Celebrating Ten Years of Running: On Faith and My First Race Medal

When I decided to leave my award winning career as a VA social worker just 3 years shy of when I was eligible for retirement in May of 2007 to heal my life from the effects of childhood paralytic polio and trauma, it was an act of faith. I couldn't see the whole staircase of what was ahead for me financially, physically (I'd just been diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine standards), emotionally or spiritually. When the words, "And I want to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab Hospital next year" fell out of my mouth when my personal trainer asked me what my next health and fitness goals were in February of 2008, I had no idea what I was doing. I was following a call.

When we arrived in Hyannis for the Hyannis Marathon Weekend in February of 2009, I felt like a fish out of water. Here I was among all these runners sporting their Boston Marathon jackets, shopping at the Expo and seeming far more knowledgeable than I about running. There were signs and synchronicity that let me know I was right where I was supposed to be instinctively sharing my inspirational story about coming out of a leg brace and a wheelchair to take on the running of the 2009 Boston Marathon.

I was in awe that people were in awe of my story. I didn't know that the running community was not only inclusive but embraced my courage to find my way to the sport of running at the age of 54 years old.

I was embraced by the running community AND running greats Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter.

The races leading up to running the Hyannis Half Marathon did not offer medals so you can well imagine my thrill at receiving a medal after I crossed the finish line of my first half marathon race:


As we trained for the 2009 Boston Marathon and committed to our fund raising goal, I had to have the utmost trust and faith that I would succeed. I had no idea where the monies would come from when we first set out on the journey nor did I have any idea how I was going to run 26.2 miles when I'd never run a day in my life before March of 2008.

With patience, perseverance, taking it literally one step and then one mile at a time having the utmost faith in what I was doing, I crossed the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and we raised $10,535 for Spaulding Rehab.


Becoming a part of the running community, meeting running greats and earning my first race medal at the Hyannis Marathon Weekend are some of my fondest memories as I celebrate ten years of running!

From my heart to yours,
To your health and wellness,
Mary

Proud to be a part of Friends of Blue Diamond Athletic Displays, Inc.

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 Runnergirl1953 ****

Going the Distance: The Sport of Running!

The acceptance of all abilities is what differentiates running from every other sport. I'm so happy to be part of the community. Bart Yasso




As a survivor of childhood paralytic polio, I was a stranger to athletics. There was no sport accessible to me back in the 60's and 70's. The wounds of being taunted and teased as a child cut deep. After being diagnosed with Post-Polio Syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease by Western Medicine standards, I knew I had to make serious lifestyle changes.

I used to make off-handed comments joking about how "I'm not running the Boston Marathon this year" after numerous leg surgeries while I'd be hobbling around on crutches.

We'd watch the Boston Marathon many times on Heartbreak Hill or Cleveland Circle but never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be out there running the Boston Marathon one day.

Running and "easy out Alper" as I was called in school during gym class seemed to be as opposite as oil and water.

After I wrote my poem, "Running the Race," in February of 2007 as I sat in a leg brace, using a wheelchair at times for mobility and facing a grim and uncertain future, I began to wonder what it would feel like to run.

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 imagined myself running free on a beach in Bermuda with the wind in my hair.

I wrote this poem about coming out of my leg brace and splashing in puddles:
Come Out and Play
Arms flung open wide dancing in the rain
pure abiding joy to feel alive again
healing tears fall and blend in God’s puddle
no time to sit in a corner and huddle
all the old rules driven by fears
washed away now by God’s loving tears
the imprint dad left no longer remains
rain washes away all of the stains
baptized with love, Truth lights my way
the sun shines through on this rainy day
splashing and laughing my heart opens wide
embracing and flowing I’m one with the tide
God takes my hand release the old way
bathe in my glory come out and play!

I had to retrieve muscle memory from before I contracted paralytic polio at the age of 5 1/2.

I turned to Forrest Gump before I ever even thought about myself participating in the sport of running nudged by the promptings from my poems:


When, in February of 2008, I declared that I was going to run the 2009 Boston Marathon, I was terrified and exhilarated all at the same time.

I was astounded by the reception I received in the running community.

From jeers to cheers and from "easy out Alper" to completing every training run and crossing every finish line of every race I ran since 2008.

The time made no difference! A PR for me was a PR for me and celebrated as though I'd set a world record.

The only competition I experience in the sport of running is with myself; to give every training run and every race my personal best.

The sport of running unlike any other sport puts the legends and the ordinary runners on a level playing field so to speak. The running greats are totally accessible to sharing in their love of running with runners like me!

I've been so blessed to meet so many running greats---Bart Yasso himself, Bill Rodgers, Jacqueline Hansen, Geoffrey Smith, Jack Fultz, Steve Jones, Frank Shorter, Dick Hoyt, Meb.....and each and every one of them embraces my journey and embraces and celebrates me as a runner:




Running has been my medicine, my therapy, a great way to meet friends, have fun and was the portal to my journey of transformation from a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma to the woman I've become today!

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):

Going the Distance: Celebrating 10 Years of Healing: Oh the places you'll go!

While recovering from paralytic polio at the age of 5, I had a wonderful and wise, compassionate and kind physical therapist Miss Holly. I can still see her face and feel her presence to this day. Despite the abandonment and neglect I experienced from my mother after contracting polio, I was able to experience my earth angel 5 days a week. She picked me up and had me sit on the red leather chairs in Dr. Moskowitz's office (one of the leading rehab physicians in New York who was treating polio survivors) and had me choose a Dr. Seuss book. We read it together and then during the incredibly painful physical therapy sessions, she would have me recite Dr. Seuss back to her in tandem. My favorite was The Cat in the Hat.

I marvel at the fact that, shortly after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome, in February of 2007, I began writing poetry in the cadence of Dr. Seuss. The first poem I wrote, "Running the Race" foreshadowed my 2009 Boston Marathon run.

I've had so many incredible running adventures since I began running in Spring of 2008 and met some of the most incredible people along the way such as running greats Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, Jacqueline Hansen, Bart Yasso, Jack Fultz, Geoffrey Smith and the list goes on and on and on....



I've been blessed to share my journey and message of healing, hope and possibility at:

L Street Running Club


Marathon Sports Brookline


Celebrated by Phil Lipof and J. Alain Ferry at the Bill Rodgers 5K Run for Prostate Cancer


At The Red Parrot speaking with The Chanticleer Retirement Mens Group


And was featured on Channel 7 News


Merrimack Valley Striders Club being acknowledged by Boston Channel 7's Steve Cooper as an inspirational Boston Marathon story


And then, in July of 2015, I was ready to go to a place I had not been to in 8 years declaring that I would run the Half Marathon in the Bermuda Marathon Weekend 2016.

I took on the longest distance since I ran the 2009 Boston Marathon. The last time I had been in Bermuda shortly after the diagnosis, I wore a leg brace, used a cane, needed a wrist splint and basically felt miserable needing a wheelchair to get around the airports.

I had a triumphant return to the Island and had a most magical experience throughout the entire weekend culminating with this moment of celebration:


We returned for a 2nd CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon in 2017:


And I'm getting ready to begin training for my 3rd CONSECUTIVE Bermuda Half Marathon in January of 2018.

Ten years ago next Thursday, on 5/25/07 I turned in my keys and left my award winning 20 year career as a VA social worker behind me.

I was off to great places - that day was my day - my mountain was waiting and I got on my way....

I had no idea what the future held for me....

And now,I am getting ready to celebrate Ten Years of Healing from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma!

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.