“Though in a crowd of stunned runners and spectators, I felt alone”
After months of training, my wife and I had arrived at the marathon event of the year, the 2013 Boston Marathon. We started together in Wave 3, Corral 6, running for an American Medical Athletic Association charity. In four hours our day would drastically change. A knee injury forced me to slow my pace and […]
Something to Remember when I’m 88
The Boston Marathon experience is, for the serious runner, the ultimate rush of emotions… excitement, fear, pride, and for first-timers, overwhelming. My first Boston experience is a memory I will hold onto for the rest of my years. I began running in my 30s and quickly became inspired by the challenge of distance running. I […]
One Red Grape
You could see it coming: An early spring heat wave, making its way from the Great Plains eastward across the central United States. The unseasonable weather spared neither north nor south as it baked its way across the country. With only a week to go before the start of the 116th Boston Marathon, BAA warnings […]
One of the most surreal and satisfying days of my life
Imagine your first round of golf being at Augusta National, experiencing your first horse race at Churchill Downs or entering a stadium the first time at the Olympics. Then imagine actually taking part in the Masters, Kentucky Derby or Olympic Opening Ceremonies. That’s what it felt like for me to run the Boston Marathon on […]
The second explosion was exactly where my family had been waiting
I’ll forever remember the 2013 Boston Marathon as the day I came way too close to losing absolutely everything, when my family was almost taken, leaving me with nothing, alone and broken. It started like any other race morning: very early, but that’s the only normal thing about the Boston Marathon. I left the hotel […]
How I cut my deficit to Boston Billy by over 20 minutes…
After running Boston in 1978 in 3 hours 20 minutes, I came back to run the race again a year later. The rapid growth in the marathon’s popularity in those years was evident: in ’78 there were 4,764 official runners; in 1979, the number swelled to 7,927, the first year the number of racers exceeded […]
“Stationary in the Middle of the Boylston Street”
My running career began in 1987, when at the age of 35, I decided it was time to lose a little weight. I ran my first race that May (the Coca-Cola Classic 10K in Corinth, MS), and found a new addiction. Over the next several months I participated in numerous local 5K’s and 10K’s. My running buddies […]
“I had no cell phone, no I.D., no money, no hotel room key. However, I did have my lipstick.”
First of all, I want to explain how I even got to run the Boston Marathon in the first place. If you know anything about the sport of long distance running world, you probably know the Boston Marathon is the big race. This year was the 117th Boston Marathon. Elite runners from around the world […]
“America’s Good Luck Charm”
In July 1978, I finished third in the Grandfather Mountain Marathon (described as “among the most strenuous marathons in the nation”), just barely reaching my goal of under three hours. As I circled toward the finish line on the track at the Southern Highland Games, I was certain I was in fourth place. However, way […]
“I was too dehydrated to even cry…”
For years I wanted to just qualify for Boston. Unlike some novice runners who say they have never heard of the race, running Boston has been my strong desire ever since my first marathon back in 2006. After taking nearly three years off from marathons to have my two babies, I resumed my qualifying efforts, […]
Easier than hunting game in Zimbabwe…
I would consider myself a rookie compared to many other guys and gals on this site, but I’ll tell my story as well. Boston was only my second marathon. I had qualified with my first 26.2 mile race, even though barely making it in after running a 3:09:50! But for Boston, I had set a […]
A Postponement for a By-Pass
I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2001. My goal was to complete my first marathon in under four hours, but that day I crossed the finish line at 4:15. I was overwhelmed by such a large race atmosphere and was not prepared for a race of that caliber. A few months later I ran the […]