Certainly, I’d regaled you with some “ultra” slow runs, such as four years ago when I averaged 23 minutes per mile for a 35-mile trail race.
And next month you’ll hear whether I was successful in my back-to-back races in December (aka The “Dumb-Ass Double”).
However, nothing can compare with what I witnessed just a few short weeks ago.
As published in last month’s newsletter, Colleen Shea and Rich Satow participated in the Long Beach Marathon in honor of our late AREC Vice-President Win Freeman. Colleen had some issues around mile 18.5 and Rich rode with her to the hospital.
They languished there for days and days, hoping beyond all hope that Colleen (and Rich) could be returned to the point at which she stopped and finally finish the race.
I had my cell phone set on “Buzz,” so I could be alerted from my 18-20 hours of sleep a day and cover her triumphant finish.
Finally, on November 15th, I got the call!
Laura Chaides, Stacy Shourt, Roberta Bonifacio, Kim Russell and I met the ambulance at mile 18.5. Colleen said a fond farewell to the handsome EMTs and we set off on her journey to the finish.
Some of us gave stuff to Kim to carry to the finish for us. About a mile in, Kate Rupley joined us and then a few minutes later, Sterling Kwong.
At the corner of Bellflower and Atherton, we paused to say hi to Marsha Freeman (and other fans in her building).
Then at Ximeno and Atherton, we were accosted by paparazzi (Deb Cardinale), but at last we continued on.
Around mile 23, we met up again with Kim, and also stopped to hang with Roberta’s parents.
We reached the end, but alas, the timing mats were gone, but we were able to present Colleen and Rich with Official Finisher’s Medals. Their time?
1 month, 1 day, 12 hours and 1 minute!
Afterwards, more joined us at Tequila Jack’s for dinner and donations to LiveStrong Foundation in Win Freeman’s honor.
This story is 99% true (guess which part isn’t!), but if you would still like to make a donation to LiveStrong in Win’s name, I believe that Colleen is still taking donations. If you are not too worried about the tax write-off and give cash, I believe that Colleen’s company will match the amount.