It's September, so that means once again, my beautiful wife put her peds to pavement and walked the 13.1 miles from Wellesley to Boston along the Boston Marathon course to support the Jimmy Fund and to help combat cancer!
For the second year in a row, Jack dedicated the walk to her dad, who battled and beat cancer for several years. As always, she was joined by her entourage, including her sister Annie, a survivor herself, who amazingly bumped into Dr. Stone, the doctor who helped her through her fight, as she walked through the streets of Brookline. Folks were able to offer a personal thanks to the doctor, and show him the results of his great work, walking right alongside him. Also returning for the commute were two of Jack's biggest cheerleaders, Andrew and Heather. And this year, Lowell PD dispatcher Colleen Cullen Sheehy, who's become a walking machine herself of late, joined in on Heartbreak Hill! (You may also notice Heather's colorful socks, always a crowd favorite, made their return as well.)
Andrew and I ran out from the finish to meet with walkers at our usual rendezvous point in Brookline!
Heading into the final two miles, the group shows some oomph at the Kenmore Square water stop
Andrew, bleeding purple for Holy Cross, strikes his victory pose before the fabled sign
Ready to go right on Hereford, left on Boylston (anyone who's done the Boston Marathon knows what I'm talking about), Jackie with her best boosters, hand-in-hand to get to the finish
Heather would have loved to have stopped at Gucci's, but luckily the Patriots game was approaching, so we had to beat feet. Whew!
Making it to Copley Square, Annie was joined by her two biggest - and tallest - supporters, John (Squared)
With of course, the annual welcome to Boylston smooch from hubbie John
The group of supporters awaiting us at the finish is staggering and inspiring. The sense of accomplishment for the over 8,000 walkers is made even more poignant by all of the cancer survivors there to greet and thank the walkers.
The victory smooch for the bestest of friends, to cap the feat.
And because I know many of you were worried - yes, Andrew did get to eat at the finish. Somehow, the boy always finds the food. Meet Nathan's Hot Dogs' newest poster boy.
This event is absolutely one of our favorite outings of the whole calendar year. It's one of the best-run events out there. Kudos to organizers. There's a great feeling in the air, and we actually get to feel as though we're helping to make a difference in the lives of some of the cherubic little faces of the juvenile cancer fighters on the mile marker posters along the route. Hopefully, we can not only help conquer cancer, but we can kick its ass in the process!
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