After the Chicago Marathon, I took a few “down-weeks” to recover.  I spent a few weeks in Palo Alto with my boyfriend and then traveled to the East Coast,

My first East Coast excursion was to my hometown, Milton, Massachusetts.  I often get teased for telling too many random facts about Milton.  Here is just a sampling…

• location of the first wooden leg made in North America
• home of the first piano factory in North America
• location of Big Blue (the tallest hill on the coast between Maine and Florida)
• birthplace of our 41st president
• home of the oldest chocolate mill in the country

I could go on and on, but I will try to control myself and stop there. 

With all that history, I obviously welcome any chance I get to visit.  Last month offered the perfect opportunity.  Milton High School was starting a Hall of Fame and my sister and I were being inducted into the inaugural class.  It was a fun night full of inspiring sports anecdotes.  My father went to MHS and then taught there for almost 30 years (which is where he met my mother who also taught there).  Our family has very deep roots at the school and we all loved being part of an event that brought so many alumni back to the area.  The only negative part of the evening was that it fell on the same evening as the third game of the World Series.  As everyone knows, Red Sox fans are the biggest fans in the country (MUCH better fans than the Yankees).  Luckily for me, my speech was early enough in the evening that I couldn’t be blamed for people missing the beginning of the game.  

While I was in town, I also had the opportunity to take a tour of the Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials Course with two members of the Boston Athletic Association (Carly Graytock who has also qualified for the Women’s Trials and Terrance Shea who ran in the Men’s Trials earlier this month.)  I couldn’t be happier that the Trials are so close to my hometown.  The BAA puts on a spectacular event every year and they have done a great job promoting the Women’s Trials.  Every year on Patriots’ Day the excitement level in Boston rises a few notches for the Boston Marathon and I am sure that people in the area will embrace the Women’s Trials with the same level of enthusiasm.   

The next weekend, I went to New York City to watch the Men’s Trials.  It was amazing to watch Ryan Hall move ahead so decisively; to see Dathan Ritzenhein run a huge PR; and to see Brian Sell make his first Olympic team after steadily climbing the American marathon rankings over the last four years.  Within a few minutes of watching these achievements, however, we learned the news about Ryan Shay. 

I don’t think that I have ever gone from such an emotional high to such a feeling of devastation in a matter of seconds.  I first met Ryan when we were both training with Team Running USA in Woodside California in the winter of 2006, but I followed his career for much longer.  The first time I remember watching Ryan race was at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in 2001.   My Dad and sister were there to watch. We were thrilled to see someone from Notre Dame, our Dad’s alma mater, racing in the 10,000 meters.  We had no other connection to Ryan at the time, but all three of us started cheering for him.  In hindsight, he didn’t even need any encouragement.  He took the lead early and no one went with him.  He kept pushing the pace and easily beat the rest of the field.  

When I got to know him better a few years later, I saw that he gave everything in his life the same level effort.  I’m echoing the words of many other coaches and runners who knew him, but he was honestly the hardest working and toughest person that I have ever met.  At the same time, I got to see another side of him – the soft, caring side that he showed for Alicia and extended to his teammates and friends. 

Watching the Men’s Trials reminded me of a few things.  It was inspirational to watch the men compete and was impressive to see how the sport was showcased by the New York Road Runners.  The tragedy with Ryan’s death was a reminder of how much honor and dedication goes into the sport of running.  I will carry these lessons forward as I prepare to compete at the marathon trials in Boston next April.