Wife Mother Runner Boston Marathon Archives

2017 Boston Marathon with Achilles International

April 29, 2017

On April 17, 2017 I had the pleasure of traveling up to Boston as a volunteer for Team Achilles and I captured as many moments with the members from all the chapters along with The Freedom Team. It was a beautiful day to spectate. I had the opportunity two years ago to watch the race and enjoyed it as much, if not more this time because I am part of that team who overcame very difficult challenges to get to the finish line.

As I did last time, I took the train from Worcester to Yawkey and watched the race at mile 25 and then walked to the finish line later in the afternoon to see several athletes cross the finish line. I didn’t expect to see as many Team Achilles members as I did and am so proud of everyone for their success in crossing the finish line of the 121st Boston Marathon.

Enjoy the recap video highlighting the presentation of the Freedom Team at Fenway Park on Sunday to the last Achilles athlete I captured running down Boylston Street. I can’t wait to capture moments like these again next year! One day I wish to also be a runner to cross the line at the Boston Marathon myself. Until then I will gladly cheer everyone on!

Harvard Pilgrim Middletown Half – Run and School with Jeff Galloway

April 11, 2015

After a busy workweek I knew that I had a busy weekend ahead of me with the Harvard Pilgrim Middletown Half Marathon on Sunday and Jeff Galloway’s Fun Run and Running School on Saturday. Friday night I went out with friends from work to celebrate Heidi’s last day working for New Horizons. We had a great time at City Steam in Hartford and ended up staying there until 11:30! It was wayyyy past my bedtime and I knew I had to get my butt out of bed at 6:30. By the time I got home and settled down for the night I think I fell asleep around 1:00.

The alarm went off at 6:30 with no option for snooze so I jumped out of bed, made my tea and took a shower to help wake me up. That was a smart move. I got ready and drove up to Middletown where I met up with a very small group of people and Jeff in front of the Inn at Middletown to head out for the run. By small, I mean there were about 10 people there. But it was great!

Jeff wearing his Wesleyan jersey from his college days.

At 8:30 and we were on the road. Jeff instructed us on how to do some Acceleration Gliders and we ran 15/15 intervals with him down the sidewalks of Main Street and up a road towards the Wesleyan Campus. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was finally out and it wasn’t freezing cold. It was the perfect temperature for running. We continued on for about a mile and a half along the campus and down the streets of Middletown and back to the Inn at Middletown where Jeff had to go back and gather up his things for our Running School with Jeff at 9:30.

Jeff showed us which dorm room was his and Amby’s.

After we left Jeff, I looked for a parking spot and a cup of tea to help shake off the fuzz from the night before and headed over to the seminar where I hooked up with my friend Kimberlee Dziezynski. I was glad to see her. She has been experiencing similar issues that I have been experiencing lately and has also been fighting off fatigue and winter blues. I still find it amazing how we met on a plane in 2013 coming home from the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare and now we hook up for events! I love the power of social media and the running community.

I noticed something during the seminar. The women outnumbered the men. I thought that was a very interesting observation. I knew Katherine Switzer was also going to be in Middletown Saturday for a discussion with Jeff and Amby Burfoot during packet pick up and I was looking forward to hearing what they were going to discuss.

During Jeff’s class he talked about many topics like speed work, nutrition, pacing, mental training, hydration and efficient running. One great point that hit home to me was when he said “a body in bed wants to stay in bed, but a body in motion stays in motion”. That speaks volumes to what I have been going through lately. If I just get up and get moving I feel better. But it is the initial getting up part. I mentioned to Jeff that this winter was exceptionally hard. That it had a physical impact on me even though I was very diligent about doing my runs outdoors despite the cold and snow. But mentally it was harder. I will remember what he said next time I want to hit snooze.

It was a great seminar. Most of the information I had consumed over the years via pod casts or from Jeff’s newletters, web site or ecoaching; but it was great to sit for 3 hours and hear him explain these topics in his own words and they really sunk in for me. It was like a refresher course I needed to stay on track with my running and training.

After the seminar I drove home to watch my daughter at her first softball practice of the year. Then the kids went to my parents’ and I went with my husband back up to Middletown for the packet pick up and to hear the lecture. I was so glad Katherine was selling her books there. I had her autograph her book to me and my daughter so that I can give it to her when she is older.

Katherine wanted to get a picture with my husband and liked his muscles!

It was a great day. Something I needed to get me back into the game and the weather was a good boost also. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be just as nice and I am hoping to have a great run and to also run the beginning of the race with Jeff as well! Diana and I are planning to run it at a pace to survive. I don’t have expectations for a fast race. Thank you Hartford Marathon Foundation for putting together a great weekend of events!

Boston Marathon Bib Stealing

April 26, 2014

Kara Bonneau of Durham, North Carolina

If you are not part of the running community you probably haven’t heard about a situation that happened at the Boston Marathon this year where four bandits made copies of a bib and printed it out to use to run the race.

When the owner of bib #14285 went online to view her race photos on marathonfoto.com she found her photo along with four other individuals wearing the same bib!

This has gotten a lot of publicity in social media and also recognition by the Boston Marathon Association.

Four other runners wearing Kara’s bib number

Of course this is also theft. You are stealing someone’s photograph of their bib number and printing it out so you can run a race that you didn’t pay for. People don’t just register for Boston or get in for a lottery. You have to QUALIFY for it or raise money for a charity (and it’s a lot of money you must raise). This is what makes the Boston marathon such a coveted race to run. The bandit runners also took medals that they did not pay for! They also probably used water, and fuel sources on the race course that other runners’ registration fees pay for.

And then there is the issue of safety. When you register for a race, you also sign a waiver. There is also an area on the back of your bib where you should fill out personal information about yourself, emergency contact information and important medication information. Should you become hurt or unconscious during the race, this information is helpful to the first responders.

When I first saw these pictures of the four individuals circulating through my social media channels asking people to identify these runners I was very surprised. I will admit that I am naive about the unethical things that happen at races so people can run them. I don’t even know the half of what goes one for people to steal to get into races. But then I saw more and more coverage about it and that the Boston Athletics Association is getting involved.

As I did more research on this topic I found another news story about it from wcvb.com with the wife of the owner of Foursquare running under a fake bib number. How sad.

“The owner of the real bib looked closely at the bandit’s photo using her bib and saw a twitter handle on it. She then researched on twitter and saw conversations being tweeted shere Chelsa Crowley, wife if Foursquare Founder Dennis Crowley tweeted out that she was looking for a bib. Someone tweeted back, “Fake bib? 34033” and she replied with , “Shhh.”

What a shame.

Dennis and Chelsa ran the marathon together last year and got separated before the finish line and wanted to run together again this year but his wife couldn’t get a bib. She crossed the finish line last year just minutes before the bombs went off. He did not, so he was allowed to return again this year. They said they donated $5,000 to charity this year and that there was no malicious intent to what they did using a fake bib this year. Just because you donate money to a charity doesn’t mean you can make your own bibs and think that it justifies why you are stealing someone else’s bib number! Shame on you!

The rules for the Boston Marathon and other races are clear when they specify that no one is allowed to wear the bib number of an official entrant. In the past the B.A.A. has not allowed runners who have been found duplication bibs to run future races held by their organization.

This year’s race was spectacular and inspiring. I know cheating in sports is common. It’s just disappointing to really know that it happened at the Boston marathon also. I hope there will be a way in the future to stop this behavior; but someone will always find a way to outsmart the system. And I hope it doesn’t come at the expense of those who pay the registration fees in the end.

Source: http://www.wcvb.com/news/fake-bibs-being-probed-by-boston-marathon-organizers/25650754#!FS2An

Dick and Ricky Hoyt – Their Last Boston Marathon

April 19, 2014

Get your tissues ready, this story is beautiful and inspiring. The 2014 Boston Marathon will the 32nd Boston Marathon for Team Hoyt. Last year, due to the events that happened, they were forced to stop about a mile from the finish line. Dick Hoyt at the age of 73 says he has one more Boston Marathon in him. He has been suffering from severe back pain. Their first Boston marathon was in 1981 as Dick pushed Rick in a wheelchair.

Ricky was born in 1962, but suffered from oxygen deprivation to his brain and was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. Against doctor’s suggestions, Dick and Judy had a quest to include Ricky in everything they took part of in their lives. Dick and Judy saw that their son was intelligent and had the ability to learn like everyone else. However, they needed to find a way to help Rick communicate for himself, so they built him a computer. Because his first words were not “Hi Mom,” or “Hi Dad,” but “Go Bruins!”, his parents knew he loved sports and followed the game just like anyone else. After graduating high school, Rick attended Boston University, and graduated with a degree in Special Education in 1993.

Their racing career began in the spring of 1977. Ricky told his father he wanted to participate in a run for a paralyzed Lacrosse player. His father agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They came in next to last, but that night Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

Since that day, Team Hoyt has run over 1,100 races including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them were Ironman competitions). And Dick and Rick biked and ran across the United States in 1992. It took them 45 days to complete the 3,735 miles. They are absolutely unstoppable. The thought of even doing an Ironman blows me away, but to know that Dick did this while pulling his son in a boat or riding a special two-seater bike and then pushing the wheelchair is absolutely remarkable.

When Dick and Ricky first wanted to run the Boston marathon, they did not want them to. Now there is a bronze statue of them near the start line. With their motto “Yes You Can”, they want so show that if you are disabled it doesn’t mean you have to site on the sidelines. Although his father won’t be pushing him in future Boston marathons, Ricky will continue to compete with a new partner. He will still run with his dad, and compete in shorter races, just not in marathons.

I have a brother with special needs but we always included him in everything we have done. I remember going to the Special Olympics when he was younger and being so proud of him. I was so touched by the athletes giving their all in their events. My brother works a full-time job where I work and participates in the volunteer Fire Department in our town and we have lived with the same motto as the Hoyt family. You can do anything you want to do.

This is a message that I am teaching my children. They are sitting with me right now as I type this blog post and they watched the movies and stories of Dick and Ricky. I want my children to know that “Yes You Can”. My motto to them is “Never Give Up.” I hope for the chance to see Dick and Ricky at the race on Monday. What a special relationship.

Shalane Flanagan – The Woman Hoping to Win The Boston Marathon This Year

April 18, 2014

A 5 foot 4″, 102 pound fiery Bostonian has her eye on the finish line to win the Boston Marathon. Shalane Flanagan has been training the Boston marathon route repetitively. She is called a pony tailed assassin in knee socks. The Olympic athlete who now lives in Portland, OR has been training in Boston, Portland and at high altitude in Arizona.

Watch a segment on 60 minutes about her quest towards her goal. The 32 year old sponsored by Nike, runs as her full time job. What a dream! She watches everything she eats because it is not only food, but fuel for her body. Shalane ran 2:25:38 at the 2012 Olympic marathon trials in Houston, which many of the women have faster marathon bests than that. That blows my mind!

Shalane grew up watching her father run the Boston marathon. So winning this race to her means everything. It even means more than winning an Olympic medal. It’s in her blood. Her mother, Cheryl Treworgy, was the world-record holder in the marathon in 1971 and her father, Steve Flanagan was once a 2:18 marathoner.

When watching the CBS 60 minute story of her you can see the desire in her eyes. You can feel her passion for wanting to win this race. It’s going to be an amazing marathon this year for many reasons. I will be watching (or listening via my iPhone from my car on the way up to the race) to see if she can beat the Kenyans at this year’s marathon!

You can watch Live coverage streamed online on Monday from http://watchlive.baa.org/. For more media coverage click here. Will you be following the marathon live on Monday?

Being a Boston Marathon Spectator

April 17, 2014

On Monday, April 21 I plan on going to the Boston Marathon as a spectator. There are three friends that I know who are running the race. Eddie McCoy, Michelle Scribner-MacLean and Linda Ambard. I set them up with runner tracking in my phone. I hope I get to physically see them at the race! I have to get my kids off to school first, then I am driving up. I have been chatting online with friends of Eddie and Michelle and we are hoping to all hook up and figure out where and how to do this spectating bit! We have all never been there before. I am also using the road trip to figure out what I will be doing for the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon on June 8th with Kimberly Markey and Gail Savidge! There is a downloadable spectator guide on the Boston Marathon site that I using for reference. I have my computer open with Google Maps, Boston Marathon’s webpage and a marathon pace calculator trying to figure out when people will be taking off, when to expect to see them and where I need to be at what time. I think being a spectator is harder work that being the actual runner (well…. not exactly). But it sure is easier to show up at the start line on race morning because you know where you have to be and what time you have to be there and then you follow the rest of the people all the way to the end! Pretty simple. There are guidelines on what spectators can bring to the race so I need to take these rules into consideration. I was planning on packing a lunch and having food and drinks with me so I have to study these guidelines and plan accordingly. Eddie is a fast runner and will be going out of the start around 10:25. I believe Michelle and Linda are going at 11:25. I expect to arrive in the area sometime before noon (if I don’t have traffic issues) and I am hoping to watch the race from Heartbreak Hill. So according to my calculations Eddie will be at the hill around 1 pm and Michelle and Linda will be there around 3:30 . Parking is something I still haven’t figured out yet. I am making runDisney signs from the #DisneySide party planning kit that I received in February, and I can’t wait to be a part of the excitement of the day and to experience a side to races that I have never done before – cheering others on! I know that while I am there and feel the energy of this race, it is going to fuel the desire I have burning inside me to one day qualify for this race. Since I have zero knowledge of the area, do you have any advice to give for spectating this awesome event?

Kathryn Switzer – The First Woman To Run The Boston Marathon

April 15, 2014

On my 20 mile training run I listened to the Another Mother Runner podcast #101 with Kathryn Switzer. What an amazing story she told! She is the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. She is a professional journalist, speaker and commentator, and has several books Marathon Woman, 26.2 Marathon Stories and Running and Walking for Women Over 40. I have not read any of her books yet but they are next on my list.

She is most famous for running the Boston Marathon 45 years ago, when she officially entered what was considered to be a men’s only race. This is my first time seeing this image, but this was a very famous image of her running the Boston marathon and being attached by the race director for officially wearing a bib during the race. Her boyfriend protected her and she continued to run and finish the race.

In 1974 she won the New York City Marathon and in 1975 Kathryn finished second in the Boston Marathon with a finish time of 2:51:33.

Her most recent work is the 261 Fearless Women’s Marathon which took place on March 30, 2014 in Madrid, Spain. Bib number 261 was her 1967 Boston Marathon bib number. Women from around the world have been wearing this bib number because it makes them feel fearless in the face of adversity.

Learn more about Kathryn on her website and listen to the podcast, it’s an amazing story!

The Boston Marathon Is A Week Away

April 14, 2014

One day shy of a year ago was the Boston Marathon Bombing. The morning of the marathon I was working from home because my daughter was off from school. I watched the Boston Marathon’s live broadcast from my laptop. It was a beautiful morning. The race was exciting and it planted the seed for me that I really wanted to be a part of this race someday. I remember posting to Facebook about my desire to go. Then several hours later my mom sent me a text to see if I heard about the news. There was an incident at the race. I turned on the news and then saw the sad events that were unfolding. I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe something bad was happening at such a positive event. Where were you when the Boston Marathon Bombings happened?

Last week the Book Stronger by Jeff Bauman was released. I love stories where tragedy is turned to something positive and reading of the strength of those who fight through life changing events. Jeff Bauman was a spectator cheering his girlfriend, Erin. He looked at the bomber in the eye just several minutes before the bomb placed just feet away from him exploded, destroying his legs. He saw the bomber, he wanted to make sure authorities talked to him so he could tell him so they could catch the man who did this to him.

His photograph became the human face of the Boston marathon bombing victims. This book is about Boston Strong.

Jeff Bauman is the man in this famous photograph of that horrific event. Photo: Charles Krupa, AP

Don’t waste a minute, grab this book today! I already love the book and I am only a few pages into it. I can’t wait to finish it and be inspired by another book about strength and determination.

Another one of my other favorite running-related, comeback from tragedy books is Matt Long’s The Long Run. Do you have a favorite book?

The Boston Marathon World Run

April 13, 2014

As I do my last long training run for Providence this week, I decided that I will use that run as my Boston Marathon World Run and run the Boston Marathon virtually.

This year people from around the world are encouraged to participate in their own Boston Marathon for the first ever Boston Marathon World Run. To participate, visit the Boston Marathon World Run website. Pledge to run, walk or wheel any distance on or prior to April 21.

You will receive a printable bib number, a digital finisher’s medal and a printable finisher’s certificate.

Be a part of the fun! Any Ability, Any Distance, Anywhere. Enjoy your run and share in the spirit of the Boston Marathon. Download the app and get going today!

One run for Boston Ran Past My Parents’ House

April 12, 2014

I was visiting my mom today because she is having a rough time with her recovery from her knee replacement, so I thought the kids could cheer her up. As I was sitting in the rocking chair I noticed a group of runners in Route 17 and saw one with an American flag.

I mentioned it to my parents and they said that it was probably the One Run To Boston group. My parents saw it on the news this morning. I jumped out of the chair, grabbed my phone and ran outside. I yelled out to the group to ask them if they were running to Boston and if I could take a picture. They gladly stopped and posed and let me talk to them for a few minutes. They explained that they were running from New Haven to Northford, and they showed me the torch that was being carried from LA to Boston.

The torch has a GPS chip in it that can be followed on the One Run For Boston website.

It was so awesome to see them and I wished I had the foresight to register to be a part of this event that ran right through my town! I love the running community and what people do to help others. I will be running my 26 mile training run this Friday and will be running virtually with The Boston Marathon World Run. I wish so badly I could run the Boston Marathon. It may not be this year, but I will someday run that race!

Tag: Boston Marathon