Boston and Beyond

So a dream has come true.

I finished the Boston Marathon after qualifying in 2006 in Beijing. Pardon me if I babble a bit...and also this is a long winded affair and the photos are in no order...still haven't mastered moving them around...

To go back a bit. After months of preparation in a smog and pollution filled Beijing, I was able to get time off work at CIS. Francis Pang, graciously allowed me to leave the school to participate and said it was with no loss in pay…a truly magnanimous gesture.

I left Beijing on Wednesday, April 16th in the afternoon. The preparation for my replacement was a bit of a stretch as how is one able to predict what they will be abel to accomplish in 7 days. The physed part was as difficult as the math.

I arrived back in Regina at 12:30 at night with my ever-reliable daughter waiting, with grand daughter in tow. The time there was short lived as I caught the plane to Saint John New Brunswick for my trip to Boston to get ready for the run. My time in Regina was taken up with unpacking and repacking my suitcase as I divested myself of purses and golf clubs and jewelry and other stuff from China.

The trip to Boston was quick and my arrival at Boston was Friday afternoon. Registering at the hotel (Staybridge Inn and Suites?) waiting for Jennifer and Kenzie who were going to arrive Friday night was quickly done. We spent the next days savouring the sights and sounds and relatively clean air of Boston. I was able to register on Saturday and met a student, Akshay Navavladi, a student from India….who I had met in Ottawa. He is now studying in the stem cell research area. It was fascinating to hear him talk about the accomplishments that have taken place over the last few years and what the future holds for his field. He is a fine young gentleman and we thoroughly enjoyed his company.

I registered……got my number and did a quick tour of the Marathon Expo….a rather large affair or funning shoes, clothing, watches, nutrition. All geared at the runner. A trip to the finish line for some pre-race photos, a good bar meal after with Akshay and a trip to Harvard University for souvenir seeking Jennifer (she needed to buy a Law bunny hug and also a volleyball momento from Harvard)finished off a rather hectic day of learning how to use the rail system and navigate around Boston.

The next day after a morning breakfast, Jennifer and I ventured out to Fenway Park to take in a ball game between the Texas Rangers and the Sox….we stayed for about 5 innings just to get the feel of the game….the scalped price ($50 for standing room seats, the games were sold out until August) was not much of a negotiation. We stopped for the traditional token souvenir…that J needs and then got into the ball park after a little lesson in directions ( in other words we kinda got lost). It is definitely a park steeped in tradition and we walked around and took some pictures and had our $7.25 Samuel Adams beer which Jennifer said was the worst tasting beer she had ever had and we also took in a $6.50 hotdog. They get you going and coming…..

After that, the Marathon provided runners with a pre-run meal so we ventured further into the city and found the place….now veterans of the subway system …… topping off the evening was the fat that we were able to find a Cheers bar and were able to take some pictures …a train trip back and the day was done….tomorrow would be THE DAY.

The taxi ride to the Boston Commons pickup area was early…6:00…wew needed to board buses for Hopkinton at 7:30 for a 10:30 start….they were doing the starts in waves….wheelchair, Elite, Women, first wave at 10 and 2nd at 1030….slower guys like me being in the second wave….I was in corral 17….of 22 I think there were 25,000 registered runners and about 22,000 actual runners. The day started out cold but turned into one beautiful day….I even remembered to bring some sun screen..the wait was long but seemed to go by quickly as they had announcements and music and stuff to do and eat and the bathroom patrol was about a ½ hour wait…

The start was anticlimactic as your time was calculated when you stepped ovet the start w line and the Championchip began recording your time…but I did start my watch so that I would have a rough idea as to how I was doing…I had brought my camera too so that I could take some shots as I was running…and I had a few good ones…

The race seemed to go by quickly….my running time was excellent the first half…they say it is downhill for most of the first….and I was feeling no ill effects of the pollution, in fact I was calling it air doping…as I ran in the fresh air…always with people running, I was passing and being passed the whole way…..then about ½ way things started to changed …I noticed my hip getting a little sore and I noticed a change of pace….30 kilometres was going to be a watershed .I needed to make it there....from there I knew I could make the final10 or so…but the pace slowed down…and I could feel it….however, I guess, all the mental training and talk that you do pulls you through …and 35 came and went….40 came and went…a little slower and then the final 500 metres or so….you tale a right turn and then a left turn and then you see the finish line….and as soon as I saw the finish line….I got teary eyed….because it just hit me….I had accomplished something that I had wanted to do for many years and my feeling was “Now what the Hell am I going to do?”…I’ve just finished this and the feeling as I crossed the finish line was one for me of quiet accomplishment…..I didn’t yell or scream….just pounded it home …picked up my heat blanket and kept walking…..afterwards, Jennifer had said she got a bit of a movie of me coming across the line….a stretch but you can see me.

Now….funny…in order to get your finishing medal, you take the chip from your running she and they give you your medal…..I was able to take the chip off and received my medal….but I didn’t have the energy nor the ability to bend over to lace up my shoes again…so they have designated shoe tier uppers and man was that nice….

I was able to find the crew and had a few pictures taken…..then we were off to the subway ( where two casualties of the race had to be helped by subway officials) to get back to the hotel for soak and some food and get ready for a early morning plane ride…

Jennifer left at 530 and I headed back to Saint John at about 800……stayed there for a night after a day of travel and my friend Fred Savoy, who was having doctor appointments in Saint John, picked me up and took me to Fredericton and his house for some good old fashioned fun talk about China…..Fred looked well after recovering from a heart attack …Fredericton was being flooded when I arrived and the peak was going to come a few days later…

While there I also met with Mark Chapman and Steve Seabrook, two former colleagues who taught at BCCSC the previous year…we reminisced and I found out that Mark is heading back to teach in Taiwan and ..Steve is getting married and was teaching at Minto school…..I delivered personally 5 pashminas to Denise….we had a wonderful barbecue steak meal and I returned home to Fred’s to find that he was donating his car to the cause….cause I didn’t have one, he gave their Honda Accord to me so that I could travel to Halifax to see Don Dine and Eve Burns, two other dear friends from last year.

Up the next morning and off to Halifax…..uneventful…but traveling through Moncton evoked some memories…then almost made it to the correct place but had to rely on a phone call to get me there….

Had a terrific time in Halifax…Don and Eve being great hosts…. “we expect you to look through our cupboards to get what you need”…met some of their friends the first night and the second night saw Angie Power and Jill and Kris who were all teachers from BCCSC….woo hoo…I saw almost the whole damn staff…what a great time talking again…

Spent the Saturday morning going to a farmers market on the Halifax side of the area…Don and Eve live in Dartmouth…took a small ferry ride across the harbour to get to the market…was a little like Beijing…..lots of people crowded into a small space …but it was fun …the market is in Alexander Keith old brewery, I think,..,,.Angie came over in the afternoon and we spent a couple of hours walking the dogs on the beach and chatting about the life and times and looking to the future and talking about last year and what had happened since Beijing…Kris and Jill came over and we all had supper there…very relaxed and a great memory….watched an interesting video of last years reunion in November when I was on Skype with them…..funny….the company left and we retired to the hot tub for a few hours….looking out on the harbour….again relaxing time….

Got up Sunday morning….had a delicious breakfast (Eve insisted I take the Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing)…so I packed it away….said some heartfelt goodbyes with a promise to return….maybe not for the Bay Bash but for some time in the future when we could stay longer …they were trying to convince me to stay in Nova Scotia….and left Halifax without missing one turn…..good directions Eve….and made my way back to Fredericton without incident….a fine day to travel…

Got there about 2:30 and had to ask for directions to get to the Savoy residence but hadn’t missed it by much….saw Fred’s friend who wanted a set of clubs and also say Noreen Bonnell, Reg’s wife who wanted me to take a few things back to China which was easily done….Linda had a very nice meal for the afternoon and we talked about the trip….I caught the bus back to Saint John where I spent the night and caught the early flight to Toronto…..waited several hours there and then caught the flight back to Regina where again, Jennifer and Doug and Kenzie were waiting for out trip to Chaplin for our Celebration of Lyn’s Life was to take place.

We arrived at Moms at about 1230 and I had to change and have a shower. Jan and Tony were there so it was a packed house. Mark and Tammy arrived with their troop We moved over to the hall and put up some pictures and flowers , Jennifer had scoured some photo albums for numerous pictures of Lyn’s lifetime…she captured a lot of the great moments that we lived through…...good job Jay….

It was a fine afternoon and we were very pleased with the turnout…Jack and Renee had looked after the arrangements at the hall…lots of people… and we had lots of time to reminisce,,,was great to see so many of our friends and neighbours there….again a chance to talk about lives and what has happened in the few years that we were away….small town Sask has a way of sticking in your memory and the people are very genuine and sincere and they played an influential part in our lives …..for sure….shaped who we are and were

After the time at the hall many of us went out to visit with Jack Wakeford and Renee…they had made some fantastic renovations at their house….we stayed and talked there for a few hours…before returning to Mom’s….J and Mark and I then took a few minutes to scatter some of Lyn’s ashes behind our house…..it was in the park and we all had planted little fir seedlings there….so it was fitting that she was there…it was sort of our little private park….it was an emotional time….and we laughed about the dogs getting caught in the snow banks and Bailley wanting to always run over to Fishers…and hauling him back begrudgingly…

We left Mom’s and headed to Alberta for an evening there….the next morning we traveled to Ralston where Lyn grew up…..and where we had met and dated and where we had shot gophers from the hood of her car and where I had proposed to her…In Ernie Weldon’s car on a hillside (how’s that for romantic)…we scattered the rest of her ashes out at the riding club where she spent many, many , many precious days doing something what she really loved…riding her horses…..so again another fitting resting place for her…..this is tough to type…

We toured around the town for a few minutes then returned to Redcliff…Jan and Tony arrived on their way back to Black Diamond….so we had dinner…at a Chinese restaurant…and then it was another trip home …..back to Balgonie where we arrived at about 830….Jennifer and I stayed up late that night and polished off a few Smirnoffs and beer and we had a good “bonding” session…late into the evening….The next day I had some business in Moose Jaw and then went to Herbert for some more work related business and then came back and visited mom for a few hours….she is getting older as we all are…she was unhappy when I told her that I was staying another year in China but was resolved to the fact …she is a tough lady……it was a little more difficult to say goodbye this time …..but June will be here soon and I will be back then for a few days anyway….

The next day Jay and I went to Regina to finish off some loose ends….I had to do some grocery shopping, bought some new runners and J had some errands to run…. All accomplished fairly easily…came back and made sure all my bags were packed…and weight was within limits……went and visited with Marina for a couple of hours and in the meantime….Jennifer and Doug had made my travel arrangements for the trip to the airport…..they look after me too well….up early the next day…some tough good byes to Kenzie and Jay and Doug took me into town where he had to meet for work and then it was a trip to the airport and I was back on my way to Beijing….and the next part of my blog will start