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Thanks for visiting! Visit my other site:Thanks for visiting & tracking my runs and book lists! Also check out http://diplomacynet.com.
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October 14 Strange from beginnng to endWell, this was certainly an odd one by any measure. It started with my inability to locate Thomas. Trying to locate one runner out of about 30,000 people was bad enough. But the fact that Thomas is visually impaired means that he can't find me! I called his lovely wife frantic. Always cool and calm, even five months pregnant, Melissa said "Oh, just go and run. You guys will catch up".
You guys will catch up? Are you out of your mind? Your husband is legally blind! There are 36,000 runners! I'm 5' Something and can't easily see above the crowd! She advised me to stay with the folks who are pacing at our pace and I will find him. I was still a nervous wreck. However...her confidence and faith proved prophetic to my panic. I ran up to the group running an hour ahead of my pace and then slowed down, letting the marathon flow by me. And sure enough, just around mile two, there was Thomas. Now I had my running partner, and everything would be ok. Almost.
It started getting hot outside early, around 10:00 am. And where once there were Gatorade stations, we only saw folding tables in their folded state. But both of us spent the day before hydrating and water would satisfy. Until that ran out.
At mile 10.5, I saw Matt and Becky Kestian, friends of mine who lived in Chicago, but relocated to Irvine, CA so Matt could open the Microsoft Technology Center Irvine. They were visiting Chicago and stayed on to cheer me through Old Town! That was touching and motivating to say the least.
Then he brought me over to the highlight of the marathon for me. There were my parents, followed by my wife, my neighbors, and...HALEY! She had a sign that said "You can do anything you try DADDY!! Go, Go, Go!!"
A kiss, a sweaty hug, introductions of my peeps to Thomas, a bottle of Gatorade from Bill...and we were ready for the next 16 miles.
It continued to stay hot, but we refreshed ourselves with water hoses supplied by fellow Chicagoans and open fire hydrants courtesy of the CFD.
At mile 17, as Thomas and I were enjoying the architecture of the South Side and a conversation on Chicago as a world-class city, a police woman says "stop, the race has been cancelled". We thought that this was a weird thing to say, and kept running. Then the news started to spread through the crowd that they did end the race and re-routing us to Grant Park. Runners could be heard passing along dubious reports to one another. "They ran out of water", "They ran out of ambulances", "Too many people were sent to the hospital", "Someone died", etc. Turns out they were all true.
We decided that since we felt just fine, we would continue. It was about 89 degrees, but we had been well hydrated and slowed down our pace. We would be fine to finish the race. However, the original race route was blocked off, and all the participants were being routed back to Grant Park. As you headed toward the park, and walked down Jackson, the Fire Department set up this enormous piece of equipment that looked like one of those giant lights that they use at movie openings. Instead of setting off a jet of light, this thing set off a jet of wated that made it seem like it was raining for a block. So this was meant to cool down the crowd. It was like a super-huge version of this thingy:
Now, here is where it gets interesting. During a normal marathon, you have people streaming pretty regularly into the finish line between six and a half and six and a half hours into the race (tapered at either end). Now you have a huge number of people walking to finish line all at once. It took us a good hour to get through the finish line so that our chip would be registered, and to get our ribbons.
Now the ribbon itself proved to be very useful. As hard as it was to get TO the park, getting OUT of the park was worse. Thomas had ditched the tether early on when it appeared that my verbal cues would be sufficient to guide him through the course. Now we were battling tens of thousands out of the park. Thomas took off his medal and held one end, and I pulled him along from the other.
In the end, we did a little over 18 miles. Both of us felt fine and surely could have completed the 26.2. We were disappointed to be sure. But we respected the decision of the marathon organizers and wished well of those who were hospitalized (ended up at about 320 of them). So while I can't say I officially finished another "marathon", I can say I finished a lengthy fun-run. And I enjoyed it. Chicago residents cheering us along the entire route, and my family and friends at mile 10.5, plus a few hours running and talking with a friend I alway learn a great deal from made this a day well spent.
Even though the race is over, I am keeping the donation site open. So should you feel like donating any amount to research, support, and life enrichment to those living with AIDS, please feel free to sponsor me expo facto. May 04 The synchronicity of a runner's numberThere are all these events that people routinely call interesting coincidences. But ask a Judaic scholar and they will say that there is no such thing as a coincidence. What looks like coincidence is really just the way the world is supposed to work. Case in point: my runner number. I am running the Chicago Marathon to raise funds for the AIDS Foundation Chicago. I received my packet of materials last week, and the packet had to remain unopened on my desk at home for some time due to my schedule.
This morning, I woke up early and opened the packet. The contents included the donor form, which also included my runner number: 1202.
Now, ask any Hecktman if the number 1202 means anything to them, and you will likely get a smile, if not a laugh. 1202 was the apartment number of my grandparents, Harry and Thelma Hecktman. The Hecktman "kids" (now adults) spent ourlives running through the rooms, and up and down the halls outside of, apartment 1202. The smell of a cigar evokes the image of Grandpa Harry's den in 1202. The site of a piece of Asian artwork reminds us of Grandma Thelma and her often told (and well-known to be exaggerated) stories of her travels with the family elders, and the way she displayed her procurements from those trips on the walls of 1202.
And the smile, or the laugh, that follows the metion of apartment 1202 comes not from any one particular story about these two unique characters. It is more from the meme that has propagated itself from the general warmth, love, and overall hilarity they brought our lives.
Now, this talk of my anscestors brings me back to my original point. The Hecktmans typically hold family as the core of their lives. And we see in our ancestory the source of our shared values. Probably the most key value that runs through this family is service to the community. I am using the Chicago Marathon as a way to serve those in our community who are fighting illness. For me, it all comes back to apartment 1202. April 12 Let's Do It Again!So I have this good friend, Thomas Panek. Thomas is a the current President and COO of the World Trade Center Illinois, a former International Trade Specialist with the Treasury Department, a former foreign service guy, and...a runner. And, Thomas happens to be blind. So if you see him running, watch out, he doesn't see you. Thomas and I work together at the World Trade Center Illinois. He feeds my passion for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Foreign Trade, Middle East affairs and culture, etc.
So Thomas and I were having breakfast one morning and he asked about my experience in Hawaii. I told him how amazing it was, and he said that he would do Chicago...if someone would do it with him. So now, we're doing Chicago! I'm working with the AIDS Foundation Chicago to re-activate my site if you find that you want to sponsor me again. Looking very forward to this. December 21 Finished the Marathon, but this is not the end
Well, it happened last weekend. I completed the Honolulu Marathon. My first. Perhaps not my only. The experience was like nothing I have ever gone through. Each mile brought thoughts of both those of you who graciously supported me (financially, and spiritually with words of encouragement), as well as those whose lives we would be making perhaps just a bit better in the end. All told, about $8000 was raised for the AIDS Foudation Chicago. AFC is leading the fight against HIV disease in Chicago. In addition to HIV prevention efforts, they offer a variety of vital services including food, housing assistance, and health care for those battling the disease. They are also effective advocates for people living with HIV/AIDS who too often must face the additional battle against ignorance and intolerance. Again, I cannot thank you all enough for your support, and I do plan on contacting each one of you individually to thank you. So, I have been asked if I will run another marathon. The answer...I likely will. There are so many good causes that are being sponsored by runs like these. And I think I have personally grown from the experience. So the short answer is yes. Perhaps Chicago? I have taken the last week off from running, and will take this week off as well. The inredible thing about the way this training program worked is that my body recovered almost immediately after the run. A couple of days post-marathon, I had very little evidence that I had put my body through anything. Can't wait to get out and run again! Happy and safe holidays guys! |
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