Rich On The Go

Having run 5 marathons over the past 4 years, I've had my highs and my lows. Listed here are a few of the more memorable experiences along the way:

11/02: Qualifying for Boston at the Philly Marathon. This had been more then a dream for me. Over the past 4 years, it had been more of an obsession. Having run 5 marathons in 4 years, I felt it was now or never. My wife and kids saw me cross the finish line about 30 seconds over the qualifying time, so they thought I had just missed it. But I got in off of my chip time by about 28 seconds. So, my wife  is happy now because she's tired of hearing me talk about running. Maybe after Boston I can start catching up on some other things around the house. Qualifying now was made of significant by the fact that my father-in-law passed away just a few weeks before the Marathon. I also had surgery on my shoulder a months into my training. All told - I was surprised I actually made it.

9/11/02: I live about 30 miles outside of New York City. On a clear day, from points nearby - you used to be able to see the twin towers of the World Trade Center. On this, the one year anniversary of a terrible event , I was running over a bridge by a major Interstate highway. Just as I was going over the bridge - a group of about 100 motorcycles passed beneath me heading towards the city. I stopped and  waved to them. Everyone of them saluted back as they went by. My company is not far from the WTC and many of our customers are in or near that area. I knew some people who died. Many of my friends from work lost far more.

Winter 2002-2003: A Very cold winter. While training for Boston, I spent a lot of time running on my treadmill. Many of these times, my 3 year and 6 year old watched TV with my while I ran. I did a few 15+ mile runs this way. My  6 year old would give me water ever mile or so.

Summer/Fall 2001: I ran two 5ks under 20 minutes - something I have been unable to repeat since. 

October 2002: I Placed 17th out of 400+ runners in a 5 mile race. Didn't get any awards, other then a great of satisfaction. You would think that at age 40, I would get something. But 5 guys in the top 10 were 40-45 - talk about a competitive age group!