
I am a person out to prove to my kids that we are always in our prime, of the present time. It is up to you to be Your Best Self !
Back Story:
I have seen the request for the experience of the Boston Marathon. Any major event always has a back story. I came from a family of nine and simply started running on my own, at about 16 years old. I had a local loop I ran every day, of 3.5 miles. Eventually, I had to get home from a baseball practice, in Lowell, Massachusetts. My home was in Westford, Massachusetts. I decided after waiting three hours to be picked up, that I would bring my running sneakers and run home. I had successfully completed this and amazed myself, being sore of course. After that, I started running ten miles a day. This went on for the next year. Before even dreaming of running the Boston Marathon, I was just hooked on running. I was injured the entire month before the marathon, when focusing on the task.
A friend of mine had mentioned of sitting in the tub with full blast cold water and shock the body. This actually worked and I was running the next day. I only went a few miles, as well as only ran a few more days before the Boston Marathon. When at the marathon, I was running from “The Back of the Pack”, known to be where the unqualified runners were able to line up. I heard somebody calling “Tom…Tom….Tom!”, from behind me. Never turning around, it happen to be a college buddy runner, from the college team St. Joseph’s of Maine. He said, “Didn’t you hear me way back there?”. I turned around and said, “Do you not see the thousands of people, as there are probably a hundred Tom’s?”. He chuckled and said “I guess you’re right!”. I was in the front row of the “Back of The Pack”. Back then (90s), one could run after the qualifiers and get a number that was simply the year. My friend had left college to run Pro and actually stopped running. This was the person that found me at the front line, to the qualified runners. He had said to me, “Have you been running all this time?”. I told him of course. I explained to him that I had been injured the entire month and was only planning to run 10 miles, at the most. He told me to not worry and I am quite capable of making it. He ran with me and kept pulling on my shirt saying, “ Slow down…don’t worry about the others, they all start to die off at mile 10-15. He said, “You can do this”. I had faith in myself but was just there to have fun and did not even think about finishing. It was also completely unexpected in my mind, to even entertain that thought. When I reached mile 13, my friend vanished into the crowd of runners. I only found out at the end, that he hid from me. He did so by hiding behind somebody, as he had to stop. He did not want me to be affected by his failings.
I happen to have my college jersey on (St. Joes of Maine). The crowd was so big and cheering “St. Joes…St Joes!!!”. This got me fired up and I lost track of everything but running like crazy. The part I was completely unaware of was heartbreak hill. I knew of it but never looked into it much more than a chart. I had been running a long fairly steep hill in the middle of my run every day. This may have prepared me for heartbreak hill. I was on the hill when I looked at the person next to me and said “where is heartbreak hill…I am pretty sure it should be soon?”. The person next to me laughed and said, “YOUR ON IT!”. I simply said “oh”. At that point I felt so strong and empowered, I was not even thinking of stopping. The experience itself was so overwhelming, I almost forgot where I was running. I did start to feel really weird. I was feeling all the muscles throughout my body moving like I did not have skin, at about mile 23. The crowds were instrumental, yelling St Joes in mass volume on every corner. I felt I was only running faster and faster at the same time I started to really feel fatigued, at mile 24. Exhaustion was setting in and felt as if I was constantly picking up speed. Conflicting as it sounds, the mind is a powerful tool and positive attitude is everything.
It was an amazing experience. The hardest part was yet to come, as I hit what I consider very flat territory. The biggest challenge was not the heartbreak hill and the unpreparedness. I almost broke from seeing the CITGO sign and running down the straightest roads. I could see everyone in front of me. However the challenge of will was thinking the end was around every corner, because of the CITGO sign. Once seeing the end a chill came over me and I ran with all my heart. Not a care in the world for my time. All the focus was to cross the finish with speed left. I had made it without injury and a very strong finish. This blew my mind. As quickly as the end had come, I could not pick my feet up the inches it takes to get up on the curb. Only then had I realize what I had done.
Now I have six kids. They criticize me for my supposed “3hr time. Because it was from the back of the pack there is no records of me even being there, other than my friend I have not seen since. However, after this I ran Boston a second time, to push a friend of mine. Then I targeted and overcame the Washington DC Marine Corps Marathon. There are no records of my time, as it was too long ago. This time there is a photo and many witnesses, that I know. Now that I am much older and feel like I still have it, I am back. My kids are telling me I am old, only criticizing of course (I think). I tell them “I am in my prime”. They say “You can’t be in your prime every year, dad!”. I reply, why not. I am in my prime for the year I am facing. I have goals to qualify for the Boston Marathon and I am addictively running again. I am already hooked on running like never before, taking it much more seriously and maturely. Whether I get there or not, at the least, I am doing something healthy for me and inspiring others (My kids).
Take it forward to 2025 and here I sit having completed the Washington DC Marine Corps Marathon in less than four hours. My son informed me that I had completed the marathon in 92nd place out of over 517 people in my age group. Now the kids know I am not just talk. Furthering my intensions, I am now working to qualify for the 2026 Boston Marathon. God willing the real goal is just to have fun and live life to the fullest. We all have to try to work hard and stay healthy.