Going the Distance: Flashback Friday to Team McManus' First Half Marathon

A memory popped up in my Facebook News Feed this morning with a link to an article in the Cape Cod Times.

February 2009 - Team McManus had already run longer than 13.1 miles but the Hyannis Half Marathon would be our first opportunity to be a part of a race at the Half Marathon distance.



I was so nervous about the race! I had the Corrib Pub Run 5K, the Marathon Sports 5 Miler and the Tufts 10K in 2008 but I never raced a half marathon before.

I emailed the Race Director Paul Collyer, told him my story about going from a wheelchair and a leg brace after being diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine Standards to the 2009 Boston Marathon. He reassured me that there was no problem with a time requirement since the Half Marathoners and Marathoners start and finish in the same place.

I introduced myself to him at the pre-race pasta dinner and he said what a pleasure it was to meet me. It was, to quote Casablanca, the start of a beautiful friendship!

Ruth Anne had some kind of a stomach bug and didn't join us at the pre-race pasta dinner. She was a doubtful starter but wanted to make the trip with us.

At the pre-race pasta dinner I was in awe to meet Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. I told them my story and they were so incredibly supportive of my undertaking of the 2009 Boston Marathon.



While waiting in line to get our posters signed, I struck up a conversation with another runner who was in awe of my story. In addition to experiencing paralytic polio as a child, I endured 9 years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of family members. I shared with him how I discovered the redemptive power of running. He told me that I had to come to his running club to speak! This was the introduction to my beautiful running village and friendships through the years with both the Merrimack Valley Striders and L Street Running Clubs.

When we woke up the next morning Ruth Anne said she was going to run the race! We didn't think to take a selfie (did they even do selfies back in the day?) or any photos along the way. We had a race plan from our personal trainer and our Coach but when the rain turned to freezing rain and sleet we forgot all about hydration and fueling.

By the time we returned to the ballroom I was shivering and a bit hypothermic but it didn't matter. I had my first race medal


and a blessing from a Gold Medal Olympian, Frank Shorter. Despite the thousands of runners in the ballroom, we found each other. He put both of his hands on the sides of my arms as my body shivered. He looked deep into my eyes and said, "I have no doubt that you are going to finish the Boston Marathon." He told me to get some hot soup and hydrate and then shower.

A reporter was next to me and despite feeling queasy and shivering I wanted to give him my story. What a thrill to see my name in print in the Cape Cod Times!

As soon as I got upstairs I hurled while giving thanks for what we had just done.

What an incredible sense of accomplishment!

When we returned to Hyannis the following year, I had Frank and Bill sign my bib:


Tomorrow Team McManus will deposit another 8.5 miles in the Bank of Bermuda on the road to the Bermuda Half Marathon. It will be a thrill to return to Bermuda as Team McManus and run our first half marathon race since Hyannis in 2009!

Go 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):

Celebrating 10 Years of Healing: The Gift of Running Part V

The gift of running is the gift that keeps on giving!

It's a gift I give to myself every time I lace up my running shoes and go out for a run. It's the gift of health and wellness and the gift of challenging myself; of being One with nature and testing myself out in the elements. It's the joy in the journey of preparing to get to a starting line and the sheer exhilaration of racing and crossing a finish line.

Running is a sport like no other where you can get up close and personal with running greats.

I had the privilege of meeting Bart Yasso during Bermuda Race Weekend and here in Boston and Tom ran part of the Bermuda Triangle Half Challenge 10K with Bart:


Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter signed my 2009 Boston Marathon bib. They have been so supportive of my running journey whenever our paths have crossed through the years:


And I was blessed to meet Jacqueline Hansen at the Hyannis Marathon Weekend in 2016:


She touched my heart in this moment during the Hyannis 10K - from "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance":
In the distance a figure came toward us. The expanse of ocean was to our left and this beautiful woman came up on our right. She stopped me to give me a hug. She whispered in my ear," Run with all your heart." I felt she was my fairy godmother and I was Cinderella being told, "You will go to the ball." It was Jacqueline! You see growing up as a survivor of paralytic polio I was always the outcast. When it came to gym I was "easy out Alper” and those words were seared into me. I was bullied and teased and struggled with my identity as a runner when I first started running....
After Jaqi's hug I felt something ignite within me. My pace picked up and a woman behind us said, "Excuse me...is this the right course for the 10K?" We told her it was and laughed and shared with her my fear about losing our way on the course. She asked if she could run with us. She was supposed to run the half but had an injury and was running the 10K course but wouldn't cross the finish line. I had the opportunity to share my journey with her and she asked me when the book was coming out. Coincidentally, several years earlier, she had run Bermuda. We took in the beautiful views of the course and shared our memories of running Bermuda. Suddenly mile 5 was upon us. I had not stopped for 5 miles. I slowed down to take water and have a half of a Luna bar at mile 2 (when our bodies told us we needed to refuel) but I was running non stop for 5 miles! I knew that I needed to take a brief pause remembering how Jeffrey {my muscular therapist} told me that our bodies can reset in as little as 30 seconds. I hydrated and knew I wanted to run the last 1.2 miles strong.

And Jacqui wrote the Foreword to my book, "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance"!

There are moments and friendships to last a lifetime that I will continue to share as I share my running chronicles and adventures as I continue to go the distance on the roads and in my life.

For today, I leave you with this precious memory that happened on Heartbreak Hill during the 2009 Boston Marathon.

From "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility":
At mile 20, there was Dom, our team trainer. He had tears in his eyes as he embraced Team McManus. He put his hands on my shoulders and said, 'you're gonna qualify - go finish. I'm so proud of you. Go get your medal'

As a mobility impaired runner, I was on pace to finish to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Back then a finish under 8 hours meant that I was qualified to run Boston again. However, one time would be enough!

On May 25th, I will celebrate my 10 year anniversary of when I left my award winning career as a VA social worker to "heal my life." I had no idea that the gift of running would become a part of my life nor that I would be able to go the distance again after a serious knee injury in December of 2014. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Ryan J. Means, my earth angel healer chiropractor who came into my life at precisely the right moment to get me back on my healing path.

Here's to the next 10 years!

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):


Mary McManus, MSW knew challenges since she was five years old beginning with contracting polio followed by enduring nine years of violence at the hands of family members. Those early challenges prepared her for taking on the challenge of the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease in December 2006 when she was at the height of her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Asking for Divine Guidance as she had throughout her trials and tribulations, she discovered the gift of poetry in her soul. Her first poem, “Running the Race,” foreshadowed her 2009 Boston Marathon run. “Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance,” chronicles Mary’s journey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma, as a runner and a woman who refused to quit. Eight years after her diagnosis, she was finally led to two healers, a chiropractor and a muscular therapist, who helped her reclaim her life and go the distance, a woman transformed who embodies the power of endurance.

Camp Hyannis Part III - A Celebration of Healing

May 25, 2017 marks 10 years since I left my award winning career as a VA social worker to "heal my life." I had no idea what that meant! From "Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility:"

I sat at my dining room table on a freezing cold dark February evening. No one else was at home. I had printouts from ‘new age’ teachers spread out all over the table. Dr. Bernie Siegel, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, teachers from “The Secret” which was very popular back in the day were beckoning me. The theme was gratitude and a call to create.

“I am so happy and grateful that I can create,” was an affirmation from a Lisa Nichols newsletter.

Create? Create? I asked myself over and over again. What am I going to create? I had twins and my childbearing years were over. My career was quickly coming to an end.

And then I felt a stirring in my second chakra (only then I didn’t know it was my second chakra – I thought it might have been something I ate). I went over to my laptop in the corner of the living room and I wrote this poem:

Running the Race

Early summer 1959 my kindergarten year
Everyone around me filled with nervous fear
Despite the Salk vaccine hope polio would disappear
The polio virus crept right up and knocked me in the rear.
Dancing all around the gym feeling free just like a bird
I dropped to the ground just like a stone
and no one said a word.
The pain it was so searing-the diagnosis even worse
"It's polio" the doctor said...he was abrupt and terse.
Called one of the 'lucky ones' I had a 'mild case'
But with the other athletes I could never keep their pace.
Miss Holly physical therapist,
curly hair and a warm, broad smile
It tempered the pain of being apart - to walk I'd take awhile.

I always wore those 'special' shoes
the kids they poked and teased
With no support and much abuse
with childhood I wasn't pleased.
But put nose to the grindstone and learned all that I could
I couldn't kick a ball but my grades were always good.
Years went by and no more thought to polio did I give
I accepted the limp and everything else
and decided my life I would live.
But symptoms of weakness and muscle pain did grow
I kept a stoic face hoping no one else would know.

Life no longer was my own I struggled through each day
Suffered in silence, isolated from friends-
trying to keep depression at bay.
And with the grace of glorious God my world it opened wide
I discovered there was a Post Polio team
and they were on my side.

Using wheelchair to travel, set limits on what I could do,
Resulted in joy to realize I could live life anew.
Celebrated my body- creaks, groans and need for a brace
While in my mind I focused on winning a 10K race.
Sought out paths for healing and my spirit flew free
For the first time in life, I could truly be me.
The chains are gone and possibilities abound
I'm a tree with my roots planted firmly in ground.
I'm now off the sidelines, no need to sit and whine
So much gratitude fills my heart and love and beauty shine.
After all these years I can join the loving human race
I exceed all expectations and now I set the pace.

I sobbed to write those words. I had never spoken about polio or the abuse I endured. I became curious. Why am I writing about winning a 10K race?

I was foreshadowing my 2009 Boston Marathon run.

My first Half Marathon was at the Hyannis Marathon Weekend. I emailed the race director, Paul Collyer to make sure that it was an all paces friendly race. I will always remember how supportive Paulie was and has been through the years.

In 2010, I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to ever be able to run again. Tom ran that year and I had a table at the Expo representing Spaulding Rehab:


The summer of 2010 I returned to the roads and a Paulie race! My comeback race was The Charles River Run where Team McManus held hands high triumphantly crossing the finish line.


I went on to PR after PR in different races with Paulie's Jingle Bell Run in Somerville capping off an incredible "run".



In 2011, I ran the Hyannis 10K with my friend Deborah Doiron. Huge snowflakes fell and there was slush underneath our feet but we were so happy to best our 2010 Tufts 10K time.

The wheels fell off the wagon in 2011 after my nephew's suicide but in 2013, after being across the street from where the 2nd bomb exploded at The Forum celebrating my 2009 Boston Marathon run with my Race for Rehab teammates, I knew I had to get back into running.

After another stellar running year in 2014, willing myself to PR and running 9 races in 9 months, I had a serious knee injury. I was not cross training. I had what turned out to be a massage therapist from hell. Trauma and the effects of paralytic polio were still stuck in my body. Things were looking grim - for about a minute - and I decided that no way was anyone going to tell me I couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't run again or cap my distance thanks to finding my way to Dr. Ryan J Means, a chiropractor healer and the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza.

I went on to run the 2016 Bermuda Half Marathon after not being able to run a distance longer than 10K since having run Boston in 2009



What a joy to share my journey at the Race Expo and then run the Hyannis 10K!:


Paulie cheered us on to the finish telling us to stay to the left and head straight to the finish!

Would I be a one hit wonder as I had been before on my healing journey unable to maintain positive momentum?

I went on to run my second CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon in January 2017. It wasn't pretty but as I have done throughout my life when facing challenges, I would not quit:


After the toll that the Half took on me, I knew that I needed to take time to recover and to cheer Tom on in his Hyannis Half. I was blessed to meet so many inspiring people.

I presented Frank Shorter with a copy of my book, "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance." In the introduction, I share how Frank had been a part of my journey since 2009 when I ran my first Half Marathon:
After crossing the finish line of my first half marathon, I came into the ballroom at the Hyannis Resort and Conference Center filled with thousands of runners. Frank Shorter made sure he connected with me amidst the runners celebrating after the race. He could tell that the run had taken a lot of out of me. I was shivering from the sleet that had started falling during the last several miles of the race. He put both of his hands on either side of my arms, looked at me straight in the eye and told me how much courage and strength I had to do what I had just done. He told me he had no doubt that I was going to cross the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon. He told me to hydrate, get some hot soup and take a hot shower. He signed the back of my bib. Frank had seen me as a survivor of paralytic polio who came out of a wheelchair and leg brace to take on the Boston Marathon. I saw him through the starry eyes of a novice runner meeting an Olympic Gold Medalist and an elite runner in every sense of the word.

When I saw Frank again in 2010 at Hyannis, I brought my bib from my Boston Marathon run for him and Bill Rodgers to sign. Frank Shorter signed it: “To Mary, You're unbelievable”





He inspired me to write my book and share my story as a survivor of paralytic polio and severe child abuse after he broke his silence about the severe abuse he suffered at the hands of his father in 2011. Two of Frank's family members contracted polio and ironically enough, his father who was a physician was instrumental in containing the polio epidemic in 1952 in his home town.

The connections, the coming full circle and experiencing a beautiful weaving together of the tapestry of my life came together for me at Camp Hyannis 2017, ten years after writing that first poem and making a choice to not take the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome sitting down!

Out of a hell of a past where I felt I was torn and tattered and shattered into pieces, I have discovered the treasure and the Truth of who I am. My heart overflows with gratitude.

Ten years later - ten years - I celebrate my healing and thank you for being along for the ride!

What's next? You'll have to tune in to tomorrow's blog...

To your health and wellness,
~Mary

Going the Distance: Camp Hyannis 2017 Part I

It's never an easy decision to not run a race especially when it's the Hyannis 10K. After my grueling Bermuda Half Marathon, I realized that I needed time to recover and not put myself through another race even though it would have been a 10K and I certainly had the base for it.

I opted instead to work a table at the Expo and Tom would run the Half Marathon at his own pace. We each had our purpose and our destiny to fulfill.

Our adventure began the moment we crossed over the Sagamore Bridge on our way to Old Cape Cod:


I started singing Old Cape Cod and put on this Youtube Video:


We arrived at the Hyannis Resort and Conference Center. Our room was ready but it was on the 2nd floor on the other side of the hotel. Tom asked the manager if there was anything closer. I chatted about how we've been coming almost every year since 2009! He gave us a room right off of the lobby.

The weather was spectacular and we sat out on our patio before it was time to set up for the Expo:


You never know what weather you are going to get on Cape Cod in February.

In 2011, this was the view from our room:


When we got to the Expo, Race Director Paul Collyer asked me if it was okay that he had me share a table with Paul Clerici who authored a book about the Boston Marathon mile by mile and The Falmouth Road Race. Of course it was! My table was right next to the T Shirt distribution table and just outside the Ballroom where there was packet pick up.

What an absolute joy to celebrate my ten years of healing and transformation. Unpacking my 2009 Hyannis Half Marathon Medal, the first half marathon I'd ever run, my Boston Marathon medal and then after a long hiatus from endurance running, setting out my Bermuda Half Marathon Medal and last year's Hyannis 10K Medal, I realized what a spectacular journey it has been.

With each person I met, I realized what strength and courage I had to not give up.

There were runners training for Boston who were inspired by my 2009 Boston Marathon run.

By 4:45 I was exhausted yet exhilarated. One of my goals for the weekend was to reconnect with Frank Shorter who I met in 2009 and then again in 2010 in Hyannis. In 2011 he shared how he was the survivor of severe child abuse. He inspired me to share my story and in my introduction to Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance, I share how Frank touched my life in so many ways. I went over to his table when there was a lull in the traffic at the Expo and reintroduced myself to him. He overflowed with compassion as I once again shared my story with him only this time I told him about my severe childhood trauma. Frank reminded me, as he had shared with me in 2009 that two of his family members suffered from polio. After I presented him with my book, I wanted to buy a copy of his book but he put them away and said, "I'll sell these later." Instead he took my book and held it close and then came around the table to wrap me in a hug of shared sorrow for what we had lived through yet triumph that we both found running as a source of healing. I could not find the poster he signed for me in 2009 and I asked him if he would sign another poster for me.

To Mary! Thank you! Frank Shorter 2017

It was time to get dinner before coming back to hear Frank Shorter speak. We went to our favorite restaurant during Camp Hyannis weekend, the Roadhouse Cafe. Tom had lasagna and I had their signature Cedar Planked Roasted Salmon with orange Jack Daniels glaze, sauteed spinach and jasmine rice:



We arrived back at the Ballroom to meet some of our camper friends Tony, Mary and another Mary and her husband. I should digress for a moment and let everyone know why we call Hyannis Marathon Weekend Camp Hyannis. Once a year we all make the pilgrimage to Hyannis. We stay in touch on and off during the year via Facebook but just like summer camp, we only see each other once a year. Friendship, fun and sportsmanship abound and when we leave Camp Hyannis we feel rejuvenated as though we drank from the fountain of youth. Before getting ready to run the Hyannis Half in 2009, I emailed Paul Collyer, the race director to let him know my story and to ask him if the race would be appropriate for me. Since it's both a Half and a Full Marathon with two loops, as long as I finished under 6 hours I'd be fine. I remember meeting Paul for the first time. He was so supportive and encouraging of my journey and has been ever since February of 2009!

Frank talked about Sunday's races and gave the runners the night before a race pep talk. With warmth and wit he reminded everyone that eating pasta the night before a race really doesn't do anything for the glycogen stores. It's more a matter of feeding the mind that you are getting ready for the race. He reminded runners about the 3 rules of running a marathon...#1 Don't do anything new. #2 Don't do anything new and #3 Don't do anything new.

He addressed the questions from older runners saying how we could honor our orthopedic structures and slow down as slowly as possible. He talked about acceptance of where our bodies are at any time while also allowing ourselves to over train on the easy days. Frank launched into one of the subjects he is most passionate about - the anti-doping movement. He talked about how opioid abuse begins in the locker room and said that if a doctor wants to offer any pain meds in the class of opioid drugs to stay as far away from that as possible. The only time Frank mentioned his history of child abuse was when he shared how the doctors were amazed at his pain tolerance. I got chills and my eyes filled with tears when he said how he developed that high pain threshold as a result of his father's beatings. He knew that the beatings wouldn't last forever and trained himself to tolerate the pain.



I almost lost the use of my right arm to a staph infection because of the high pain tolerance I developed growing up in response to both the polio and the abuse. I didn't seek medical attention until I lost complete mobility of my right arm. The infection had gone into the bone. But with an angel of an orthopedic surgeon and physical therapy and an angel of a nurse healer, I made it through!

Frank came over after his talk and I asked him if he was selling his books. He said they were all gone but if I send him an email with my info, he'll get one out to me.

He then posed for pictures. As he put his arm around me I said, "Just like in 2009." "That's the last time I was here," he said. "No," I said. "You were here in 2010 and you signed my Boston Marathon bib. That's the last time you were here."



We went back to our room, meditated and got a good night's sleep. We woke up to sunshine streaming through the sheer curtain and the sound of Cape Cod bird songs...

To be continued....

To your health and wellness,
~Mary

Going the Distance: #tbt A Triumphant Return to Camp Hyannis

From "Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance":

After crossing the finish line of my first half marathon, I came into the ballroom at the Hyannis Resort and Conference Center filled with thousands of runners. Frank Shorter made sure he connected with me amidst the runners celebrating after the race. He could tell that the run had taken a lot of out of me. I was shivering from the sleet that had started falling during the last several miles of the race. He put both of his hands on either side of my arms, looked at me straight in the eye and told me how much courage and strength I had to do what I had just done. He told me he had no doubt that I was going to cross the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon. He told me to hydrate, get some hot soup and take a hot shower. He signed the back of my bib. Frank had seen me as a survivor of paralytic polio who came out of a wheelchair and leg brace to take on the Boston Marathon. I saw him through the starry eyes of a novice runner meeting an Olympic Gold Medalist and an elite runner in every sense of the word.



When I saw Frank again in 2010 at Hyannis, I brought my bib from my Boston Marathon run for him and Bill Rodgers to sign. Frank Shorter signed it: “To Mary, You're unbelievable”



After the incredibly challenging Bermuda Half Marathon, I knew that I was not going to do a repeat performance of the Hyannis 10K this year. Team McManus debated back and forth about whether or not we were going to go Hyannis Marathon Weekend this year. Frank Shorter was going to be there again. Camp Hyannis is such a special weekend in February. It's where we have met so many running greats. Last year I was blessed to meet Jacqueline Hansen. She wrote the Foreword to my book. I share the story of when she came out on the race course to give me a hug and whisper in my ear, "Run with all your heart."

Tom turns 65 on March 2nd and we celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary on March 4th (40 years of being together). We decided that if there was a room at the Hyannis Resort and Conference Center, it was a sign we should go and Tom would run the Half Marathon at his race pace. There was a room and Tom is registered!

A week from Saturday Team McManus has a triumphant return to Camp Hyannis. Race Director Paul Collyer told me that there was availability of a table at the Expo where I can share my story to inspire runners and sign and sell copies of Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance.


Why triumphant you might ask? After 10 years of being on a quest to heal the effects from paralytic polio and trauma, I have positive momentum. In January I did something I have never done before - run two consecutive endurance events: The Bermuda Half Marathon in 2016 and 2017. While at the end of a long, challenging day I am sore and tired like everyone else, I am resilient and recover quickly.

It will be emotional for me to see Frank Shorter again who I have not seen since he signed my bib in 2010. Here I am at a table at the Expo still very much a patient at Spaulding Rehab and stuck in my health and wellness journey despite having run the 2009 Boston Marathon.


It's always a joy to see Boston Billy. I will give signed copies of my book to both Frank and Bill. They each played a critical role in my running journey and are an integral part of my going the distance.

It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years since I first experienced the wonder and magic of the Hyannis Marathon Weekend.

I am excited and looking forward to celebrating Tom's 65th birthday with his Half Marathon run and our 40 years of being Team McManus. We'll also be celebrating the miracle of healing in my life that has taken me from a leg brace and a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond!

To your health and wellness,
~Mary