A few more marathon pics

Before I get to posting the rest of the New York adventure, I realized there were some marathon pictures that I forgot to post.

First of all, I forgot to post a picture of Joan Benoit-Sameulson, who is pictured above. She is truly a hero, and a most remarkable person. Who is she, you ask? Well, only the first woman to win the gold medal in the marathon in the Olympics. You see, for a long time, the Olympics makers felt that women were too delicate and wimpy to run marathons. And then in 1984, they decided to give women a shot at the marathon. A beautiful lady named Joan Benoit ran a scorching 2:24:52 and showed those Olympics makers a thing or two. She won the gold medal, and became a legend. She also held the women's marathon world record for a couple of years around the same time. She is now almost 54, and she can still run circles around almost everyone.

For instance, if you are Lance Armstrong, and you decide to run a marathon in under 3 hours, and need a pacer to get you through, who do you call? You call Joan. She helped pace Lance Armstrong to a sub-3-hour marathon in 2006.

I was so happy when we saw a TV motorcycle just ahead of Joan coming down Boylston Street in Boston on her way to a 2:51:29 marathon. She is an inspiration. And just look at that smile on her face. Mark was able to say hello to her at the finish line, and that really made his life. Almost as much as meeting Meb Keflezighi last summer at the Seattle marathon.

Here are a few photos of something else that brought tears to my eyes at the marathon. A huge group of soldiers carrying 40-pound backpacks came running through the finish line. First there was a bunch, and then there were some stragglers over the next 30 minutes. But it was amazing to see them finish the race.We caught up with them on our walk back to the hotel. They said that they had actually started as bandits about 5 hours before the race began.

And this guy was all smiles about what he had experienced that day.

Another tear-jerker was seeing this one below.

You see a runner who is being helped by two other runners. I don't know how far down the street the middle runner's legs stopped working, but they were seriously cramping, and he couldn't put any weight on them. These two other runners gave up what may have been a PR, or at least their goal time in order to stop and help this poor guy get to the finish line. It was amazing to see.

That's it for tonight. I'll get going on some more New York pictures tomorrow.

New York adventures, part 1

I love New York City. I have been dying to go back there ever since I left it last October after my 40-hour visit. The day after the marathon, we boarded a Greyhound bus and took a 4-hour ride to New York for the rest of the week. It was a great week, and because we were spending 5 days there, I actually made time to sleep this time. Last visit was too short, and I didn't want to waste any time sleeping when there was so much to do and see.
Our first day, we found this great cafe called Fluffy's. It was around the corner from our hotel, and we loved to sit in the window and watch NY go by as we ate breakfast.
Jacob spotted this sweet sign for Jacobs. Whatever that is. It was a cool sign, nonetheless. We wandered through Times Square, went to Toys R Us and other interesting stores along the way. Then we found a great spot for dinner, and after dinner spent the evening at the Waldorf listening to my friend Emilee play the piano and sing in Peacock Alley. Emilee is dazzling, and I love listening to her. She is also a party in a package, and life is always better when Emilee is around. My entire high school career was made better and memorable because of Emilee. I am so glad that we have stayed friends for 24 years.


We were all amazed at the number of taxis and people all over NY, but especially Times Square. I had been here once before, so I wasn't as stunned as the boys and Mark were. But it is fun to be a part of such an immense crowd.

Day 2 in New York brought some pretty exciting things. First, it was a run through Central Park. I made Abram and Jacob come with me, and we were so excited to find Bethesda Fountain, which we have seen in so many movies. As soon as we came upon a long pathway with benches on each side, I started singing. Up to this point of our trip I had pretty much been singing strictly Schoolhouse Rock songs about the American Revolution. But at that moment when we recognized a scene from Enchanted, my singing turned to "How does she know you love her?....." The boys were totally embarrassed, but that didn't stop me. Then we got to the fountain, and I went crazy singing. It was awesome. I have always wanted to see the fountain and the stairs that lead down to it in real life.
We had some good times on the subways. Amazingly, this trip, we never had to wait more than a few minutes for a train.




We decided to check out the American Natural History Museum. It was a bust. It was so insanely crowded that it was hard to move around and see anything. We started out cranky because of the cashier who didn't appreciate our "suggested donation" of $10 each for admission. We told her if the museum was great and not too crowded, we would pay the rest on the way out. She told us they did not accept donations on the way out, only on the way in. Yeah, right . She was very upset that we had questioned the sign that says "Suggested Donation $20." Technically you don't have to pay anything, and it was so crowded that we knew we weren't even going to get our $10 worth this day. Turns out when it is east coast spring break, Easter weekend and also Passover, there are a lot of people who come to New York City.


Jacob has always loved monkeys, so he wanted his picture taken with this guy.
Who loves the Olmecs?
We were on the lookout throughout NY for other Boston Marathon runners. Mark found a buddy at the museum. They were complete strangers, but their Boston Marathon apparel turned them into instant friends.Then we took a walk down Central Park West and through the park where we showed Mark the fountain. He took some sweet pictures of us, and we marveled at the crowds who were out enjoying the first warm spring day New York had seen.



Then it was back through times square for dinner and a show. We saw Memphis. Not my favorite story ever, but I loved the music and we all agreed it was an excellent display of talented singers and dancers. It was enjoyable. We couldn't get tickets to see Anything Goes, sadly. Maybe next time I go to NY and it isn't a brand-new show I will be able to see it.We ended the night back at the Waldorf to catch the end of Emilee's gig, and to meet some of her friends. It was so fun, and we ended up at the Midtown Cafe for a midnight meal. Best waffle of my life. Then we went to bed around 3AM, because we needed a few hours of sleep for our adventures the next day.

The day I fainted

That's how we will all remember this day. I always wondered what it would be like to faint. I never planned on doing it, though. But a trip and fall in the Paul Revere Mall gave me a concussion, and taught me what it feels like to faint...or more like what it feels like to come to after fainting. After I had recovered, Abram took this picture of me.

The pictures below were taken at Dorchester Heights, in South Boston. It was about a 1.5 mile walk from the nearest T station to get to the park, but it was well worth it. The view of Boston and the Bay were amazing. It was super windy this day, so my hair looks a little crazy.

We were all pretty happy to find Dorchester Heights. Well, actually Jacob didn't care at all, but Abram and I were sure happy. The inscription on the stone says, "At this place the cannon brought by General Henry Knox from Fort Ticonderoga to deliver to George Washington in the winter of 1775-1776 were used to force the British army to evacuate Boston." Notice the proper use of the plural of cannon--cannon.

We spent about an hour on top of the hill, and then we started our long walk back to the T. We stopped for lunch and ice cream, and then Abram noticed the "South Boston Lithuanian Citizens Association" and wanted his picture by it because it was so random.

And then I talked the boys into the long walk from the T to the Paul Revere Mall. I tripped somewhere near where you see the car parked in the background and hit my forehead on the bricks. I got up and stumbled over to this bench where I sat down.

After the boys caught me, and shook me awake again, I realized what had happened and was freaked out. Then the boys told me that my eyes had been awake the whole time, and that at first they thought I had been joking, and I started laughing really hard. When I laugh really hard, there is this tiny moment where I start crying. Not just tearing up, but literally crying. Sobbing. And then I was sitting on the bench sobbing. The boys thought I had bumped my head harder than I actually did. I told them I was fine, and Abram went off to buy me some water. I was very dehydrated after all the walking we had done this day, and that could have contributed to my fainting. I am sure I had a minor concussion, as I was shaky and cold for the rest of the day, but I was fine.
Just sitting and waiting until I could get up and walk again.

I know you all could recognize John Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence. I bet you could also spot his headstone from across the Granary Burial Ground as well.

This is a picture of Abram standing next to Paul Revere's grave.

We saw this quaint little street as we were nearing Quincy Market on the way back into town, and we decided to walk down it. I am so glad we did, because right in front of my face, there it was in real life.The Green Dragon Tavern. The hub of secret revolutionary meetings.
We skipped the pre-race pasta buffet that Mark went to with some of his friends, and instead we met up with our cousins from Connecticut who drove into Boston to spend the evening with us.

We had Chinese food in Chinatown with our Chinese cousins. It was delicious.

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Then the kids wanted donuts. We walked to Dunkin Donuts. Then to another and another. They are EVERYWHERE in Boston, by the way. But everyone was out of donuts. Those darn marathoners had completely wiped them out all over the city.

So we ended up at McDonalds for ice cream, and then back to the hotel for early bedtime so that we could all get up early for the marathon.