Meb Won? Really? Really!

One year ago, our City was trying to get its bearings after the events of 4/15/13. Spaulding Rehab had just opened its state of the art healing place to welcome the survivors and help them begin to find their strength. On Facebook and in the news there were stories of heroes and survivors. The City was preparing for a #onerun on 5/25. There was a heaviness that hung in the air as we came together as a City to begin to heal.

This year, even though the marathon was almost two weeks ago, the news feeds on Facebook and Twitter are filled with joyous celebrations. New photos of my friends with their medals fill the feed. Runners are talking about their next events and the City is gearing up for the Run to Remember and the BAA 10K. As for me, I am going to volunteer at the Run to Remember, run the Corrib Pub 5K (the first race I ever ran in 2008) and spectate at the BAA 10K.

And on Meb Keflezighi's Facebook page, we are all basking in the afterglow of his win.

One person commented that it was the biggest game of telephone out on the course about Meb being in the lead and then winning the 2014 Boston Marathon.

We were watching the race just before mile 23 on Beacon Street. My husband decided to take a video of the race as we were waiting for the lead male runner to come through. He had no idea that it would be Meb as you can tell from our excitement in this video:



Tom started tracking Meb...an 8 second lead then a 5 second lead...At that point we were watching the iPhone rather than the runners in front of us. We sat down and joined our intentions together for Meb. After he won, we went wild and then the crowd around us went wild.

My husband was so moved that he made a MEB WON sign.

Runners were incredulous asking, "Did he really?" and then fist pumped, smiled, screamed and got their second wind to go the final 3+ miles to the finish line. People around us were asking what Tom had written on the sign to get people all revved up like that and we told them. Several people came over and hugged Tom. When his arms tired, Ruth Anne held it up. She got hugs and fist pumps and smiles.

Here is one of my favorite responses to the MEB WON sign:

"I knew Meb was gonna win. I told him so," said a runner passing by who saw Tom holding up the sign that said "MEB WON!" to inspire the runners just before mile 23 last Monday. We thought, "Oh sure you did." After this runner completed his Marathon he found us on Beacon Street. He had his medal and showed us his bib that was signed by Meb. He told us he saw Meb at the Expo. Meb told him that he was not the fittest he'd ever been but he was the healthiest. Meb said his wife told him that's just the way she likes it to be. This runner told Meb that he was gonna win and had him sign his bib.

And had it not been for Meb's win, we would not be the honored recipients of one of our most treasured Marathon souvenirs, a random act of kindness from Maureen Jones of Rochester, Minnesota. You can read about it in my blog Meet Maureen Jones: I Just Wanted to Show My Gratitude. Maureen told us that there was another person who was holding a sign at mile 19 saying that Meb Won - Really! She was so excited but no one else around her was sharing in the excitement. When she saw our MEB WON sign, she knew that we were meant to receive the last of her thank you to the fans note.

Below are quotes from Meb's facebook page:

You have know idea the fire you've ignited, sir.

I was on the Boston course, hours behind you, when one of the race security people shouted out the news that you had won. I can tell you, every person around me felt a surge of energy and strode out a little quicker because of what you had accomplished. Thanks for giving us this victory, Meb.

The runners, the fans, the victims returning, the city rising up, I didn't think it could get any better. And then Meb won! I could not have had a better day! And Meb's words after the race show what a classy guy he is. I'm lucky and proud to have been a part of it. Thank you, Meb!

MEB, I was about at heartbreak when I first heard someone scream out, "an American won!" I looked at my watch and thought no way! The chants of "USA, USA" started... (I had to tell myself to relax as I still had a bunch to go and didn't want to crash due to a pace change!). It was awesome! This is my 10th Boston over 20 years and I have never felt such excitement on the course. It has always been amazing but this year was times 10..

And this is a post from Meb:

I loved the fan turn out in Boston! Thanks for sharing this picture Kati Hanlon Mayo. Check out the lady in the green vest! Thank you for all your support.



One year after our City was trying to heal and recover from the devastating events of 4/15/13, a hero emerged from the pack to bring a community together with joy, tears and a celebration that continues on.

"Meb Won?" runners asked as they saw the sign my husband made. "Really?" Yes really and I want to say a huge thank you to you Meb for being Boston Strong!

Meet Maureen Jones: "I Just Wanted to Show My Gratitude"

I could feel her intention in the carefully and lovingly prepared message she handed to us, as I shared in yesterday's blog A Marathon Moment To Last a Lifetime.



But I had no idea who she was, or the story behind this random act of kindness.

"I'll page her and she'll pick up," the operator at the Mayo Clinic told me after she responded to what I'm sure she thought was a rather odd inquiry: "Does Maureen Jones still work here and did she run the Boston Marathon this year?"

"Hello, this is Maureen."

"Hi Maureen. My name is Mary McManus. You handed us a thank you note at the Marathon. I looked up your Bib number, googled you and just had to find out the story behind your beautiful gesture."

We shared tears and laughter during our 30+ minute phone conversation. We felt like we had known each other all our lives.

Maureen was running the Boston Marathon in 2013. She knew she wasn't going to qualify but still kept up her pace. If she hadn't, she would have been crossing the finish line as the bombs went off. When she arrived home she was heartbroken as you can see in this news clip which includes her interview the day after 4/15/13: Local Runners Returning to Boston Marathon



As she wrote to me in an email:
When they evacuated the gear bus area where I was when the bombs went off, I wasn't sure what exactly was going on right away, but eventually I felt a whole host of emotions including guilt that my family and I were OK and others were killed or injured. I also wished I could have aided all of the fallen given my medical background, but they asked us to leave the area so I felt sadness and guilt that I couldn't help at the finish line. There were many post-traumatic emotions including: crying often, loss of sleep, fear of loud noises, fear of people with backpacks, images of the suspects...and the BAA kindly sent us several kind emails about these very issues we might all be having.

She ran 3 marathons in 10 weeks to get requalified for Boston. Even though she qualified, she missed the cutoff for entry by 20 seconds. She knew she had to find a way to run Boston. It's a part of her family's tradition and after the events of 4/15/13, she knew what running Boston 2014 would mean to her, to her family and to the City of Boston.

There was a contest she spied on Facebook by Powerbar and the BAA to write an essay for those who qualified for Boston but missed the cutoff when they applied for their bib number. Unfortunately she missed the deadline. She did however vote every day for her friend's essay.

She saw another post about the BAA asking for essays from runners (excerpted from 2014 Boston Marathon makes room for those affected by bombs)

But organizers felt they might still be missing people, people who perhaps didn't think their trauma was worthy amid all the lost limbs and physical scars. So, in November, they announced that about 500 bibs would be available for those "personally and profoundly impacted by the events of April 15, 2013."

In 500-word essays submitted over the website, 1,199 would-be runners made their case. Almost 600 had the connection the B.A.A. was looking for.

As Maureen told me:

"It was a 500 word and 1500 character limit essay. I used the theme of a roller coaster sharing my experiences and why I wanted to return to Boston to run. When I pushed send, it moved all of my centered unpunctuated lines with thoughts separated by a backslash up to fill in all of the spaces so it was a jumbled up mess on my screen with no chance to edit. It was in God 's hands."

On Thanksgiving, she went to Chicago to be with her family. They did a Turkey Trot in the morning and then she received the email from the BAA. She was afraid to open it thinking that it would be a repeat of what happened when she submitted her qualifying time. Instead she was told that she had been granted an invitational entry to the 2014 Boston Marathon.

At the Expo, her friend overheard someone talking about making cards to give to the fans thanking them for coming out to cheer them on. Maureen did not have her business cards with her which she could have used to write a note and hand them out to the fans.

Maureen told me there is a family tradition of playing cards to relax the night before the Marathon. She loves to play cards but Maureen opted to forego the card game and instead went into her brother's room to make thank you notes to hand out to the fans.

Here is a photo of Maureen at bib pick up at the Expo:



She made the T shirt she is wearing and made them for the members of her support crew to wear on Marathon Monday so she could spot them in the crowd. "We all run together." She had the names of Krystle, Lingzu, Martin and Sean on the t shirts. On race day, she wrote each of their names on the four fingers of her left hand and on her thumb a heart Boston. She would see their names every time she checked her watch.

Her brother brought mailing tape for them to use on their pace bracelet. She ripped pieces of computer paper and hand wrote her message on 8 pieces of paper. She didn't have scissors with her and went to the hotel lobby using the hotel's scissors to finish her notes. She carefully wrapped each one with mailing tape.

"I wish I could have made a million of them to thank each of the spectators for coming out." "Were you with children?

"No."

"Well I gave the last one to some guy holding a Meb Won sign. I had them in my pocket and I knew I was getting close to the finish line. I wanted to spread them out along the course."

"Oh my God - that was us. I thought you chose us because we were wearing Spaulding Rehab t shirts that said Find Your Strength."

"You were the only adults that I gave one to. I wanted to give something to the kids along the route who are there to hand out water and snacks to the runners. They weren't expecting anything back and so they dropped their notes on the ground. I'm hoping that their parents picked them up. You are the only one who contacted me. I left my bib number on it in case the people would want to find out if I finished and what my finish time was. But I don't remember your t shirts."

"It was a rough run for me with the heat and all. At mile 19, I saw a woman holding a sign that said, "Meb Won - Really!" I was so excited but there was no one who was excited with me. After I passed her I thought that I should have given her my last thank you note for making that sign.

"And then I saw the man with the Meb Won sign. Where were you again?"

"We were just before mile 23 on Beacon Street."

"I remember because I knew I was getting close."

We all got excited when Maureen saw our sign. She stopped, reached into her pocket and said "Here this is for you."

I now recall that Maureen had handed the note first to my husband and then he passed it along to me. We both looked at each other and thought wow that is really thoughtful. I put it in my pocket and didn't think much about it until yesterday morning when I knew I had to blog about it... and then Spirit moved me to see if I could find Maureen #23513 to get the story behind one of my most treasured marathon souvenirs.

Maureen is a physical therapist who has worked at the Mayo Clinic for over 20 years. I shared with her my journey with post polio syndrome which she was familiar with through her work. I told her that if I could have, I would have run Boston for Spaulding this year but knew it wasn't right for my body. I embraced my role in #supportcrew and knew how important the spectators are to the runners especially in Boston. But receiving that 4" x 1" thank you note from Maureen touched my heart more than words can say to know how one runner from Rochester, Minnesota said to me, "I did it because I just wanted to show my gratitude."

As she said in the ABC news piece:

"Our hats go off to Boston for being such a great city and never giving up on what they believe in."

My hat goes off to you Maureen for never giving up and running Boston 2014. I look forward to spending time with you whenever you return to our City and certainly cheering you on again next year.


Maureen told me that she has always felt a special connection to Boston. This was her 7th Boston Marathon and her 24th race. She said that she has started a new tradition of thanking the fans. She'll never forget what happened here, but rather than dwell in the pain or anger, she offers up prayers for Boston, for Newtown and for those recently affected by natural or man made disasters. And she opens her heart with an expression of gratitude to all who gather together in strength, resilience and the courage to move forward.