Last week I celebrated 10 years of healing after being diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine Standards marking the day I left my 20 year career as a VA social worker to heal my life.
This weekend marked the beginning of a new decade - for me and for Team McManus. After 9 years, our daughter Ruth Anne is joining us once again to train and run. Our last big race together was the 2009 Boston Marathon:
Whenever there's a Paul Collyer/BA Event Promotions race in Hyannis, there is bound to be magic!
Our usual annual pilgrimage to Hyannis happens in February where we gather for Camp Hyannis. When I saw that Paulie (as he likes to be called) was going to have races on Memorial Day Weekend, including a 5K distance, Tom and I decided it was time to have a warmer weather adventure to Olde Cape Cod. I wasn't able to run the Hyannis 10K this year and so it was an extra special treat to be able to run Sunday's race.
The "magic" began when David O'Leary who I was blessed to meet two years ago as part of his work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and on air talent for Boston's radio station Magic 106.7 posted this on Facebook: "I NEED RUNNING SONGS!!
The Johnny Kelley Half-Marathon is less than a week away!! I'll be running 13.1 miles this Sunday to raise awareness about depression and mental illness, and to fund raise for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. You can help me! For a donation of ANY AMOUNT I'll add whatever song you suggest to my running playlist. You name it!! Frank Turner, Loverboy, Nat King Cole, ANYTHING!! Please leave a song title for my playlist in the comments, then click the link below, make a donation and know that I'll be thinking of you with every step on Sunday. In gratitude- D.
#StopSuicide #Project20205 #AFSPNational"
He followed it up with a post and tagged Tom and me in it:
"Getting ready to run! THANK YOU to Nancy Farrell, Tova & Ron Cohen, Savita & Michael Brewer, Melissa Rogers, Teri King, Jenn Adams, Cynthia Durney, Colleen Bresnahan Creamer, Jim & Sheryl Stockless, Kathy Schreiber, Linda Marino, Mary & Tom McManus, Susan Davies. Maureen & Steve Condon, Alicia O'Leary, Jill& Mark Andrew, Peter Miller, Carolina Sala-Kotz, Kathy Davies O'Leary and everyone else who has made a donation to AFSP.
Click the link in the comment below to make a donation of your own and help save lives. With thanks- David"
The excitement for race day began to build.
Suicide has touched our family with the loss of my father in 1971 and my nephew in 2011. Knowing that we had donated to support David's run and that part of the proceeds from the race were going to the AFSP fueled my excitement for Sunday's race!
A Facebook post from one of our friend's that we made in Bermuda in 2016 said that she had hoped to see us on Sunday. She was running the Half and we have seen her at Camp Hyannis 2016 and 2017.
We made it over the Sagamore Bridge and into Hyannis before 9am. We decided we wanted to do all the things that were unique to the Cape. We pulled in to have breakfast at the Hearth and Kettle.
The skies that had brought misting and showers during some of the drive to the Cape and the clouds that hovered in the early morning would later give way to glorious Sunshine!
When we arrived at the Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis we were greeted by the manager Jim who kindly upgraded our room for no extra charge since Ruth Anne would be joining us for the weekend. He gives a whole new meaning to customer service! He warmly welcomed us back. We had a room at the end of the first floor hallway overlooking the golf course:
After we unpacked we went into downtown Hyannis. I've never had the opportunity to play tourist in Hyannis because I would be working a table at the Hyannis Marathon Expo Weekend. You can see how the skies cleared! We went to the JFK Memorial, and the Korean Veterans Memorial, enjoyed walks on the beach on Ocean Street and Craigville Beach before heading to Main Street.
What better touristy thing to do than to take this kind of a photo:
We strolled up and down Main Street, had a delicious lunch at the British Beer Company and then went to Bib Pick Up:
We spent the afternoon relaxing in the beautiful Hyannis sunshine at the hotel, watching golfers out on the course, playing cards, reading and checking in on Facebook. So many of my runner friends were getting race ready for Sunday races from the Cape to Boston to Vermont.
Our go to place for dinner when we are in Hyannis is the Roadhouse Cafe. What a treat to experience the restaurant with the uniquely Cape light streaming in through the windows. We savored their salad with their homemade salad dressing. Ruth Anne and I fueled ourselves with their Cedar Planked Roasted Salmon with orange Jack Daniels glaze, sauteed spinach and jasmine rice and Tom devoured their Chicken Saltimbocca boneless chicken breast topped with parma prosciutto, fresh sage, spinach and fontina cheese in a marsala wine sauce, served with parmesan risotto:
To relax and get ready for race day, we returned to the beach.
We tried to take a selfie and laughed so hard at our foiled attempts:
There were two lovely young ladies playing around on the Lifeguard stand and were gracious enough to take this photo:
I captured this beautiful father/daughter moment:
Tom and Ruth Anne captured me in my happy place:
We watched the sun set:
It was early to bed Saturday night after showers and getting everything ready for the return to the roads of mighty Team McManus. We had a 7:30am gun time which meant we had a 5:30am wake up call.
To be continued....
To going the distance with strength and courage!
~Mary
Be sure to visit my website by following this link.
My books are available on Amazon.
Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life
Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:
And my latest and greatest book - Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):
No comments:
Post a Comment