While I
never pushed my children to run, all of them ran in high school. I don’t
know if my running had any influence on their decision but it is something they
all have carried on later in their lives and now are passing on to some of their
children.
I had hoped
this year’s marathon Challenge was going to be done at the Boston Marathon but
that just wasn’t to be. The combination
of a gift of leftover hardware in my body, surgery, sepsis, and an all-expenses
paid trip to the ICU in the last few months made that near impossible. Add in the impact to my Parkinson’s (illness turbo-charges
symptoms) and a wife who was a voice of reason, throwing in the towel was discouraging
but the right answer.
My family,
who were universally behind my wife’s position, stepped up again this year to
help me out. We got together in
Pennsylvania where my daughter’s families live and they joined me in an effort
to complete 26.2 miles as a family. My goal was to jog/walk half the marathon distance
and have the other half completed by family.
As it turns out, altogether we covered almost 100 miles with three of my
grandchildren (ages 7,13,13) doing a full 13 miles with me. My father-in-law even contributed a mile
remotely making it a 4-generation effort.
With another
year in the books, I want to thank everyone for all the support and kind words
that helped me make my Help in the Nick of Time goal and Marathon Challenge
possible. The children and families it
will help send their thanks as well. Finally, a special thanks to all my family
members for putting up with me through this year’s efforts. Love you all.
Stay safe
and God willing I’ll be back next year.
