parking space before Newton Center.
Okay...I'm game.
If you are not a runner and/or you have never run or watched the Boston Marathon, I know it will be hard for you to understand the energy and exhilaration runners experience on a Saturday morning on the Newton Hills from January to April. Whether one is training for the Boston Marathon or another marathon or just getting in a training run as we do, I wish we could bottle the energy, the enthusiasm, and the sense of Oneness that happens on the Newton Hills on Saturdays. If you've ever been to a pop music concert, you'll know what I mean.
As we began our run, we saw members of Spaulding Rehab's Race for Rehab Team. They wore the jackets and headbands that signified they were members of the Race for Rehab Team: {Photo from the Team page on Facebook}
What a thrill to see David, the President of Spaulding who ran with us in 2009 and Amanda who is a part of the Development Team celebrating her ten years at Spaulding with another Boston Marathon run to raise money for Spaulding.
We cheered and high five'd the members of the Team adding that we were members of the 2009 Race for Rehab Team {We sure have grown in numbers since 2009}:
We reminisced about our 2009 Boston Marathon as part of Race for Rehab and what an incredible accomplishment that was especially for me.
"Tom and Mary McManus" another runner yelled out, "Rachel Glazer!" We smiled and cheered for our wonderful runner friend training for Boston.
"Hey hey...again we meet," Dominic Herard said slowing his pace and stopping to give hugs. It was the second time we saw each other on the Hills in the last few weeks. Dominic is training for his first marathon!
More high-fives and cheering on runners as runners do different out and back loops along the Boston Marathon course giving extra enthusiasm to Spaulding runners.
We took our selfie at the Johnny Kelley Statue:
As we were taking the last hill with one mile to go of our 4 mile run, 'Team McManus' rang out from behind us.
We turned around and there was Michelle Marchese Corrado who is running her first Boston to honor her dad's memory and raise money for the Beth Israel Deaconess Center for Cancer Care.
More hugs... more love... more inspiration and cheers for the journey. Michelle did 13 miles on Saturday that included two loops on the Hills.
What serendipity and synchronicity to see friends and experience so much love while out on a run on Heartbreak Hill.
I wonder what adventures await us next Saturday.
From my heart to yours
In health and wellness
Mary
Be inspired by my interview with Kendra Petrone on the award winning Exceptional Women Show by following this link
To experience an epic race weekend and hear me share my journey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond come to the Hyannis Marathon Weekend February 21-23 2020.
Even before the first forsythia show its yellow leaves or the first crocus pokes through the Earth, and even though there are still snowfalls in Boston, there is a rite of Spring happening on the hills in Newton. Runners gather on Saturday or Sunday mornings for their long training runs to test their mettle and gain their confidence on Heartbreak Hill.
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.
“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.
Today is a very emotional day for the Middlemiss Family. It is the one year anniversary of when their son Jack had a heart transplant. It also marks the day when a family lost their child and in an act of kindness that defies description, donated their child's heart.
Scott, Kate, Jack and Grace set up camp at the Johnny Kelley statue to cheer on Team Big Heart and other Boston Marathon charity runners who are training for the Boston Marathon. Those runners are running with all their heart, to raise money and awareness for causes near and dear to their hearts like the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation. Jack's older brother Joey died on September 23, 2013 from cardiomyopathy; Jack was also diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
From their website:
Joseph's parents, Scott and Kate Middlemiss, have created this foundation to honor their beautiful son by continuing the kindness and love that Joey shined on everyone.
The Foundations 3 Main Objectives:
To expand "The Joseph Middlemiss All You Need is Love Mission," fostering the spread and documentation of Random Acts of Kindness on local, national and international fronts.
To educate children on the power of kindness by supporting the efforts of schools (creating and leading motivational assemblies, providing books and related resources, buddy benches and kindness libraries), and empowering students through scholarships for music and martial arts.
To contribute to research for and spread awareness of childhood heart conditions while providing financial, social and emotional assistance to families impacted by these (pizza parties, brunches and patient and parent care bags on the 8th floor at Boston Children's Hospital).
This morning, after our morning meditation and deciding on where we would run today, I said to Tom, "Gee I wonder where the Middlemiss family will be setting up their aid station today."
When I logged onto Facebook there was a post tagged onto a member of Team Big Heart, Andrea Ketcham Walsh's post about today's run from Kate. "Mary McManus, I know you often ask where we will be. Today we will be at the Johnny Kelley statue."
Perfect! We knew our out and back route would be from Johnny's statue.
It was a beautiful late winter's day with the sun shining and little wind.
What a special day to celebrate Jack's heart-i-versary with the Middlemiss Family.
A message from Kate via Facebook: An extra special morning cheering on all the Boston Marathon training runners along Commonwealth Ave. So many of these runners have special stories of their own (some we heard about today) and run for truly remarkable reasons. They get out of bed and RUN because they CAN and often for a cause they hold close to their hearts. It’s simply amazing to witness the determination and sheer grit of so many who travel this course in preparation for the greatest marathon of all. We are humbled to play a a small role in this journey by providing refreshments, music, and cute antics from the best cheerleaders around. I’m proud to have my children witness the dedication of all these runners! It’s an amazing sight to witness hundreds cross by us on Saturday mornings! Today was extra special because it’s the one year anniversary of Jack’s heart transplant. While this little boy isn’t training for a marathon, he has exhibited similar “marathon finisher” strength and determination over the past year. He’s been through a lot yet continues to live, smile, dance, and LOVE thanks to the most selfless gift of all from another family during their darkest hour. I’m so glad he was able to be out there today and cheer on the runners. It was so significant. It’s been an emotional day already as we celebrate Jack, stay aware of all he continues to go through, and hold the donor family so close to our hearts. Thank you for this gift of life. We were happy to share it with hundreds of runners today!
Tom and I went off for our 3.5 mile run (more on that in tomorrow's blog).
We talked about the incredible serendipity that brought the Middlemiss family and so many big hearted people into our lives!
We first learned about the Joseph Middlemiss Foundation at the Runners World Classic race where we volunteered in July 2016.
At the starting line of the Bermuda Half Marathon....(from The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953): “Hey are you Joe Middlemiss?” I asked a tall runner wearing a Team Big Heart shirt.
“No Joey passed away and…”
“Oh I’m so sorry of course. I’m not thinking clearly. I meant to ask if you were Scott but obviously you’re someone else.”
“Hi I’m Linda and this is my husband Brad. How do you know about Team Big Heart?”
We were in awe of what a small world it was after I shared with them our Team Big Heart connection. We took photos of them at the starting line proudly wearing their Team Big Heart shirts and one with Ed Christopher.
We said another prayer and listened to the Town Crier make the proclamation to mark the start of the 2018 Bermuda Marathon and Half Marathon. We wished Brad and Linda a wonderful time out on the course as they were completing their Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge.
When we returned from Bermuda, we connected with Linda and Brad on Facebook and Team Big Heart Boston Marathon runners. The circle grew and grew.
Run with your heart and live from your heart. We are all so privileged and blessed to be a part of the circle of love that was borne out of unspeakable tragedy when 6 year old Joey Middlemiss earned his angel wings.
One year ago today, one family gave the ultimate gift of love and life that is now beating in Jack's beautiful little body.
Whatever challenges life may place before us, all you need is love to prevail and be able to run the best marathon of our lives.
Follow this link to make a donation to Team Big Heart's Boston Marathon Team.
To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary
Be sure to visit my website by following this link.
“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.
