I had already prepared everything we'd need to get to Heartbreak for yesterday's miles. As often happens when Team McManus is training for an endurance event, we squabble over the silliest things. As we got into the car, the rain picked up.
"See if we would have gotten out the door sooner," Ruth Anne proclaimed, we would have missed the heaviest rains.
That's true but oh we would have missed out on so much more.
As also happens with Team McManus, there is magic and synchronicity while training and fundraising.
When I came out of my morning meditation, a little limerick was percolating knowing that the mask mandate ended in Brookline, one of the last cities and towns in Massachusetts to lift the mandate:
Today's the day the masks are gone our faces are happy and free
it's the end of the pandemic everyone's smiles we get to see.
There's now times for hugs galore two years almost to the day....
Little did I know the hugs galore I was about to experience.
We pulled into our regular spot in the parking lot before Centre Street and Commonwealth Avenue. We were getting our fuel belts together and a runner came toward us. "Well isn't this wonderful? Hello Mary McManus."
When he saw the puzzled look on my face he said, 'It's David O'Leary.'
"Oh my goodness," I replied. I immediately thought that if we would have gone out earlier we would have missed this opportunity to see him and so many others out on the course.
David is the host of Magic 106.7's Morning Magic radio show here in Boston. We've been friends for years. The first time I met him in person was at the launch of a nonprofit that was established to support military families and to address the mental health needs of veterans who are at risk for suicide. He attended the event as a survivor of someone who ended their own lives and as part of his work at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Being a survivor of my father and nephew's deaths by suicides, we made a powerful connection from Day 1. David had been a tremendous support to me as Ruth Anne went through her health crises which manifested as neuropsychiatric symptoms.
We walked toward each other and he said, "Can I give you a hug?..." and as he said 'I'm fully vaccinated...' we were already hugging each other.
"Is this your beautiful family?"
I introduced him and asked if we could take a selfie together. He was out on his 18 miler running his 2nd Boston Marathon (the first one in October) for AFSP and was gracious enough to take a moment with us:
Follow this link to make a donation and support David's run for this incredible cause.
Tom, Ruth Anne and I set out for our miles. They are training for the Providence Half Marathon and do a 10 minute warm up before they go off at their pace. As we crossed Centre Street, we saw a water stop in the distance wondering whose it was. There was 1976 Boston Marathon Champion Jack Fultz, our friend and coach for the Dana Farber Cancer Boston Marathon team. We hesitated for a moment before giving each other a hug. We chatted for a few minutes with eyes smiling sharing Tom and Ruth Anne's prep for the Providence Half Marathon. Tom and Ruth Anne went on their way.
I am still in recovery mode getting back to running after needing time off as I wrote about in my Rest and Hope blog post. It was a short out and back for two miles. On my way back to our car I hear, 'Hi Mary!' It was Erin, Ruth Anne's Occupational Therapist from Spaulding who is running this year's Boston Marathon as part of the Race for Rehab Team. She was ready to run in 2020 but then COVID. She did run the Virtual Marathon in September. Here is the link to her fundraising page. I asked her if she saw Ruth and she said "Yes back there." "Have a great rest of your run," I said as she sped past me.
One of my favorite questions to hear while on Heartbreak Hill is from out of towners running their first Boston. "Is this Heartbreak Hill?" I heard a woman ask the other members of her group. Someone started to explain it to her so I knew I didn't need to stop to explain it to her. I smiled warmly to myself realizing that after two years, Boston will run again in April.
I passed the Dana Farber Charity Teams water stop. 'Great job,' they said. I smiled saying how I wasn't training for Boston. "That doesn't matter. You're out here and you're doing a great job. Would you like some refreshment?" I thanked them and we shared in the gratitude and joy of feeling a sense of emerging from the pandemic.
As I was nearing the end of my run, I saw Erin again in the distance. She was waiting for the light to change to cross the street to the Heartbreak Hill Running Company. We greeted each other in the pouring rain and hugged with our eyes. She had finished her 20 miles. She told me what a total joy it is to see Ruth and her dad running together. I gave her a brief update and told her how she is with us every day. The seeds that she planted through her sessions with Ruth continue to blossom. I put my hand on my heart and expressed my deepest gratitude to her. She is a gifted professional who continues to provide support through emails.
When I got back to my car I stretched. Amanda McCann, another Charity runner ran by me. I got to know Amanda through the Facebook running community. I loved her posts with her 'memere' who lived with dementia. Amanda shared her weekly visits with her on Facebook. The love they had for each other was palpable despite her memere's advancing dementia. We smiled from our hearts as she said, "I saw them back there. They look great." {referencing Tom and Ruth Anne} I wished her a great rest of her run. When we got home we messaged each other on Facebook and made donations to each other's fundraisers. She is running with Team Camp Shriver. Since 2006, Camp Shriver at the University of Massachusetts Boston has welcomed children, 50% with and 50% without intellectual and developmental disabilities, ages 8-12, from low income families in the Boston area to a free inclusive summer recreational camp. Here is the link to her fundraising page.
The rain and wind intensified but there was a sense of unbridled joy and gratitude in the runners' energy. It's counterinutitive to think that running on the hills would facilitate my healing but there was powerful medicine and magic on the Newton Hills on Saturday. Tom, Ruth Anne and I said it was the best we felt in two years!
Here are Tom and Ruth Anne after their sensational albeit soggy six miles and the link to Ruth Anne's fundraising page:
They were literally soaked to the skin with hearts filled with joy and gratitude.
At a time when the world seems to be filled with worry and fear, divisiveness and feelings of lack, there were hugs, hope and smiles for miles on Heartbreak Hill as runners fund raise for important causes and as a community, Boston gets ready to run again!
From my heart to yours,
In health and wellness,
Mary
Be sure to visit my website at https://marymcmanus.com to learn about my journey to health and wellness in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma
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