Staying Home

Randy's wife waited for him near mile 20 of the marathon and knew something was wrong as he came nearer. He was laboring more than she expected, a vague expression behind his fogged glasses. She slipped in beside him to find out what was wrong and ended up running much of the rest of the race with him, helping him along, encouraging him to continue. When I saw him, just four hours after we had started, he looked pale and he was feeling sick.

Rob, an acquaintance I knew from the kids schools, was in the same race although I never saw him along the course. I think he lined up behind me at the start and never felt well enough that day to catch me or at least I didn't recognize him. Rob finished several minutes after Randy and was frustrated by what happened that day in Portland.

The three of us had a connection created by our new passion for running, our similar ages and the same small town we all call home. And now all three of us were left to play the game of the competitive runner and find out why we had trouble with this race.

I had the better time that day and finished seven minutes under the four hour mark. But that was 2007, a year and half ago, and so much has changed during that time. All three of us trained harder and smarter and I've added more base training miles and speed work. It's paid off.

During the next marathon we ran together in Eugene, Randy finished first with a BQ and Rob came in about 10 minutes later-- but short of the 3:30 he needed. I came in just a few minutes after that and set a PR, but still 14 minutes slow of a qualifying time for my age. Both the other guys, much lighter than me, had really ramped it up for this one and had passed me in ability. I felt I had done the work but my weight and an injury had sealed the deal and took away the very slim chance I had. Rob would run the Newport marathon a month later and qualify for Boston too, leaving me the odd man out.

Fast forward to today: Patriots Day in Massachusetts and Randy and Rob ran the Boston Marathon this morning. The now even more slimmed down version of Rob ran an amazing 3:34 and my buddy Randy did a fantastic 3:42, which is awesome for the tough Boston course. I kept track of both of them using their bib numbers plugged them into the marathon's website and am proud of the fact that both were able to realize their dreams-- and do such a great job once they got there.

But for me, I have a long way to go and a lot of work ahead. As I always say, life happens. My ability to better my running hasn't progressed as fast as Randy and Rob. And that's okay. For now I can only wonder. Wonder if one day I too can leave home, fly across the country and go for a run in Boston.