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 New York City 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", disappointed, 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 with enthusiasm. "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".

She often tells me that she wishes she could see me race and how much she enjoys hearing about my travels. 'Let me be your legs, grandma' I pleaded, 'I'll run and come back to share everything about 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. If grandma couldn't come to my race, maybe I could run a race she can see - on TV! But it was already September...how could I make it happen?

My bestie, B, shared that a friend was running the NYC Marathon as a charity runner, something I've never done, but something I wanted to learn more about to give my running greater meaning.

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 had 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 to care for herself. It all just seemed to line up.

As I sit writing this blog post, affirming my decision, there are just over 46 days until the race. 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 and probably so much more, but grandma, this one's for YOU.

LET'S GOOOOO!!!

XOXO,

T