Kicking Off DFMC 2019

As August progressed and turned to September, I was undecided about running DFMC again this year.  I believe in the cause and charity, I'm willing to put in the work and do the fundraising, but the inner drive was a bit less.  I knew I could churn through another year, but that wasn't enough.  On top of that, Amy and I were expecting our first child in the fall. I wasn't sure what training might be like with an infant or if Amy would be willing to pick up my slack in parenting while I was out training.

With these thoughts, concerns, and uncertainty, I knew I would run for DFMC again at some point, but I wanted to run for a reason. At around this time, my colleagues and I received an e-mail from Chris that he had made the hard decision to leave his position.  Given this new information, I talked with Amy about running and then asked Chris and his family if he would like me to run.

I ran my first 5 DFMCs for my patient partner RJ and he continues to do great and thrive after a leukemia diagnosis when he was a kid.  I ran #6 in 2018 for Heather Thomson. Unfortunately, Heather lost her battle to breast cancer during the training season thought she motivated me throughout the windy, rainy and cold 26.2 miles of the 2018 marathon.  Running for Chris this year is what motivated me to commit.  I don't know how long I may be able to run marathons, or what the future holds for my own health, so I seized this year and will run for Chris and his family.

With ~20 donors already, we've raised $1925 with a number of company matches outstanding!  This is a great way to kick off the season and these funds will directly impact innovative research at Dana-Farber so that folks like Chris, Heather, RJ, and others will continue to have therapeutic options in the future. Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far!

Hope...

As this last week has progressed, I've hoped for a better weather report.  That clearly is not going to happen.  With more than 1" of rain predicted and 20+ mph winds from the NNE, it won't be ideal weather for the Boston Marathon.  The rain and lower temps (40s) will keep us from overheating, which is good, but the wind will be a headwind.  Oh well, we can't control the weather, but we can determine how we approach the day.

Preparing for Monday, I hope that I run well and our 2018 DFMC efforts would make Heather & her family proud.  Though Heather can't be at the race, I know she'll be there in spirit, cheering us on and supporting all DFMC runners. 

I hope that the other individuals that I run in honor of and in memory of, including RJ, Don, family, and friends, are also proud of my efforts.

As a recent donor wrote to me, every family is touched by cancer in some way.  I hope that our efforts these 6 years make a small impact in some way.  Whether our impact is via the $81,000+ raised over the years and the innovative cancer research we've supported, or just the knowledge that we've made this collective effort to make a difference, I hope we've made some impact.

$13,100+ Raised!

For the 5th time, we've surpassed $13,100 for DFMC and Innovative Cancer Research!  More than 110 supporters have generously donated over $13,400 thus far and with past years, we've now raised $79,895 over 6 years!  When I began my first DFMC season in the fall of 2011, I wasn't sure how I'd raise the $4000 minimum but hoped to hit $8000.  We raised $9,307 that first year and haven't looked back.  THANK YOU for the tremendous support all these years!

1 Week to Go...

Yesterday morning was our final DFMC group run.  It was a shorter group run and I was glad for that.  After a season of training and a hard training run on Thursday, I was a bit tired and just looking to get it done.  In the end, I think that was a good thing.  I know that I can't overdo it this week and need to get some rest.  I still plan to run 3 times this week, but they will be a bit easier and a bit less intense.

Having run a number of other marathons, friends often ask what makes Boston difficult.  Well, Active.com published an article on this and it sums up the challenges pretty well.  First, we're still running 26.2 miles and that's always a challenge :) So what does Active.com think are the other challenges:

1. The Registration Process - lucky for me, DFMC is willing to take me back year after year! If I had to qualify, I would need to run a marathon faster than 3hrs 10min.  Since that's not happening, thank goodness for the charity program!
2. New England's Fickle Weather - I'll just say, 2012 = 89F temps and full sun, 2015 = low 40s, rain, and a 15-20mph northeast headwind.
3. The Late Start Time - So true.  My normal training run morning is up at 6.15am, bagel, drive to the group run and running by 8.30am.  Marathon day is more like, up at 5am, catch the T to get downtown, hop on the BAA bus to Hopkinton, arrive ~7.30am, sit around for 3.5hrs and start running at 11.15am.  Such a difference and so hard to prepare for.
4. The Early Miles - Yup! With 7000 people starting in each wave and a 2 lane road, the start is crowded, and steep.  130 foot drop in the first mile while avoiding other runners, ugh.
5. The Newtown Hills - People know Heartbreak Hill, but there are actually 4 hills from mile 16-21.  You go up about 200 ft over these 5 miles, which doesn't sound too bad, but that's after dropping 400 feet from the start.
6. Cemetery Mile - After the hills and chaos of drunk BC students, there's a really quiet section with a cemetery on the right side.  Not what we need at mile 22-23.

Like any marathon, Boston is unique and there are highs and lows.  I'm looking forward to next Monday and making the journey a 6th time.  Having run for RJ that first 5 years, he'll certainly be on my mind throughout the day as will family members, friends and all those I'm running in honor and in memory of.  Of course, running in memory of Heather will be a large part of this year's experience.  I'm sure that I'll think of her throughout the day and know that Heather, RJ and many others will be with all the DFMC runners as we run from Hopkinton to Boston.