Run 4 Marcy 10K 2010: Finish the Race

Lately, flying to different parts of the country on business has been a prevalent part of my schedule for the last couple of months. It's been very interesting exploring the flooded roads of Nashville, the historical monuments again of Washington DC, and Penn State College Stadium (Joe Paterno was no where to be found, but we did score some cool Penn State College caps that my friend gave to us).

After each trip, I would find myself standing in the dark on my front porch doing my best to be as silent as possible as I pushed opened my front door. Despite the slow turning of my key and door knob, the wind chimes that I attached to the other side of the door started to clang and the jingling sound mixed with the creaking noise from the hinges to shatter the silence. Combined with Bailey woofing away to greet me with her wagging tail in the family room, the kids were amazingly still sound asleep.

I drop off my bag of worn cloths along with a bag of manufacturer's literature, and I quietly stepped towards the kid's rooms. With only the hallway light, my eyes adjust to see Elijah's head at the foot of his bed and his butt in the air and Zachary all sprawled out with his blanket kicked to the floor. I adjusted the both of them and kissed them on their cheeks good night. Then over to Emily's room. She looks angelic with her palms pressed together placed under her left cheek. I kissed her forehead and say, "Goodnight." Irene had one of her books off to the side of the bed with her glasses looking crooked off the bridge of her nose. She kind of mumbles, "Goodnight" and then turns to her side to further fall into deep slumber.

I really wanted to wake them up to tell them about my latest trip to Anaheim, and how I ran around the perimeter of Disneyland only to see the tops of Tower of Terror and Space Mountain. Mickey wasn't anywhere to be found.

As I unwound and dusted off the pixie dust, my thoughts came around to a 10K race that I had an opportunity to help out. The race was the 2^nd Annual Run 4 Marcy in honor of my friend and neighbor, Marcy D'Aguanno who passed away last year. She was an avid runner and tri-athlete and I even did the same New York City Marathon in 2008, of course she finished well ahead of me. Because of her competitive nature, this race had to be a competitive 10K with the winners having their name engraved on a pretty cool looking cup trophy to be displayed at our local running store, Second Wind.

The day started out with a little drizzle misting our small village, as we arrived early Sunday morning at our water stop which was in front of my son's classmate's house. His father was a most gracious host as 5 pairs of wet feet traipsed through this home as we prepared for the race. I would have loved to hand out water for the runners, but the role of traffic stopper was calling my name just at the corner of Mt Gray and Hillside. From there, the runners headed north to the finish line at West Meadow Beach, where they also started.

As it turned out, most of the participants passed up the eager older children holding the cups of water for a cup from our smallest volunteers. If I see a small child hold that cup of water for me, that is the one I usually grab. It's great to see their eyes light up, knowing that they did something important and helpful.

I covered my head with the hood from my running jacket and I thought about what would happen to my family if something happened to me. More about this towards the end of this writing…

Several drivers that came to my corner were happy to find a different route to their destination. Finally a police officer drove up to the corner and directed the traffic, which freed my hands and arms to jiggled my blue 2008 NYC Marathon cowbell memorabilia making it clang as loud as possible. "More cowbell!" It was a thrill to give some support by cheering on my neighbors as they rounded the corner. My guess is that the race attracted about a hundred runners, raising money for the Memorial Fund.

As the race wound down, Irene headed off to work. She drove down carefully, looking out for runners, she rolled down her window and kissed me goodbye. What would I do without the love of my life?

A police car followed to what appeared to be the final runner, and the officer confirmed that he was the last runner. I yelled out, "Looking Good! Way to Go!" I then headed back to collect the 3 little volunteers before they cause too much trouble at the house. I asked them how was it and did they give out a lot of water. "Most people did not need water. They were all wet anyway!" I gave them all hugs and told them, "Good Job!" Life really changes when you have children!

Lately, I find myself doing my best to talk about mortality, whenever the subject flashes across the television screen. Sometimes, Emily will have a teary eye and start crying after she sees a story about someone passing on. She usually says is, "I hope nothing happens to you, because I am going to miss you so much." I always give her a hug and wipe away her tears. I then tell her how much I love her and how important it is to recognize what is really important. There are plenty of things that we don't plan on, so we must make choices everyday, regardless if they are right and wrong, and most important being able to move forward because other people are count on you to do so.

Zachary is starting to comprehend the impact of death, and Elijah is still too young to understand. Elijah is probably the happiest person in the world.

Well the least I could to for my kids and Irene is to be physically and mentally fit. Physically, I am in the best shape I have been in a very long time. As for my mental state, the kids would agree that I am insane, but this subject is for a different time to discuss.

To Emily, Zachary, and Elijah, when you read this message after you find it in all of my messy files and start packing my junk away into storage. And while I continually remind you of how much I love you. There will be a time where we will part. These short messages detailing every step I took, every time I wiped the sweat off my brow, and every time I signed up to do another marathon, was another way I wanted to communicate how much I loved you and the running was one way to be around as long as possible for you. The running was never about me, it was always about you, and all the medals that draped around my neck were no replacement for any of the hugs, especially the ones where you sometimes stop the blood flow of my carotid artery.