"Run to Overcome"

"The inspiring story of an American champion's long-distance quest to achieve a big dream." by Meb Keflezighi with Dick Patrick

My dear friend Alexandra Williams of Fun and Fit sent me a surprise package in the mail in November, 2011 with a note, "I thought you might enjoy a signed copy." She met Meb at a Fitness Convention and shared with him my Boston Marathon journey.



I started reading Run to Overcome in 2011, but since at the time I believed I would not be able to return to running, could not bring myself to read it.

It would have been just the medicine I needed at the time, but everything in Divine Timing.

After Meb won the 2014 Boston Marathon - "The whole damn town's in tears!" "Talk about redemption!"



I knew that it was time to read his story!

The fabric of Meb's life is woven together with faith, family, strength, courage and determination.

"Life is bright, it just seems difficult at times," he writes after a series of challenges in his personal and professional life.

Meb's critics had written him off several times over in his running career. Before this year's Boston Marathon, he wasn't even mentioned as a possible contender. Too old. A history of too many injuries.

But as I was doing research for today's post I learned that Meb, who had to sit out the 2013 Boston Marathon because of a calf injury, had left the grandstands as a spectator on 4/15/13 just 5 minutes before the first bomb exploded. After the 2nd explosion, he was hurried into the Copley Plaza Hotel. He vowed to come back and run this year. For 365 days he said in an interview, that's all he thought about ... coming back to win Boston as the first American to win since Greg Meyer in 1983.

When Greg Meyer spoke at our L Street Running Club pre marathon meeting, he corrected the person who introduced him. "Don't say I was the last American to win Boston. Say I was the most recent."

Meb knew what it would mean to Boston for an American to win the 2014 Boston Marathon. And not just any American but one who is the embodiment of what it means to be resilient and prevail against incredible odds. An American who gives back to his native country, Eritrea and here in the U.S. with his foundation MEB which stands for Maintaining Excellent Balance. He testified before Congress to support the launch of the National Physical Activity Plan.

He donated $10,000 of his Boston Marathon purse to the Martin Richard Foundation.

As we stood on Beacon Street just shy of mile 23, Tom took this video as we waited with eager anticipation to see who the lead male runner was:



After reading Run to Overcome, this moment fills my heart with awe and wonder as he writes in his book published in 2010 after winning the New York City Marathon:

"So what's next? I would love to keep running competitively for another three years and make the teams for the 2012 London Olympics and 2013 world track and field championships. I know I can run faster in the marathon, half marathon, and 10K. If these things don't happen, though, so be it. I'll still be content with my productive and consistent career.

I must admit that I feel a couple of voids. I'd love to win the Boston Marathon..."

Meb ends his book with
"As I often say, whoever has the better day will win the marathon. No runner is victorious every time. You will not always win in life either. Nothing is guaranteed, no matter how hard you've worked. Injuries are part of running; disappointments and setbacks are part of everyday life. But if you keep doing the right things, eventually the results will go your way.

So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. (1 Corinthians 9:verses 26-27)

Winning in life doesn't happen when you overcome just one thing - do or die. It's persevering knowing that difficulties are bumps in the road, not the end of the world. It's continuing to do the right things, knowing your time will come. After all, you have to conduct yourself like a champion before you can ever win a championship.

Whatever you do, then, give it your best. Persevere in overcoming obstacles. When you do, you'll be running to win."

Thank you Meb for the gift of your story. Thank you for blessing the city of Boston with your 2014 Boston Marathon win and for reminding all of us that we run with endurance the race that is set before us.



My memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility" is now available on Amazon.

"Wait, I have one more goal," Mary McManus told her personal trainer in February of 2008 shortly after coming out of her toe up leg brace. "I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital." Mary traded in her polio shoes for running shoes and embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Mary McManus was at the height of her career as a VA social worker when she was told by her team at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s International Rehab Center for Polio in December of 2006 that she needed to quit her job if she had any hope of preventing the progression of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. In “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility” Mary takes you on her seven year healing odyssey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma from her diagnosis, to taking a leap of faith to leave her award winning career at the VA to heal her life and follow her passion as a poet and writer. You’ll experience her trials, tribulations and triumphs as she trains for and crosses the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and discovers the opportunity for healing in the wake of new trauma: the suicide of her nephew in 2011, and the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. This is Mary's journey of coming home to her human form free from the influences of the ghastly ghostly invaders who had invaded her sacred earthly home. Her memoir includes journals and blog posts from her seven year healing odyssey. This is her journey of transformation and her message of healing, hope and possibility.

I donate 50% of royalty payments through on line sales to The One Fund to help Boston Marathon survivors and their families. Copies are also available at Brookline Marathon Sports. $5 of each book sold at Marathon Sports is donated to The One Fund.

Training for the Tufts 10K

I am over the moon excited that I have worked my way back to the 10K distance. 6.1 miles. I do love going the distance.

It's been four years since I last ran Tufts. Tufts was my first 10K ever in the fall of 2008. In 2009, I was recovering from my Boston Marathon run. I was working with a wonderful physical therapist at the time who told me that if I had any hopes of getting back to running, I had to take a hiatus and allow my body time to recover and heal. We didn't know if I would be able to run again.

As I stood at the finish line of the 2009 Tufts 10K waiting for my daughter to cross the finish line, I heard the announcer say, "And don't let anybody ever tell you you can't do something. All these women crossing the finish line today started strong and are finishing stronger."

That's all it took to light the fire within me to do everything I could to get back on the roads. I began running in the Spring of 2010 and worked my way back to a 10K distance. I still had my base from marathon training.

Here I am before running the 2010 Tufts 10K wearing a Superman dog tag from the Christopher Reeve Foundation that says, "Go Forward."



In March of 2011, my nephew's suicide pulled the rug right out from under me. I experienced a relapse of symptoms and took a detour on my healing path. It took the events of 4/15/13 to awaken me to what was truly important in my life for well being of mind, body and Spirit.

It's been a year of healing, of building strength, of building endurance. Now I am in full on training mode but the beauty is my only goal is to cross that finish line with a smile. I am blessed that I will have my daughter by my side. Me being me, I will work on my speed in my weekly and occasional biweekly 3.1 runs but as I have been saying of late, I am running from the inside out.

The journey of transformation is never easy. It requires hard work. Trust. Patience. Faith.



When we are able to heal and let go of what weighs us down; when we are able to remember our strength and our beauty regardless of what happened to us during the journey; when we are able to find the courage to accept the darkness and abide in the pain, then we are able to fly free once more.

The Chrysalis May 2014

Trembling with excitement
shaking it off
allow yourself to be with a capital B

Being who you were always meant to be
unencumbered

yet time well spent
on tiny legs
grounded to earth’s energy
garnering wisdom along the way

gathering together
possibility

a time of uncertainty
certain
this is the path
abide in darkness
surrender

lose grip on grasping
turning inward
discovering beauty
strength
free now
to
fly


My memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility" is now available on Amazon.

"Wait, I have one more goal," Mary McManus told her personal trainer in February of 2008 shortly after coming out of her toe up leg brace. "I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital." Mary traded in her polio shoes for running shoes and embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Mary McManus was at the height of her career as a VA social worker when she was told by her team at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s International Rehab Center for Polio in December of 2006 that she needed to quit her job if she had any hope of preventing the progression of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. In “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility” Mary takes you on her seven year healing odyssey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma from her diagnosis, to taking a leap of faith to leave her award winning career at the VA to heal her life and follow her passion as a poet and writer. You’ll experience her trials, tribulations and triumphs as she trains for and crosses the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and discovers the opportunity for healing in the wake of new trauma: the suicide of her nephew in 2011, and the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. This is Mary's journey of coming home to her human form free from the influences of the ghastly ghostly invaders who had invaded her sacred earthly home. Her memoir includes journals and blog posts from her seven year healing odyssey. This is her journey of transformation and her message of healing, hope and possibility.

I donate 50% of royalty payments through on line sales to The One Fund to help Boston Marathon survivors and their families. Copies are also available at Brookline Marathon Sports. $5 of each book sold at Marathon Sports is donated to The One Fund.

Wednesday Wisdom: On Running the Marathon of My Life - Patience, Pacing and Peristence

Whether in running or in life, I find there are two greatest challenges. One is sticking to the training plan and the other is coming back after a setback. We go along on our path building speed and endurance on the roads and in our lives and then something happens. A layoff, a loss, an illness or for me managing the late effects of paralytic polio and trauma, that causes us to pause, to regroup, to reevaluate and to figure out how to move forward again.



In 2011, after my 26 year old nephew's suicide, I was not sure how I was going to move forward. I took a detour from my healing path. I stopped running and I withdrew from the running community. I found myself among people who would draw me back into the dance of family dynamics and who fueled my struggles as a polio and trauma survivor. Every situation serves a purpose and I am so grateful for the soul lessons I learned while I was on my detour.

After 4/15/13, I had an awakening and realized what was important in my life. The #onerun on 5/25/13 brought me back into the present and in realizing how important running and the running community is in my life.

From my memoir, "Coming Home:A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility":

“Oh look they are doing a #onerun tomorrow,” Tom said.

“I am terrified to be a part of that,” I answered.

“Then we have to register,” Tom said.

Tonight I realize there is another layer to all of this healing: the Boston Marathon bombings. It still causes the hair on the back of my neck to write those words. Tomorrow morning, Tom and I are going to walk the last mile of the Boston Marathon and to walk the part of Boylston Street that I’ve been afraid to return to....

5/25/13

The moving pre-race ceremony began including 30 seconds of silence for those who lost their lives in the bombings. There was music and inspirational speeches and not a dry eye in the crowd as the church choir from where 8-year-old Martin Richard who was killed in the blast, made his first communion, sang the National Anthem. Tom and I had our arms around each other. Everyone was in a spiritual embrace.

And then we were off crossing the one mile to go marker in Kenmore Square where four years ago, Tom, our daughter Ruth Anne and I ran toward the finish line. I ran the 2009 Boston Marathon for those who couldn't and for those who were told they shouldn't run or would never be able to run again. Back then I was delivering a message of healing, hope and possibility. Today I was one with the survivors knowing they have a long road ahead for them but knowing that they, like me, would be able to go the distance.

We got to Hereford Street and I took a deep breath, as I knew we were going back to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and passing The Forum where the second bomb exploded. As we passed in front of the Mandarin, we stopped for a brief moment to give our thanks to the staff who ensured our safety. The two doormen who had been there on Marathon Monday while we watched the race before going upstairs to join the Spaulding Rehab party were there. How healing and wonderful to see them, express our gratitude and be back on a part of Boylston Street I was afraid to visit.

I told Tom I was ready to sprint to the finish line. I said a prayer as we ran by The Forum. I sobbed as the crowds were cheering and we were surrounded by runners with their bib numbers from Marathon Monday and thousands of people who had been touched by the tragic events of April 15. At the finish line we shared stories with one another. We hugged. We cried. We healed...

Despite the cold and the rain, the love and energy of the community kept us warm. The event organizers did an amazing job at honoring the victims of the bombing and the survivors – “You are out there to run for those who can’t.”

That’s why I ran the marathon in ’09 – and here I was running the last mile with a deep connection to the survivors of the bombing knowing in every fiber of my being what it’s like to work to regain mobility and to recover from trauma where you face death. There were so many emotions as we listened to the pre-race ceremony speakers and then as we reclaimed Boylston Street as our own.

It's been a slow, long road back but patience, pacing and persistence pave the way.

I started out with a walk/run at a half mile. Little by little I built back up to a 5K distance.

Training for and running The Feaster Five was a wonderful opportunity for me to come back into the running fold and rediscover the joy of running.

I reconnected with my friends from the Merrimack Valley Striders and made new friends when we went to Andover for a pre Feaster Five training run.

I'm so excited that tonight we are going to a Striders meeting where the theme is connecting with friends old and new.

I used my 5K distance to begin to build speed and then began to build distance. I held steady at 5 miles until after I ran a series of 5K races. Two weeks ago, I crossed the threshold to 6.1 miles. I can go the distance for the Tufts 10K.

I challenge myself on my 5K distance runs with tempo runs and fartleks but I am also patient with myself. I am running from the inside out paying attention to how I feel in my body. I know that no two runs are the same and there are so many factors that can contribute to how much I am able to do on any given day as is true for every runner.

I've learned that I can and do recover; chronic fatigue is no longer an issue for me but I do need to give myself time to rest and recover. I create an optimal healing environment for myself. I plan out my activities. On a day that I feel well and energized, I am so tempted to do more than what is scheduled. And then, more often than not, I end up not feeling well for a few days.

In addition to two runs a week, I go to Aquatics Therapy classes at Spaulding Rehab twice a week. One class is for upper and lower body strength training. I am up to 5 pound ankle weights. The other class is to build aquatics strength and work on core and cardio conditioning. Once a week I go for massage therapy at Sollievo Massage and Bodywork where my therapist and I work together to continue to heal mind, body and Spirit.

I'm definitely planning on going the distance. I am working on finding my distance and my pace. I know my distance for now is a 10K. I am grateful for every step I take on this journey on the roads and in my life. I know how blessed I am! And every day, I practice patience, pacing and persistence so I can go the distance and journey well.






My memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility" is now available on Amazon.

"Wait, I have one more goal," Mary McManus told her personal trainer in February of 2008 shortly after coming out of her toe up leg brace. "I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital." Mary traded in her polio shoes for running shoes and embarked on the journey of a lifetime. Mary McManus was at the height of her career as a VA social worker when she was told by her team at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s International Rehab Center for Polio in December of 2006 that she needed to quit her job if she had any hope of preventing the progression of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease. In “Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility” Mary takes you on her seven year healing odyssey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma from her diagnosis, to taking a leap of faith to leave her award winning career at the VA to heal her life and follow her passion as a poet and writer. You’ll experience her trials, tribulations and triumphs as she trains for and crosses the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and discovers the opportunity for healing in the wake of new trauma: the suicide of her nephew in 2011, and the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. This is Mary's journey of coming home to her human form free from the influences of the ghastly ghostly invaders who had invaded her sacred earthly home. Her memoir includes journals and blog posts from her seven year healing odyssey. This is her journey of transformation and her message of healing, hope and possibility.

I donate 50% of royalty payments through on line sales to The One Fund to help Boston Marathon survivors and their families. Copies are also available at Brookline Marathon Sports. $5 of each book sold at Marathon Sports is donated to The One Fund.

One Year Later - A Picture of Strength - A Message of Hope

Today's cover of Sports Illustrated showing Boston Strong a day after the one year annivesary of the Boston Marathon bombings:



I am proud to call myself a Bostonian. Yesterday's tribute and services were filled with grace, Truth, dignity, honesty and integrity. I cried as the rain poured and the wind howled as the day wore on but nothing could dampen the spirits of Boston to commemorate and celebrate our strength and resilience as individuals and as a community.

We shared photos and thoughts on Facebook and Twitter as we had one year ago to come together as a community both in real life and in cyberspace. I could feel how the cloud of trauma that blanketed our hearts and our city had dissipated and now is a time to continue moving forward in healing and hope.

Most of the survivors continue to face a long and arduous road of rehabilitation and it is a lifelong journey now. I know what it means to experience a lifelong journey of rehabilitation although certainly not to the extent that many of the survivors face. My life was forever changed in a moment when I contracted paralytic polio at the age of 5 followed by years of unrelenting trauma.

As Adrianne Haslet-Davis so poignantly stated during the tribute at the Hynes Convention Center, Life can go horribly, horrifically wrong in a matter of seconds but it's up to us to make every second count thereafter and believe me they do count.

So now we move from the one year anniversary to countdown to Marathon Monday. I have so many emotions in the mix right now. Part of me wants to wake up on 4/22 knowing all of my dear friends have crossed the finish line safely and accomplished whatever it is they wanted and needed to accomplish on Monday. Part of me is excited to see the race especially after reading articles about the elite athletes and seeing Shalene Flanagan on 60 Minutes.

I know that all I can do is ride the waves of emotions, continue doing what I do day in and day out and experience this most unique time in the history of the Boston Marathon.

Today John Hancock asked the question "What does #weruntogether mean to you --

#weruntogether also means #wehealtogether we find our strength together and uphold each other when we are not feeling so strong. #weruntogether also means that whether we run or are spectators and support crew, each of us is an integral thread of the tapestry that woven together makes us Boston Strong!

One year later we are a picture of strength and a message of hope!

On Hope, Faith, Healing and Grace

Even before I looked out the window this morning, I heard the wind howling letting me know that winter is not ready to say goodbye anytime soon. As I opened the curtains I saw the barren trees, remnants of ice and snow on the ground, a cloudy, cold grey sky and the brown leaves that still cover our lawn. There was no time to do Fall yard clean up before the first snowstorm hit.

I know Spring is poised and ready to make her appearance. I know how magnificent that warm sun feels on my face and I rejoice when our evergreen bush mysteriously blooms every year:



This cold, harsh seemingly never ending winter seems to parallel our recovery from the Boston Marathon bombings. We are poised and ready to move on; to move beyond the harsh reality of the events of 4/15/13 and know with hope and faith that Spring always comes again.

There are some days when the sadness, the nausea and all of the physical manifestations of having experienced the bombings seem that they will never end. And just as there are unexpected moments of being swept away by the emotions from that day (and for me a long history of surviving trauma), there are moments of joy, gratitude, love, excitement, exhilaration, light and a deep appreciation for being able to see all there is to embrace in this life of ours.

April is right around the corner. My friend Tina posted this video from 4/29/13 on Facebook this morning:



"And this time next year on the 3rd Monday in April, the world will return to this great American city....to this state of Grace."

I was dreading the arrival of two weeks from Tuesday, 4/15/14 and realized that I was struggling against allowing myself to just feel. And the thing about feelings is that once you try to fend off any feelings, all feelings end up suppressed. I was fighting the tears. I was fighting the depression I felt fearing its weight would crush me yet once I gave into those feelings and allowed myself to go to bed at 7:30pm last night and stay in bed until around 9 this morning, I feel a sense of renewal. Feelings of strength, resilience, courage, yes anger is in there too, and the power of the Spirit to not only survive but thrive rise!

I did not know how I was going to spend the anniversary of 4/15 but the Universe had orchestrated the day for me back in November when I experienced a "Coincidence" after Aquatics Therapy class.

Suzanne Corkin, Ph.D. and I were trying to find a time to get together for me to share my healing odyssey with her. In yesterday's email, she proposed Tuesday 4/15. I hesitated not sure for a moment if that was a good choice for me and then I felt Spirit leap within me letting me know that it is a perfect way to spend the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings. I'll be sharing my message of healing, hope and possibility and how despite all the odds stacked against me as a result of paralytic polio, trauma and the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, I held onto hope and had faith that I would be able to find healing in my life whatever the actual physical outcome of that healing might be.

And as we prepare as individuals and as a City for the anniversary and then the running of the 118th Boston Marathon, my fervent prayer is that we are all able to live in a state of grace.

My memoir, "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility" is now available on Amazon.

The Importance of Sharing Our Stories-Courage to be Vulnerable

I was blessed to meet champions Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter at the 2009 Hyannis Marathon before and after I ran my first half marathon ever.



When I came into the ballroom, Frank Shorter made sure he connected with me amidst the thousands of runners celebrating after the race. He could tell that the run had taken a lot of out of me. I was shivering from the sleet that had started falling during the last several miles of the race. He put both of his hands on either side of my arms, looked at me straight in the eye and told me how much courage and strength I had to do what I had just done. He told me he had no doubt that I was going to cross the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon. He told me to hydrate, get some hot soup and take a hot shower. He signed the back of my bib.

Fast forward to yesterday as the media frenzy begins with the coverage of the 2014 Boston Marathon. I saw this Runner's World article about Frank Shorter deciding to not run Boston this year, although he had begun to train for it. He would rather return to covering the event for Universal Sports which is where he was when the bombs exploded last year. There was a line in the article that caught my eye:

Shorter remembered his own experience with childhood abuse,

I clicked on the link: Frank's Story from a 2011 Runner's World article.

Frank had seen me as a survivor of paralytic polio who came out of a wheelchair and leg brace to take on the Boston Marathon. I saw him through my starry eyes of meeting an Olympic Gold Medalist and an elite runner in every sense of the word.

When I met him in 2010 at Hyannis, I had brought my bib from Boston for him and Bill Rodgers to sign. Frank Shorter signed it: To Mary, You're unbelievable.



Neither one of us knew that we lived through the same terror and fear with fathers who were psychotic and inflicted unimaginable physical and emotional harm on their children. Frank had not shared his story until 2011. Yet the two of us shared this deep, powerful connection with each other; almost a wordless knowing about what it took for us to be where we were in our lives.

When we have the courage to be vulnerable and share our stories, magic happens. Walls come down and people suddenly say, "oh my goodness that happened to me..." or "that happened to a dear friend of mine" or "what a brave soul you are". People have the opportunity to look beyond the horrific acts of violence to witness the incredible resilience of the human Spirit.

I was even quoted in the Cape Cod Times after completing my first half marathon:

Mary McManus, 55, of Brookline completed her first half-marathon after making a remarkable recovery from a life-long battle against post-polio syndrome.

She spent time at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and began running just last February. She competed in her first race in June 2008, finishing a 5K.

"It's like having a new lease on life," said McManus, who ran yesterday's half-marathon with husband Tom. "I was limping my way through life, but then decided to do something about it."

As we countdown to Boston, we are all looking beyond the horrific acts of violence to see the resilience and strength and courage of the human Spirit. We are finding the courage to share our stories and be vulnerable as was Shane O'Hara as the banners were unveiled yesterday.



I am so glad that I found the courage to be vulnerable and share my story in Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility.



We all need to share our healing stories and share the message of healing, hope and possibility!