This is Frank Cherne's One Run for Boston Experience.
On April 15, 2013, I was monitoring closely albeit remotely
in New Mexico the progress of two of my friends who were running in the Boston
Marathon. The younger of the two, Joni I
grew up with running as part of our grade school physical education program. My other friend and former minister, Gary, I
ran with during my first marathon in 2005 in Tuscon. In a way I was running Boston marathon with
them, this was as close as I was going to get considering my average running
speeds would probably never get me a qualified berth for running Boston
Marathon myself.
Then news of the blast filtered through the hallway at work
and I sat there stunned and pulled up the athlete tracker for each of my
friends. Joni had crossed the finishline
and from my best estimation Gary was near the blast zone. My heart ached for knowledge of where he was
at so Facebook was where I turned to.
Turned out he was 10 minutes from the finish line and he was stopped
from finishing.
With this background, I saw a posting somewhere on Facebook
the opportunity to run in this epic relay the One Run for Boston. I saw that the relay would take its journey
through New Mexico not far from where I lived.
I then studied the map for each relay exchange very carefully and saw
that the closest stages would be running through the night and were filling up
fast. Thanks to Hilary Lorenz and her
crew of Santa Fe Striders. My procrastination in joining the cause meant I was
going to have to travel a little further. The sacrifice was well worth it for
the cause. The next closest stage available on a Friday, which I already had
off, was Stage #93, all downhill by my estimation so I joined the stage and
convinced the club president of the Triatomics Multisport to join me. It was settled this was how I was going to participate
in this epic cross-country relay.
The relay started, my web browser was open to the One Run
tracking page and occasionally the Facebook group capturing the progress
through California and Arizona. In
studying the stages and seeing the relay was underway, on the 8th or
9th, I began to get nervous that the New Mexico stages were not
going to be filled. So in a plea on
Facebook, I asked if anyone could help by signing up for the three remaining
slots. Danny and Kate signed up for the longest stage left of 16 miles. Then a Facebook friend request came from Will
Allender and there we dialoged a bit about knowing that neither one of us felt
that we would have the strength to perform a stage on Thursday and then the
stage we originally signed up for. There
we made a pact to share in the burden for the remaining two stages. He had
selected stage #76 and had Ronny Parks participating with him and I would do
Stage #81 with his help. I still needed
to ask for the day off, if refused a sick leave day was going to happen for my
mental health. I could rest knowing that
all of the New Mexico stages were covered.
Will and I exchanged numbers and there I not so patiently awaited okay I
became glued to Facebook as much as I thought my work could tolerate. So now I was signed up for two stages of the
One Run for Boston, Stages #81 and #93.
The baton was on way to the way to the Land of Enchantment. Tension mounted as to where the baton was in
the poor cell phone coverage locations in Arizona and New Mexico and with my granted
time off from work, I began studying the map.
Could it be that the start of Stage #93, Palo Flechado Pass would be the
highest point of the relay? After studying the maps yes it was. How great was it that I was given the chance
to begin the “all downhill” from here to Boston.
After signing up, then I turned to a self-assessment of my
body, my training had been very sporadic would I be able to run the equivalent
of two half marathons within 24 hours of each other. My weight had crept up as a result of
spending many days on the road. So I
knew that it would be tough to maintain a 10 minute mile pace and not suffer a
small amount of pain. Although, I knew deep down this pain and suffering was
nothing compared to those who experienced the direct effects of the bombing in
Boston.
The weather forecast for the Thursday was in the upper 90s
with no relief in the forecast until late afternoon Friday. With the uncertainty of the location of the
Miles the now named baton, Thursday I set out very early for the little town of
Cuba, NM mentally preparing to meet my new Facebook friend Will Allender. I
texted Will while I was waiting for the road crew to let me pass. His response was we are about 13 miles out of
Cuba. There went my plan of getting in a
bike ride. So I decided to make my way
straight to where Danny and Kate were.
There I would join the caravan to Cuba and figure out the logistics
later.
Driving down the route, I spotted Danny receiving Miles and
crossing the road dressed in the One Run t-shirt and his famous girlie Wal-mart
special red shorts. His skin was
flushed. After getting a shot of Danny
passing, I introduced myself to Kate, Will, and Steve Bender. Sizing up this
motley crew, I could see some of the warning signs of dehydration yet in spite
of this plight each had a joy about them.
To make it through the hot high altitude desert they had chosen to do
one-mile intervals. Knowing that I had
fresh legs, was used to the higher elevations, and fully hydrated I decided to
jump right in with their intervals. The
baton “Miles” was handed to me and I felt inspired to show these heat-exhausted
people what I was made of. So I charged
the first quarter mile at a sub-8 min/mile pace which is fast for me. My heart raced and the effects of the lingering
smoke from the Thomson Ridge forest fire of New Mexico hit me. So between the
heat and lingering smoke, I began to wheeze almost uncontrollably, I was having
an exercise induced asthma attack.
Slowing the pace and catching my breath reduced my heart rate where I
could manage the remaining distance to the crew. In spite of this asthma attack, this first
mile run made me feel alive. Running
for the cause, running with people who cared about strangers, all of this brought
back a child like joy to myself.
The next 4.5 hours spent handing off Miles Le Baton, flew by
so fast and the smoke cloud of despair that had been lingering around me was
totally lifted. “Why the despair,” you
may ask. Eight months prior my life spiraled
out of control when I found evidence that my wife the woman I loved deeply was
cheating on me. At the end of December,
she packed her bags and moved to Bakersfield, CA. The warmth and caring that was now
surrounding me filled the love vacuum of my heart. It was a totally unexpected
outcome of hanging out with Kate, Danny, Will, and Steve.
Handing off the baton to Marisa and Hilary Lorenz, ended
Stage #81. Kate and Danny had some business to attend to and Hilary had opened
her home to them. Having directions to
Hilary’s house coming from the opposite direction I was going, I served as a
guide. Some of the roads I was travelling I was aware of but had never
travelled before. The red rock canyons,
which had been cleansed and cooled by the thunderstorm that had passed through
the area minutes if not hours before, served as an allegory that was taking
place in my life.
At Hilary’s place, I lingered around Danny and Kate long
enough to volunteer to drive into Santa Fe to pick up the magnetic signs from
the filtered water company that sponsored the One Run for I’d see Danny and
Kate the next day for I had another stage to run. Driving back to my home, I realized I was
whole once again.
On Friday, the day of Stage #93, I picked up Bill Dunn my
companion for the day and drove to the highest point in the relay, Palo
Flechado pass. Knowing Bill was eager to
run and that he had to get in a bit of a hill workout, I dropped him off at the
last steep climb before the pass to run with Phil Blong who we had just past on
the route. At the top of the pass, Danny
and Kate were busy tearing apart the car looking for the source of the smell
that was filling their vehicle. Scotty Gallant, Stage #94 arrived to see the
baton transfer and provide emotional support with his support crew. The family circle of selfless people was
expanding.
The downhill stage was a great choice aside from the fact
that my quads were not prepared. My
friend Bill Dunn talked the whole way telling me about his fishing expeditions
and his desire to be ahead of some of the local guys in his age group. We even
discussed making plans for our next adventure.
Handing off Miles Le Baton to Scotty was easy for the
satisfied exhaustion had set in. While
stood talking with Danny and Kate, Scotty’s wife handed a 20 to Bill and I for
post run refreshments. A local store owner’s husband found out what we were
doing and brought out an Eagle Nest skull cap for all who remained. Then Danny and Kate exchanged hugs with us,
my commitment to the One Run for Boston was over, so I thought.
While Bill, Nicole (Bill’s wife), and I ate our recovery
meal in Eagle Nest, Bill reflected on the day and the people we had met. Bill was concerned over what was sustaining
Danny and Kate. So the birth of the idea to have something delivered to them
somewhere between New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Bill studied the route found an appropriate time and phoned in an order
for pizza in the middle of nowhere.
A few days later, I thought how much would it take for me to
get to Boston and run the final stage(s). Looking at my frequent flyer miles, I
thought perhaps not much. I put in the route from Albuquerque to Boston and my
39891 miles were 109 miles shy of the required number. So how much would it take to buy a few more
miles? $70 for 2000 more. Is it worth it?
I resolved that I would have to put out thoughts of going to Boston and
just donate the money the miles would cost.
A week past and watching via Facebook the progress of Kate, Danny, and
Miles, I longed to make the sacrifice and run in Boston. So I checked the
flight schedule and mileage requirements once again—32500 miles, I could be
there at the finish. So I suggested that
I could come out to Boston probing for information. In a matter of hours, I had three or four
offers to stay with them. After doing a
small amount of cyber-stalking, I accepted the first offer given, Magen Dodge
for she not only offered a place to stay was willing to provide logistical
support so I didn’t have to freak out about being in a strange city not knowing
where to park and how to get around.
As I now had a place to stay, I could proceed to get the
plane ticket. While I was going through the process of getting the ticket,
Magen’s enthusiasm for the cause she was supporting flowed out of her fingers
in the form of text messages coming my direction. So with this piece of distraction combined by
the thought I had answered every question to purchase the tickets. I proceeded with possibly two Facebook
message windows going at the same time. In
one of the conversations, or perhaps on the One Run for Boston Facebook page, a
dialog ensued encouraging me to participate in the three. I knew I could do the last two stages at the
10 min/mile pace yet three I knew would be pushing it. The rational that caused me to cave to Robin
Hubley-O’donnell’s suggestion to do the final three stages came when I thought
of the people who were involved in the bombing.
My suffering on the last 20 miles would be nothing compared to their
suffering. Now I was signed up for Stages 317-319. All the while I was waiting for the airline’s
confirmation of my airline tickets in my e-mail box. So in the early morning, I opened the airline
website and proceeded to go through the process I had done the night before,
the mileage requirement had gone back up.
Guess I was not going. Then the
airline website started acting funny not replying to my inputs while I was
looking for different travel dates. A few mouse clicks later it started acting
more normally and now the flight options for 32500 had changed for the better.
I now would have time to prepare for my trip to Seattle on the 3rd
of July plus my travel times would not be as long. So many details were falling
into place. Only one thing remained, ask for July 1st off from
work. So that afternoon permission for
time off was asked for. My team leader
being out of town did not respond with the okay necessary. So I talked with my deputy group leader and
she said okay. It helped that her
husband came ran Boston in 2012.
Magen meanwhile was planning the party for me her out of
town guest, which soon became her out of town guests, namely, Scott Allender
and Steve Bender. One of the plans
included going to a barbeque with her good friends which changed to making a
reservation for a party of 15 One Run for Boston participants. She arranged to pick me up from the
airport. Justin O’connell was going to
meet me there as well. Magen was quite a busy woman that week. The warmth and welcoming by her and other
Bostonian’s I was meeting online was quickly eroding all my previously formed
prejudices toward the north east.
On June 29th, I arrived in Boston to be greeted
by Justin who gave me a hug. He made me
feel like I was a rock star when all I was a runner who cared about the people
whos lives had been changed by a senseless act of violence. Magen arrived at
the curbside and she was as hospitable in person as she was on my computer
screen and in my phone. Apologizing for the smell of wine in the car. A bottle
of red wine had broken in her trunk permeating the entire car with its
scent. I threw in my laptop and my bags
into the trunk and we drove off to the sports bar to begin the One Run pre-run
meeting.
Before we get into the happenings of that Saturday evening,
I have a confession to make. I am normally fairly cautious in groups of people
sometimes feel socially awkward. People began
filtering in for this meeting, wish I could tell you the order, but their names
were Elizabeth and Joe Dias; Magen Dodge; Skip Mann; Emily Matthews and her two
sons Axel and Zeke; Elizabeth Miner; Justin O’connell; Sara Sanchez; Alex J.
Silberman; Suzanne Webster; and myself.
The four hours we spent talking, eating, drinking, and getting
acquainted flew by quickly. Skip and I
were the veterans who had met Kate and Danny, so we both shared our experiences
plus the full feeling we had taking part in this small epic journey of runners
across the country. Never once did I feel that social awkwardness that often
arises in situations like these. There I
learned Sara had family in the Espanola valley, which is less than 20 miles
away from my house. A moment after we took the group photos, it was amusing to
watch Skip responding to all the new Facebook friend requests. The uniqueness of this meet and greet
experience was that there was no pressure to impress the people by our income,
our employment, our successes in life, we were there for the express purpose of
showing our support for the Boston bombing victims. We were a small part of a
bigger epic journey across the United States.
June 30th, the run was running late but the
atmosphere was one of excitement, joy, and support. On this day Steve Bender and Scott Allender
arrived around noon at Magen’s house.
With the delay “Momma” Magen taking care of her boys, Justin, Steve Bender,
Scott Allender, and myself found a place to eat in Framingham where Steve and I
would begin our run. There I met many
other people and I listened to the stories about their experience with the
bombing. The most memorable story
emanated from Lynda Cowin Nijensohn, where
she told of how her dad an orthopedic surgeon worked on many of the
victims. Getting these first hand
experiences relayed to me made the trip more than worthwhile.
The buzz of
excitement exploded when the small gathering got first site of Miles Le Baton
approached the small gathering of runners getting acquainted with their
family. Danny arrived in the pack
sweating profusely but a quick hug was in order for besides him only Steve did
I know longer than a week. Miles handed
off and we were off. The pace being set
was going to hurt me big time. So I
settled into my own rhythm. Lynda
knowing the area asked that we not get too far away. So Elizabeth Dias and I stayed close to Lynda
as we proceeded into Wellesley. Lynda
was only running to Wellesley so here Elizabeth and I were alone. No we weren’t Justin was jumping out of his
mom’s car to give us encouragement and directions. Justin upon feeling confident that we knew
where we were going, hops back into the car, and proceeds to ride on up ahead. Elizabeth and I stayed together. Elizabeth began to be fearful of missing out
on the experience so we called to her husband Joe to head back and retrieve
us. He was Elizabeth’s night in shining
armor and he drove us to along the course. There we saw Magen running with the
yellow grass skirt Mia had given her. The
trio ran together up heart brake hill the fatigue was setting in. My stomach began to cramp because of the food
I had eaten earlier. So I tried to walk it off.
Magen and Elizabeth proceed on ahead of me while I tried to solve this
gastrointenstial distress. Things had solved themselves when at least three
ladies directed me down Massechusets Avenue. One of the ladies and I struck up
a conversation and I found out her husband was one of the bombing victims I had
come out to show my solidarity for. How
does a sensitive man hold back his emotion during a story like that? My silence
was out of respect but also attempting to regain a sense of composure. She carried a “Miles” across the finish line
on Boylston Street.
At the party in the
Rattlesnake bar, I got to meet more new running friends, Cheryl Greeson where I
was given a copy of the Boston Globe and a Boston Strong Duck (since named
Miley B-Stong Ducklove after Miles Le Baton).
Seeing my friend Will Allender once again. “Momma” Magen took her three boys, Steve,
Scott, and myself to her place. By the
time each of us had bathed the sun was rising.
None of us had slept yet and having an early morning flight. Magen took
me to the airport. In my exhaustion the
boarding call for my flight almost wasn’t heard. Upon boarding the airplane, I sat down next
to a lady heading back to Sacramento. In spite of my tiredness, I shared with
her about my joyous experience. She
understood for she was a marathon runner and wish she had known about it so she
could have participated too.
Since my first run with Danny, Kate,
Steve, and Will, my life has been transformed in such a way that I still can’t
stop talking about it. The
transformation I’ve seen in myself is I am reconnecting with my fellow human
beings instead of being a recluse. There
was a rediscovering of the positive benefits of hugs. I became a Patriot’s and
Boston Red Sox fan (please don’t tell my biological family this who are die
hard San Francisco Giants and 49er’s fans).
I find myself sharing my experience with One Run with every person I
can. On average, I have talked about the
experience with at least 4 people per week.
It is like I have become a One Run For Boston evangelist, in fact my
experience will be woven into a sermon to be given in the future. The following quote sums up my experience:
"
Love is a force more formidable than
any other. It is invisible; it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful
enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material
possession could.” ~Barbara de Angelis
