Location: Hopkinton Center School To Copley Plaza, Boston
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2015; 6:15 am-4:45 pm
Last year, as soon as I had finished my walk, I had said
that I am never doing it again. Well, in
spring of this year my friend Som had said that he would do it with me this
year if I signed up, and so here I was again.
I had requested donations to raise the minimum $300 and thanks to a last
minute push by my buddies, I crossed that threshold easily. I had gone to Newport, RI as a part of my “51/51” and one of my buddies picked me
up at Providence airport after my short visit there. I arrived at his house in Holliston on
Saturday late afternoon, his place being just a few miles away from the start
line.
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| Ready to start |
After a fun evening with my friends, I turned in and woke up
at 4:45 am. One of the more difficult
things on this walk is to evaluate is how to dress, since it usually starts off
cold and heats up as the day goes on.
Som and I were dropped off at ‘Hopkinton
Middle School’ and were then taken by a shuttle to ‘Hopkinton Center School’, which was the start line. There were a lot of people on the bus and not
only did they look good-natured and friendly, but they had done this several
times over. Plus, we saw many teams their
own shirts and they were in good spirits as well. We got off and before entering the main hall
to collect our t-shirts, I saw someone handing off a drawstring bag. I mentioned that anything we pick-up, we have
to carry with us, drawing big laughter from a guy nearby. The festivities were on in the hall, with a
guy on microphone encouraging everyone and other things that one usually sees
at the start. I picked up my ‘Jimmy Fund’ cap and my shirt, and after
the usual struggles with getting the bib on with pins, I wrote a name and then
put the “I walk in honor of” sticker
behind my bib. I was ready to go.
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| It wasn't even daybreak yet |
My and buddy went to the start line and after a few
pictures, set off at 6:15 am, the same time as last year. It was cold and I was thankful for having a
jacket and track pants. My buddy was in
shorts and was feeling the chill. A
temperature check told us it was 36 and yeah, that is nippy. As we walked down ‘Route 135’, unlike last year, I was not listening to anything and
so could hear people chatting around us.
For example, there was a group of ladies who was talking about
everything under the sun ranging from kids to "Mergers & Acquisitions". They breezed past us and I mentioned to my
buddy that they would probably talk non-top all the way to Boston. We covered the initial couple of miles and went
past the first “refueling station”
easily – stopping to high-five a group of enthusiastic kids who put stickers
on our bibs. My buddy’s hand was
freezing and was swelling up, though once the sun came out he felt
better.
 |
| My supporter from last year |
We were going past the mile markers and as last year there
were stories of kids on it. It was
inspirational and as my friend said later, no matter what pain we would go
through, their journey was worst. I saw
some familiar sights from last year, including the guy with the 3-legged 'Golden
Retriever'. The poor dog looked tired and
was sleeping. I told the guy that I
remembered them from last year and took the pup’s picture. A couple of girls near us asked the guy if he
taught in a college and when he said that he did, they said that they
remembered him from their time there. A
lot of people had come out to cheer for us and besides the normal stations;
some folks had their own snacks and drinks stands.
The miles kept rolling by and we were chatting to pass the
time. Once the sun came out around "Mile
8", I took off my jacket since it was warming up. ‘Route
135’ kept going and soon we got to “Natick
Town Center”, which has one of the bigger refreshment stations. We took a brief halt there so that my buddy could
change his socks and then we were on our way.
We walked through some other towns, always with people cheering, and eventually
passed the halfway mark. Som’s wife Resh
was doing the half marathon and she had set off from here hours before. In fact, her pace was excellent and certainly
faster than us.
 |
| The Miles kept rolling by |
We were receiving constant texts of encouragement from our
friends and we were sending pictures back.
We turned on to ‘Washington
Avenue’ and stopped for lunch at "Mile 16", the same big tent as last
year. I told my buddy that it would be a
tough stretch from now on and no kidding.
This short stop for lunch had stiffened our muscles and now I was
laboring, feeling a slight cramp on my soles.
We were now listening to music - or audio book in my case - and so were
walking a few yards apart, with Som leading.
‘Commonwealth Avenue’ was
brutal for me and we also had traffic lights to deal with, though there were
some cops helping us out by regulating traffic.
There was an obnoxious guy who was riding a bike around us in support of
his friend and was quite a nuisance. We
went up the “Heartbreak Hill” – with
a few breaks – and it was tough. But
eventually we turned to see ‘Boston
College’ and now it was the final 5 mile stretch.
Resh had reached hours before us – breezing through her half
marathon. We set off on ‘Beacon Street’ and now we were on the
streets of Boston downtown. We even
helped a few ‘Boston College’ girls
with their grocery bag adjustments, since one looked like she was about to drop
them. The mile markers were now like an
oasis and my buddy who had done 18 miles before as practice, was realizing that
the last 8 miles are not that easy. He was
also following his progress on a “Fitbit”
watch, though it lost power at "Mile 21".
At "Mile 24" refueling station we saw a truck with two TVs showing ‘Patriots’ game and so we stopped to
watch a drive and then set off again. We
came to "Mile 25" under the famous ‘CITGO’
sign outside 'Fenway Park' and it was right during the end of a ‘Red
Sox’ game and so several fans were now on the same path as us.
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| It took a long time, but we finished |
We navigated the foot traffic on ‘Beacon Street’ till we saw a sign saying "25.6 Miles". The last mile
felt like 2 - and I think it was more than a mile - as we kept expecting to see
the “Finish” sign around every
corner. Finally, after 10.5 hours – one
more than last year – we finished together, with our other buddies applauding. One of our friend's little
girl gave us our medals and then we took pictures before sitting down to
reflect. It had been a great
achievement but as Som said, nothing compared to what the patients and caregivers
at ‘Dana Farber Jimmy Fund’ go
through every day. Will I do it again next year? Your guess is as good as mine.
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