Celebrating Ten Years of Healing: The Gift of Running Part III

There's no such thing as a fake runner and it doesn't matter how far or how fast you run ... you're a runner. Great wisdom from two running greats!

Tom and I are watching Mind Over Marathon on YouTube. It's a two part documentary that chronicles 10 people who struggle with their mental health on the road to the London Marathon. From the very first run, and mind you none of these individuals had run before or were part of the running community, a few of the runners went back to join the slowest runner in the pack.

We runners are a very special breed and we do travel in packs looking out for each other, honoring the runner's code and celebrating the accomplishments and success of individual runners without judgment about the pace. PR's are celebrated regardless of the pace.

Here's one of my favorite moments from these past 10 years of my healing journey at the Bill Rodgers 5K Run for Prostate Cancer.



Tom can easily run a 9 minute mile but he stays with me, paces me, supports and encourages me and celebrates every mile with me.

I was trained and ready to take on my second CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon this year. Every week I did a 5 day training cycle that included a 5K during the week and a long run on the weekends.

Race day was not exactly how I planned it yet it turned out to be quite the story.

I went out too fast, did not honor the conditions of the day and the road conditions were not ideal. I let the voices of the past put pressure on myself to finish in under four hours which was the time limit for the Half Marathon rather than enjoy the race as I had in 2016.



I knew the Race Director and I knew that the course and finish line would stay open until the Marathoners completed their race but sometimes the voices from the past are stronger than reasoning in the present.

I began experiencing some cramping and back spasms at mile 9. By mile 10 I was listing to to my left and Tom was worried I was injured. By mile 12 I couldn't straighten up. We stopped and I stretched and hydrated. A beautiful woman stopped and asked if I was okay; did I need water? anything? We reassured her I was fine and she went on her way to bring in a friend of hers who was a marathoner and struggling to get to the finish.

At about mile 12.5 she came running up to us. I had decided at that point to put my arm around Tom to support my hip. She said in a delightful British/Bermudian accent that she was going to help me to the finish as other runners had done for her in Chicago and Philadelphia.



As we approached the finish chute she stepped out of the way so that she would not be in our finisher's photo:


It's taken me awhile to embrace and celebrate myself as a runner no longer apologizing for my pace.

Just the fact that I'm running at all is a miracle and the fact that I continue to run and train and strive for my optimal level of health and fitness is a miracle.



It's a miracle that 10 years ago I did not let a diagnosis define or defy me. It's a miracle I found my way to Dr. Ryan J. Means, a healer chiropractor who helped me recover from that serious knee injury in December of 2014, turned me onto the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza and reminded me to set goals not limits. It was a miracle that I found the courage to start and not quit before the miracle happened!

To be continued....

To going the distance with strength and courage,
~Mary


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.

With Gratitude to J Alain Ferry - I Leave My Doubts at the Starting Line

I'm nervous. I'm excited. I just want Monday to arrive yet I want to savor every moment leading up to race day. Friday is t-shirt and bib pick up at City Sports for the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. I'll have a lunch date after bib pick up with Tom. I just want to cross the starting line. I just want to cross the finish line hearing the cheers from Tom and my running family. I want to experience every foot strike of the 6.2 miles on the Tufts 10K course. I want to run smart from the inside out and I would like to see my finish time better than 1:36:09 which was my finish time the last time I ran Tufts in 2010, "body and conditions willing" as my friend Gail Martin likes to say.

As I countdown to Tufts feeling all of the emotions that one feels leading up to a big race day, I have to express my heartfelt gratitude to J Alain Ferry of RaceMenu. I put in training runs, raced, put the time in the pool with Aquatics Therapy at Spaulding Rehab and continue now with mental and Spiritual preparation for Monday, but thanks to the overwhelming support, unconditional love and encouragement of Alain and his races, in addition to feeling nervous, excited and all the rest, I feel strong and confident going into Monday's race.

"Are you J Alain Ferry?" I asked Alain well into our volunteer shift together at the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon Weekend and Festival.

"Yes. That would be me," he replied.

Alain was the driving force behind the #onerun on May 25, 2013 which marked the beginning of my running comeback:



We talked about what the #onerun meant to me, to Alain and to the city of Boston. He reminded me that he was the one who pulled out his bib from his pocket and said that we have a race to finish during the pre-race ceremony on that chilly, rainy morning in May where the weather could not dampen the spirits of everyone present.

As I ran the #onerun, I remembered why I ran the 2009 Boston Marathon and why I run. I knew in every fiber of my being I had to get back to running and the running community. I reached out and added my running friends on Facebook who were eager to reconnect and I weeded out the people I had brought into my circle who were not living Truth.

Alain handed me postcards to share with my running groups for the inaugural Bill Rodgers 5K Race to benefit Prostate Cancer.

"All ages and all abilities?" I inquired. "Absolutely," was Alain's reply.

"Oh and I'm also the race director for the Spectacle Island Run," Alain told me.

"My friend Elizabeth told me about that but she left Boston.com and I wasn't planning on running it. It's all ages and all abilities, right?"

"Absolutely. She is going to try to come back for race day so you definitely have to do it."

I registered that evening for the Bill Rodgers 5K and Spectacle Island races.

I was planning to run one race in June, my Corrib Pub 5K that was my very first 5K road race ever in 2008 and then train alone for Tufts. I was going to find women at my pace who I could run with at Tufts. But life has a way of redirecting us to where we need to be. Instead, I decided to run Tufts alone and ended up running 5 races between June and today. Each one has treasured memories and a special place in my heart but Alain's races took me to new places in my running comeback.

As a race director he has thousands and thousands of details to attend to before a race. I didn't even know I was on his radar before the Bill Rodgers 5K but he was reading my blogs and was there to cheer me on to a strong finish nailing my PR for the day. He told me it was a very special moment for him as a race director to see me with tears in my eyes digging so deep for that final stretch to the finish. When I crossed that finish line I reclaimed the runner within me. What a blessing to have the love and support of WCVB's Phil Lipof in a special post race ceremony surprise after Alain shared my inspirational story with him:



I panicked before the Spectacle Island Run after seeing the course maps. Alain responded to my Facebook posts and took the time to respond to my emails. I was almost ready to bail on the race but he told me I was ready and I was going to crush it. And crush it I did by persevering through hills and heat!





I'll be carrying Alain's love and support with me as I run the Tufts 10K on Monday. My body now knows how it feels to race again and to nail a PR. And while I feel nervous and excited, I feel strong and confident. With deepest gratitude to J Alain Ferry, I leave my doubts at the starting line.






The first 7 years of my healing odyssey are chronicled in Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility available on Amazon. I donate 50% of royalty payments to The One Fund Boston to help survivors and their families who were affected by the tragic events of 4/15/13.



I'm working on my 2nd book, "Journey Well," due out later this year:

A Spectacular Spectacle Island Race

I dedicated my race to the children in Colorado who are dealing with a polio-like virus that is causing muscle weakness and paralysis following a severe respiratory infection. I was stunned when the story popped up in my Facebook news feed. I wanted them to know that even though they, and their parents are facing a terrifying time, that they will heal and recover and some day run a trail race. I carried Phil Lipoff in my heart with me through the trails of Spectacle Island sending him love and healing. He was loving and supportive after I PR'ed the Bill Rodgers 5K Run/Walk to Benefit Prostate Cancer. He faced a life threatening illness and is slowly finding his strength again but it's a long road to recovery for him.

I am so blessed and grateful for J Alain Ferry of RaceMenu. After seeing the course maps with caution zones and cross overs and elevation and unpaved surfaces, I panicked.



He told me I'd be fine and that I would crush the course. I slept well and had a good breakfast. I'd been hydrating yesterday knowing that it was going to be hot out on the course with temperatures predicted in the 80's. I was hoping for a sea breeze being out in the harbor but there were no breezes to be had.

It was a festive atmosphere from the moment we arrived at the dock of the Provincetown II Ferry. Among the 800+ people, I managed to find my Facebook friend, Ilene Fabisch, to meet for the first time in real life. She started running 2 years ago at the age of 54 years old. She has logged over 250 miles in races this year and is a beautiful soul.



The ferry ride to the Island was spectacular:



There were bathrooms at the Visitor Center on the Island and the lines moved quickly. We saw the 5 milers take off for their race and I could feel my pre race anxiety begin to build. "What if the water stops are gone? What if the volunteers are gone by the time we get there and we get lost?" I could feel the wound of lugging my leg brace after contracting paralytic polio and being left behind alone and hurt fearing that my little body wouldn't be able to make it home by myself. Tom reminded me, "Mary ... this is an Alain Ferry race. You know you have nothing to worry about." I took a few deep breaths and told myself they put 600 flags to mark the course and there's really no way we could get lost on the Island. "Just go out there and do it girl," I told myself.

Alain came riding through on his bicycle after getting the 5 milers off and told us to make way so he could get us started:



The view at the start:


Right before we were about to start, the front of the pack for the 5 mile race were crossing the finish line. Their speed was amazing! We broke out into cheers for them.

There were no pace markers so we started in the middle of the pack. Tom asked me what my race strategy was. I told him I wanted to go out with the pack and then see how I feel. We started out running and I realized that given the heat of the day and the course I would fare better race walking. I was focused and running from the inside out. The volunteers were amazing cheering us on. The day was hot and the course was hilly with elevation going up to 130' at one point. There were very few patches of level ground. Fortunately, for a trail race, there were no obstacles, just different terrain surfaces.

The water stops were wonderful and the volunteers so encouraging. They stayed out on the course until every runner passed through. I dumped water on my head to stay cool. Throughout the course I enjoyed the magnificent vista that was before us:



Alain came riding up on his bike and said, "Oh there you are." He gave me a huge hug and started to take a selfie with us but his walkie talkie went off. He asked me how I was doing and told me that he knew I could do this course. He said we'd take photos later and to go "eat the rest of the course." I was fueled for the rest of the race.

As we were going up the final hill, I could feel that I was feeling a little dizzy and nauseous. I slowed my pace way down and Tom took my hand as we ascended that steep hill. One foot in front of the other. I looked below us and saw other runners coming up the trail. Before we began the race, Tom said to me that he didn't understand why I had the assumption that I was going to finish last. He was right. In fact, I finished 4/5 in my age group 60+ and 317/341 runners. There was no way I was going to PR for a 5K given the course and conditions but in essence I did PR because it was my first trail race. What a relief to have the downhill to the finish line. We sprinted together crossing the finish line with a feeling of triumph!

John Bingham said it best, ""Our running shoes are really erasers. Every step erases some past failure. Every mile brings us closer to a clean slate. Each foot strike rubs away a word, a look, or an event which led us to believe that success was beyond our grasp."

I found Alain on the boat during the apres race partay:



He hugged me so tightly and told me how proud he was of me. He said, "I will always have your back at a race." And with those words, and after conquering my first trail race, that wound that had been open for 55 years was healed. I told him how blessed I am to have him in my life and he told me he too is blessed.

As we rode the ferry back to Boston, I felt accomplished, blessed and grateful to have these wonderful opportunities to feel my strength, my determination and my courage with people who support me as I find higher and higher ground in my healing journey.



The first 7 years of my healing odyssey are chronicled in Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing, Hope and Possibility available on Amazon. I donate 50% of royalty payments to The One Fund Boston to help survivors and their families who were affected by the tragic events of 4/15/13.



I'm working on my 2nd book, "Journey Well," due out later this year: