From "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953":
October 7, 2010
"When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you." ~Tin Cup (the movie)
Linda Mitchell: You are an inspiration of your defining moment Ms. Mary!
Mary McManus: Aww thank you Lady Linda -- and you were the eyewitness to it all unfolding - xoxo
Linda Mitchell: ...and you are a running inspiration...I keep wondering if I am going to make it through my first 5K, the SGK race for cure in O'ahu on the 17th and then I see all that you run and know I can!!! Someday though you and me still have some unfinished business! That run on the beach in Bermuda!!!! Or we can do the Bermuda Marathon weekend in January some year!
Mary McManus: I just got goosebumps Linda and before I even finished reading, “We have unfinished business,” I knew exactly what you were gonna say -- yup -- we have to run that beach in Bermuda or better yet - when do you turn 60 girlfriend 'cuz I'm planning on doing another marathon for my 60th - you up for it? If we do run the Bermuda Marathon how oh how will I ever find a travel agent to help me make the arrangements? lol
You are gonna do great Linda in the 5K -- no worries -- you are so fit and I know you have been training and I'm so glad that you can use me for some good ol' fashioned inspiration!
Huge hug
Linda Mitchell: Wow what a GREAT idea!!! I turn 60 on August 26 2012 which I think is well before you!! Thanks for the encouragement! I have become super strong in the past year doing all sorts of training I never did! Just recently started running though but I am up for this! Let’s do lunch when I get back from Hawaii and YES you let me know the date and I will find us that travel agent to help us! TEE HEE!
Mary McManus: Oh how awesome! I'll be 60 in 2013 - we are pretty close in age sweetie -- so if we did the Bermuda Marathon in January of 2013 we'd be celebrating the big 6 - 0. Whew I am so glad you can find a good travel agent - one with integrity and service and value are so hard to find these days - wink wink. I'd love to do lunch Linda -- can't wait to see photos of Hawaii. God bless you my friend. xoxoxo
Linda Mitchell was our Bermuda travel agent. After I was diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, she suggested that I visualize running along a beach in Bermuda to inspire my body to heal. I didn't even know how to begin to imagine myself running along a beach so after I wrote the poem, “Running the Race,” I watched “Forrest Gump.”
Linda and I lost touch but I took the healing suggestions she offered me and I well, ran with them!
Life happened and I took the Bermuda Marathon Weekend off my bucket list.
When Tom and I saw the Bermuda Marathon Weekend Booth at different race expos we briskly walked by while only taking a sideways glimpse at the inviting poster and hearing the Bermudian accents. Their booths at the Expo brought back memories of our many trips to the magical Island of Bermuda. At one Boston Marathon Expo, the representative (who I now know was the Race Director) for Race Weekend tried to stop us in our tracks. We shook our heads and hands, “No thank you.”
In December of 2014, I sustained a very serious left knee injury.
MRI indicated a whole host of problems with my knee that led the physiatrist to tell me that 1) I never should have started running in the first place as a survivor of paralytic polio. 2) I should stop running. 3) Since I was going to ignore #2 I needed to cap my distance at a 5K - oh okay at most maybe one 5 mile race a year. 4) Prepare for a total knee replacement in a few years. 5) I should really return to the Post Polio clinic because it was only a matter of time until the disease of Post-Polio Syndrome progressed again.
I took the referral for a physical therapist who turned out to be the physical therapist from hell and did what I did after being diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome....I got still and asked for Divine Guidance.
The Universe once again sent me everything I needed with a chiropractor and healing resources to recharge my use of visualization, and by July of 2015 I had my come back race: the Finish at the 50 5K.
From "The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953":
Anthony Raynor and Clarence Smith had me at hello at the Bermuda Marathon Weekend Booth at the Finish at the 50 Expo. Tom started chatting with Clarence "Stoker" Smith. I hung back but cocked an ear to the conversation. I gingerly eyed the pink Bermuda wrist bands, the bling from Bermuda Marathon Weekend races and the samples of pink sand. I glanced at Tom and felt we each had a tug at our souls. The tug got stronger with each moment we talked with Clarence and Anthony. We reminisced about when we went to Bermuda. I felt goosebumps and a warm feeling come over me, while a part of me was wondering why was I even having this conversation about running in Bermuda. Several months ago I was told to cap my distance and prepare for a total knee replacement.
“If you can get up to the Half Marathon distance, you’ll be better off than running the 10K with all of its steep hills,” Anthony said in his delicious Bermudian accent.
“The last time I was in Bermuda I was in a leg brace using a cane and a wheelchair.”
Clarence's wife said, "Look at you now girl."
There was no stopping me now. We exchanged information. Clarence told us he'd pick us up at the airport. I chatted with Anthony about the weather in January.
"Look," he said with a deep warm laugh, "I was told you people still have piles of snow near the Seaport Hotel from this past winter. I can guarantee you this. You will have no snow in Bermuda in January."
And so began my Bermuda Marathon Weekend adventure.
Team McManus went on to run 3 consecutive Bermuda Half Marathons each with its own adventure testing mettle and forging fabulous friendships to last a lifetime.
One month from today we leave winter behind in Boston for that Island paradise once more. I will not be running this year. I get to experience all of the International Race Weekend festivities without any pre-race jitters or pain and strain from training for a half marathon. Tom will run the 10K on Saturday.
What was once on my bucket list - and then it wasn't and then it was has now become an annual pilgrimage. Bermuda Marathon Weekend is a time to refuel, refresh, renew friendships and make new ones. It's a time to explore and discover and experience all the magic that is Bermuda Marathon Weekend.
To your health and wellness
From my heart to yours
Mary
My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.
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:
Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):
***Coming Soon - The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953***
“The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance tapping into the powerful connection she experienced to the Divine from an early age. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running. Her story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog, discovering the meaning of different ability and experiencing the stunning view from the back of the pack of a race. You will have the privilege of bearing witness to how Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her. The sport of running provides the backdrop for her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary that tested her mettle while forging friendships to last a lifetime. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life.
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