Superheroes

I just wanted to share something with you guys in case you missed it on your local Boston-area news station last weekend. 

Or in case you missed it on Boston.com.

Or maybe you didn't do your daily rundown of the Huffington Post. 

Maybe you were on vacation in Kansas City, but you didn't happen to tune in to the local Fox news broadcast that morning. 

You could have even missed it if you were in Washington, San Francisco, Las Vegas, St. Louis, or even Columbus, Indiana. 

Well, now you know. About 300 of us turned out last week to run the final 18 miles of the Marathon course to train (one slight mis-reported detail was that it was not a race...however if it was, I won) and raise awareness for our respective charities. I represented only a small fraction of the stories all over the country above, so I'd say we succeeded. 

Most of us ran in full Superhero costumes, ranging from Quail Man, to the Joker, to Thor (complete with giant homemade hammer), to "Marathon Girl," and other such newly-minted Superheroes. My 'costume' was admittedly a bit simplistic - I ran as Shawn Thornton - but I wanted to stress that, at least in my eyes, people like Shawn or the people who ran 18 miles in full costume last week are already doing heroic things.

I think I've probably mentioned this before, but running sucks sometimes. 

Running in a harsh Boston winter sucks even more. Since the beginning of the year (calendar, not running year), it's snowed at least half a dozen times and temperatures have reached below 25 degrees 43 times. That creates tough road and sidewalk conditions, which makes running even more of a pain. Jumping over snow banks gets pretty old after 12 miles or so, except at this point in the season, you still have 4-8 miles to go. This past weekend when temperatures reached 55 both days, the amount of runners on my usual paths increased exponentially. Those of us who are training for Boston don't really have the luxury of waiting for those pristine late-winter days though, we're out there clad in head-to-toe spandex, 3-5 times a week, regardless.

This happens often.

You get the idea. It's cold and stuff. But, even crazier, that's not even close to where the commitment to Boston 2014 ends. After you've put in 18 miles this morning, after your cool down, stretching, ice bath, 3000 calorie meal, and shower, you've got another job: fundraising. I'd guess that 80% of the people I'm training with this year have to raise the BAA set minimum of $7,500 for charity. The other 20% may have waivers from not finishing last year, or may have even qualified, but the minimum, with waiver, to just to be accepted to one of the teams I run with is $1,000. Most are raising far more than that. 

It's a huge commitment, mentally and physically. However, not one of these Superheroes I run with complains (too much) about the cold. It's pretty much a running joke (see what I did there?) among us now. No one complains about how high the fundraising minimum is. We all have full time jobs in addition to our running lives, but, as often happens when people do something they love, there are no complaints about the time commitment. We couldn't be happier to be a part of this. Sometimes I wonder if I'm smiling too much when I run in the snow. People think it's odd. But I can't get enough of this running season. 

We're getting down to the wire - 40 days to go now - and I have to admit I'll miss it when it's over. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to miss 15 mile runs, in 10 degree weather, on ice, at 8AM. I'm going to miss running with my second family, with whom, over the past year and a half, I've been through a lot. 

The one thing I ask in return: for you to support me or one of the Superheroes with whom I run. Team MR8 for Martin Richard, the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, WalkBoston, GoKids Boston, the NE Patriots Foundation, Dreamfar, Lazarus House, the Doug Flutie Foundation, or my near and dear Shawn Thornton Foundation, to name a few. There are dozens of other charities though, and I encourage anyone reading this to support them in any way you can. Obviously, financial help is great, but words of encouragement go a long way towards making the mental part of it easier. Every time someone shouts "Yea Bruins!" or "Thorty!" when I run by, my stride gets longer, my pace quickens, yet I feel lighter. It's such a simple thing to do, but you don't realize the effect it has on runners in those conditions. It's nice to know other people are taking notice, not just in Boston but around the country. It makes the extra 2-3 hours per day spent on running and fundraising that much easier. So if you're one of those people who donates or encourages, keep doing that. 

Personally, as far as fundraising goes, I'm over the halfway mark at a little over $4,000, so I could use your help! As always, HUGE thank-you's to everyone who's donated so far, and even bigger ones to those who donate in the future. Your support means everything to me. Makes being a Superhero pretty easy.