Sunday, April 24, 2005
THE 109TH BOSTON MARATHON....2005
The trip to Boston. It sounded so far away when John began talking about it last year. He was in serious training to run the qualification marathon. He hired an on-line coach and began the arduous work it would take to even qualify. As his mother, I have always watched him reach for something far away and work until his dream was accomplished. That’s what mother’s do…..we give them all we have for the first part of their life and then we stand back and see what comes of it. I have three wonderful children who are excellent in their own rite…..their rite of passage.
George sticks with something. Where John and Becky would find his organized life too boring to manage he just finished 30-years with the Department of Defense. He has a very ordered life and sticks with it. Becky is over organized and often crashes on the scene with over-kill only to chuck it and fly by the seat of her pants. She has many ideas still trying to catch up with her physical activity. It works for her. John started out with what they call in golf….a handicap. Actually, two handicaps. The amazing thing is, most of us can’t remember what they are. He has ‘overcome’ so much and achieved so high we often think we are the ‘handicapped’ ones.
And so, the family waited for the December marathon with our hearts in our mouth. It is our custom to close rank with the one who is reaching far into their imagined possibility. Female elephants make a circle of defense with their young in the center while they face outward to fend off any attacker who may prey on their young. So we all sat on that day, waiting to hear if John made the cut. It was an act of determination that he did.
He got off the trail at one point and had run for some time (in running time) before someone yelled at him and he found his way back to the course. He was actually behind time to make the finish line when his son, L.J. and a buddy, Ben, yelled at him about the 2-mile marker and said, “DAD, DAD…..you’re behind about 2-minutes,” and then they ran along the outer limits of the course to urge him on. I can only imagine the pride John felt with his son’s intense emotion to see him reach that finish line. As it turned out, he did, with time on the clock to spare. Barely.
When we heard the news, the first one to say something was Rocky. “We’re going to Boston,” he declared…….. “I want to see him run the marathon! That’s really special.” And so, in December we knew we would see him in his next marathon that is the grand-daddy of them all……the 109th Boston Marathon. Four months away and four hard months of training for John…it seemed a long ways off at the time.
Becky never planned to go. She didn’t have enough vacation time to spare and work requirements made it impossible even if she did. We called George to see if he would like to go with us, which he did, and we made plans for him to drive here and then continue to Boston the next morning. There was a flurry of things to get done before we could leave…..the time just evaporated and before we knew it we were on the road to Boston. Our first day went well. We drove as far as Columbus, Ohio and then decided to take in Niagara Falls since George nor I had ever been there. It wasn’t that far and we started early Sunday morning. We encountered quite a few toll roads and by the time we ate and arrived our time had shrunk considerably. Getting through Customs took longer than we anticipated….we were in a long line of motorists who were on a Sunday outing and our line was the slowest.
Undaunted, we took in the falls which were as impressive as I had imagined. George and I took lots of pictures with our new digital cameras while Rocky drove up and down the streets, giving us time to take it all in. He finally found a parking place and joined us. He was disappointed to see how commercial it had become in the years since he had been there. The natural beauty and pristine setting was now shadowed by high-rise hotels, crowds and shops. Sometimes it is best to remember things the way they were.
While we were impressing ourselves with the photo-op and the sheer beauty we were observing, the time evaporated and we were faced with a lot of miles to go yet between the Falls and Boston. Needless to say we drove until 1:30 the next morning and I think I sat in every position possible to relieve the long hours in the van. We had reservations in Woburn, Mass. and we called ahead to confirm it since we would be arriving later than we planned. Arriving in Woburn it took quite a while to find our motel but the urge for a bed and shower drove us on.
Monday arrived with the phone ringing and a recorded voice telling us it was time to wake up. We were operating on pure adrenalin at this point. The long hours yesterday wiped us out, physically, but heck!! Today was THE RACE. We’d waited four months to get to this point. We decided parking the car and getting through the congested area might be bad so we drove to the Anderson Commuter Station and bought tickets for the ride into Boston. We had a 40-minute wait but it came on time and it was an education for all of us. When arriving at one of the stops in Boston, we exited and walked up steps to street level, crossed the street and caught a subway ride as far as we could go. The stop nearest the hotel where John and Barb were staying had been closed to eliminate congestion. We climbed more steps up and out of the tunnel into bright sunlight at the very edge of the Boston Commons.
We were right in the middle of Boston. What a sight!! There was electricity in the air. People were going in every direction, asking directions, looking at maps for directions and pointing in directions. It was the most “directed” sight I ever saw but obviously the city was full of spectators, all wanting to get to the race site so see their special person run. As for us, we got directions to the Omni-Parker Hotel where John and Barb had been staying. John left early that morning to be picked up and taken to the area of runners but Barb was waiting for us and came to the lobby to meet us. The hotel happened to be the oldest operating hotel in the country. It had a new face-lift some time back, millions spent on her and the result was absolute drop-dead-gorgeous. The long walk we had through the Commons to get there was forgotten and we each fell into Barbara’s arms for a hug. We don’t get to see John and Barb but once or twice a year so it’s always special when we get together.
After going up to their room and checking John’s time on TV, his estimated TOA was about 3:30pm. We walked to the area which would be in the vicinity of the finish line and waited in the sun. The weather was beautiful but warm for the runners…we had exchanged pleasantries with others while we waited and watched the first runners come in. George and Barb decided to go on down to the finish line but Rocky and I opted to wait where we were. Our vantage point provided steps to stand on and it was about 2:00pm. After a half-hour went by I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make John hear me above all the cheers and crowd noise so I went down to the fence area along the route and stood.
The runners began coming by in droves, all receiving some kind of shiny wrap at the finish line (to keep their body temperature in) before they passed by where I was standing. The result was like looking at aluminum foil with the sun bouncing off it which was blinding. I stood an hour and a half at that fence scanning the constant flow of people passing by, looking for my Johnny boy. Shortly before 4:00 pm I saw his face!! As loud as I could muster, I called…. “JOOOOOHNN” and he turned to look in the vicinity of the voice. Then I called…. “STRAAAAAAIN”……..and he looked directly at me while I waved wildly. He broke rank and headed towards me.
That moment!! That moment was the culmination of the trip for me!! When I read his blog later, about the experience, he wrote, “I heard my mother call my name……” only a mother could understand what that meant to me.
Tomorrow we finish the trip.
Essentially Esther
George sticks with something. Where John and Becky would find his organized life too boring to manage he just finished 30-years with the Department of Defense. He has a very ordered life and sticks with it. Becky is over organized and often crashes on the scene with over-kill only to chuck it and fly by the seat of her pants. She has many ideas still trying to catch up with her physical activity. It works for her. John started out with what they call in golf….a handicap. Actually, two handicaps. The amazing thing is, most of us can’t remember what they are. He has ‘overcome’ so much and achieved so high we often think we are the ‘handicapped’ ones.
And so, the family waited for the December marathon with our hearts in our mouth. It is our custom to close rank with the one who is reaching far into their imagined possibility. Female elephants make a circle of defense with their young in the center while they face outward to fend off any attacker who may prey on their young. So we all sat on that day, waiting to hear if John made the cut. It was an act of determination that he did.
He got off the trail at one point and had run for some time (in running time) before someone yelled at him and he found his way back to the course. He was actually behind time to make the finish line when his son, L.J. and a buddy, Ben, yelled at him about the 2-mile marker and said, “DAD, DAD…..you’re behind about 2-minutes,” and then they ran along the outer limits of the course to urge him on. I can only imagine the pride John felt with his son’s intense emotion to see him reach that finish line. As it turned out, he did, with time on the clock to spare. Barely.
When we heard the news, the first one to say something was Rocky. “We’re going to Boston,” he declared…….. “I want to see him run the marathon! That’s really special.” And so, in December we knew we would see him in his next marathon that is the grand-daddy of them all……the 109th Boston Marathon. Four months away and four hard months of training for John…it seemed a long ways off at the time.
Becky never planned to go. She didn’t have enough vacation time to spare and work requirements made it impossible even if she did. We called George to see if he would like to go with us, which he did, and we made plans for him to drive here and then continue to Boston the next morning. There was a flurry of things to get done before we could leave…..the time just evaporated and before we knew it we were on the road to Boston. Our first day went well. We drove as far as Columbus, Ohio and then decided to take in Niagara Falls since George nor I had ever been there. It wasn’t that far and we started early Sunday morning. We encountered quite a few toll roads and by the time we ate and arrived our time had shrunk considerably. Getting through Customs took longer than we anticipated….we were in a long line of motorists who were on a Sunday outing and our line was the slowest.
Undaunted, we took in the falls which were as impressive as I had imagined. George and I took lots of pictures with our new digital cameras while Rocky drove up and down the streets, giving us time to take it all in. He finally found a parking place and joined us. He was disappointed to see how commercial it had become in the years since he had been there. The natural beauty and pristine setting was now shadowed by high-rise hotels, crowds and shops. Sometimes it is best to remember things the way they were.
While we were impressing ourselves with the photo-op and the sheer beauty we were observing, the time evaporated and we were faced with a lot of miles to go yet between the Falls and Boston. Needless to say we drove until 1:30 the next morning and I think I sat in every position possible to relieve the long hours in the van. We had reservations in Woburn, Mass. and we called ahead to confirm it since we would be arriving later than we planned. Arriving in Woburn it took quite a while to find our motel but the urge for a bed and shower drove us on.
Monday arrived with the phone ringing and a recorded voice telling us it was time to wake up. We were operating on pure adrenalin at this point. The long hours yesterday wiped us out, physically, but heck!! Today was THE RACE. We’d waited four months to get to this point. We decided parking the car and getting through the congested area might be bad so we drove to the Anderson Commuter Station and bought tickets for the ride into Boston. We had a 40-minute wait but it came on time and it was an education for all of us. When arriving at one of the stops in Boston, we exited and walked up steps to street level, crossed the street and caught a subway ride as far as we could go. The stop nearest the hotel where John and Barb were staying had been closed to eliminate congestion. We climbed more steps up and out of the tunnel into bright sunlight at the very edge of the Boston Commons.
We were right in the middle of Boston. What a sight!! There was electricity in the air. People were going in every direction, asking directions, looking at maps for directions and pointing in directions. It was the most “directed” sight I ever saw but obviously the city was full of spectators, all wanting to get to the race site so see their special person run. As for us, we got directions to the Omni-Parker Hotel where John and Barb had been staying. John left early that morning to be picked up and taken to the area of runners but Barb was waiting for us and came to the lobby to meet us. The hotel happened to be the oldest operating hotel in the country. It had a new face-lift some time back, millions spent on her and the result was absolute drop-dead-gorgeous. The long walk we had through the Commons to get there was forgotten and we each fell into Barbara’s arms for a hug. We don’t get to see John and Barb but once or twice a year so it’s always special when we get together.
After going up to their room and checking John’s time on TV, his estimated TOA was about 3:30pm. We walked to the area which would be in the vicinity of the finish line and waited in the sun. The weather was beautiful but warm for the runners…we had exchanged pleasantries with others while we waited and watched the first runners come in. George and Barb decided to go on down to the finish line but Rocky and I opted to wait where we were. Our vantage point provided steps to stand on and it was about 2:00pm. After a half-hour went by I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make John hear me above all the cheers and crowd noise so I went down to the fence area along the route and stood.
The runners began coming by in droves, all receiving some kind of shiny wrap at the finish line (to keep their body temperature in) before they passed by where I was standing. The result was like looking at aluminum foil with the sun bouncing off it which was blinding. I stood an hour and a half at that fence scanning the constant flow of people passing by, looking for my Johnny boy. Shortly before 4:00 pm I saw his face!! As loud as I could muster, I called…. “JOOOOOHNN” and he turned to look in the vicinity of the voice. Then I called…. “STRAAAAAAIN”……..and he looked directly at me while I waved wildly. He broke rank and headed towards me.
That moment!! That moment was the culmination of the trip for me!! When I read his blog later, about the experience, he wrote, “I heard my mother call my name……” only a mother could understand what that meant to me.
Tomorrow we finish the trip.
Essentially Esther
