NYC Marathon LET'S GOOOOOO!

Nearly a year ago now, my grandma turned on the television to see the broadcast of the largest marathon in the world, the 2024 TCS NY Marathon. She knew that I had just run a Boston Qualifying race, and that I was planning a series of races over the coming months. Why she expected to immediately see me on television in hoards of runners, support crew, and spectators, I don't know, but she did.

"The New York Marathon is on TV, but I can't see T. Is she running in the race today?" Grandma asked over the phone to my mom. She knew I was traveling somewhere for a race.

Mom responded in the negative, "No, she's not running there today", and grandma hung up the phone.

Fast forward to today, and grandma is in a nursing home. I recently visited her to share updates on racing and life as I had just come back from Iceland where I ran my 12th marathon in 12 months, the Reykjavik Marathon.

"You're amazing. You're so brave!" grandma praised me, telling anyone who would listen about my accomplishments and travels. "She's adventurous and smart and sweet, and she runs MARATHONS" she shared. "You do the things I wish I could have done" she later told me, "Now I have tremors so bad that I can't even feed myself".

'Let me be your legs, grandma' I pleaded, 'I'll run and come back to share the experience with you'

At the time, I had been searching my heart to decide whether to continue with my monthly marathon streak, or to hit the pause button. After rumination and consoling with friends, inspiration hit, and suddenly I knew exactly what needed to be done.

My bestie, B, shared that a friend was running the NYC Marathon as a charity runner, something I've never done. 'I don't have a November race,' I joked, 'That would be cool'.

Then, like sometimes happens with wild ideas, it just started making sense. I looked for available bib entries with charities and the American Neuromuscular Foundation has a spot available, the very organization that would be raising money for ailments like the tremors preventing my grandma from having freedom to use her body like she did not so long ago as she sat at wondered if I would appear on her TV screen, one runner in a hoard of thousands.

As I sit writing this blog post, affirming my decision in writing, there are just over 46 days until the race, and There's a fire inside me to get this thing run. It's a tight deadline to raise funds. It's scary. It's the world's BIGGEST race, it will be my 15th marathon in a row, my second World in as many months. It will be a logistical challenge, but grandma, this one's for YOU.

LET'S GOOOOO!!!

XOXO,

T