On friends

We are blessed to have friends. When I decided to run Boston one more time, I mentioned it to friends. Slowly, the group going to Boston swelled. Some were already qualified to enter while others had to struggle to run a good marathon in time to enter Boston. Some tried but did not make it. 

While I lived in South Surrey I joined a running group called Peninsula Runners. There I met an extraordinary group of people from all walks of life, drawn together in pursuit of fitness and wellness. Some came and some left over time but a core group remained, even as they went through major transitions in their personal and professional lives. Running was the thread that held us together, the glue that bound us together.

In tribute to those friends who travelled to Boston together, and to those we met there, here is a ridulous picture taken as we finally reached the start line! All the suffering lay ahead!

Thank you to all of my friends. I owe you an endless debt of gratitude. Thank you for the support and inspiration. Thank you for adjusting your speed so we could be together!  Peace and love, Nigel

Race Day is here!

A shout of grace!

Monday, April 20 2015. Here it is! The wait is over!

While the weather for the preceding week had been bright and warm, the forecast for race day was ominous. We were promised rain, cold temperatures and a strong headwind. Often, if the forecast doesn't suit us, we criticize meteorologists. When we like the forecast, we think them very clever. This particular forecast turned out to be accurate in every way. 

As we huddled from the wind in the athletes' village, the rain started. I had bought layers of street clothing in a thrift shop the day before in order to ward off hypothermia before the start of the race! As we moved towards the corrals, we slowly peeled off layer after layer and volunteers stuffed them into giant plastic bags so that they would all be back in thrift stores again! For some reason, for which no one has yet taken responsibility, the four of us ended up at the back of all 30 000 runners, with a lone police officer behind us! This would make our work even harder!

Off we went, in wind and rain, and I quickly decided that there was only one way to get through this challenge. Head down, teeth gritted, start to run and run as hard as possible for as long as possible. No thoughts of the finish line. Just survival! 

One of my friends had a racing heart after a few kilometres and needed to stop to recover. Three of us were left. Imagine our joy when he showed up again at exactly the halfway mark, as we ran through the 'scream tunnel' at Wellesley College. After the halfway mark, two of us were feeling very strong and decided to run faster. I was not amongst them! Two of us again, and on we ran downhill and uphill, heavily dressed against the chill, fighting the wind and rain, and steeling ourselves against pain and fatigue and discouragement. 

The Boston crowds were extraordinary on the day. Despite the inclement conditions, they came out in thousands and thronged both sides of the course, screaming their support. This level of community involvement makes Boston absolutely unique amongst races. A million people came out, in foul weather, to cheer on the runners. Their cheers were elixir to the sagging spirit. The crowds thickened on uphill sections and near the finish line, just where one most needed them. 

Individuals in that huge crowd manage to personalize their cheers. If you are wearing your name prominently, you are certain to hear your name called out thousands of times! I wore many maple leaves and heard Canada urged on to greatness again and again! The gifts that onlookers give to runners are pure gold. 

Boston is an extremely challenging course no matter what the weather is like, as  there is an enormous amount of hill running and there are four long serious uphill sections between miles 16 and 21, the toughest of which is called Heartbreak Hill, as so many champions have stopped and quit at just that point! 

On the day, my friend and I paid no attention to the hills. All of our 5 kilometre sections took approximately the same time. Although Heartbreak Hill made me slow and ponderous, we quickly made up for it as we crested the hill and looked down at the history-filled city. I paid no attention to my watch at all during the race. The pace was in my head. "Run as fast as you can for as long as you can"! At 3 hours 48 minutes, we crossed the finish line, 12 minutes faster than our intention. What a glorious moment! And then the pain! 

We struggled from the finish line to the comforts of our hotel. The race was over but the bliss is longlasting! How beautiful it is to be alive - to feel joy, to feel pain! Life is sweet! 

Peace and love, Nigel

Race day approaches!

The momentous day is fast approaching! Tomorrow is the 119th running of the Boston Marathon, the world's most storied road race. In the lead up to the race, we have enjoyed sparkling clear cool weather in Boston. The forecast for tomorrow is rain throughout the race and a strong headwind and very cool temperatures! We will all need to be Boston Strong.

My friends have all arrived in town now and we keep gathering, to visit the huge expo, to see the finish line being completed, to enjoy the historic city and to eat together. We laugh, we joke, we tease, we reminisce about previous Boston races and others. We are like Spartan warriors combing our long hair calmly in preparation for battle!

The 30 000 runners will have a variety of reasons for competing - some heroic, many just run of the mill. With its strict qualifying standards, one has to work hard to get here. I have come simply to celebrate being alive. There is nothing to achieve. It will be a long meditation on the joy of being sentient, continuing to be a part of this very beautiful world.

I am the luckiest of people. Not only am I able and well enough to run for four hours and love every minute of it, but I have several good friends who have gone well out of their way, made special effort and arrangements, to run alongside me. This will be an especially joyful day! 

The city is ready now. For several days already all kinds of workers have been preparing the course and the elaborate start and finish lines. A million supporters will line the sides of the route and cheer for hours on end. Their shouts and cheers of encouragement are an extraordinary human effort to relate to others. Boston owns its marathon in a way that is entirely unique in the world. There is never a quiet moment along the road. One is never alone. It is a sight to behold for the runners as they get the odd glimpse of the snake of humanity behind or in front of them as they arrive at a point where it is possible to see the route ahead or behind. In addition to the clamour of encouragement from the sidelines, one can hear the steady patter of thousands of shoes hitting the road, in deep concentration, moving inexorably back towards the city centre.

This is my third visit to Boston. In 2004, I foolishly entered because I had qualified in my first marathon. I knew nothing and I made many mistakes! A highlight was hearing the legendary native Bostonian, Johnny Kelley, speak to us at the start line exhorting us to run our best race. He had run in 61 of them himself, even winning it when he was younger. He was 96 on that day. He died in October 2004 at the age of 97, a living legend who had seen the race evolve from an amateur's greatest challenge to the world's premier professional marathon - the end of an era.  The picture above shows the famous statue of the Kelleys on Heartbreak Hill. I ran Boston again in 2006 and had an excellent run on a fine day. I had no idea what lay ahead for me on my life path.

In 2010, I was diagnosed with a tumour at the back of my right eye. It was successfully treated with radiation and I got on with my life and my running. I clearly remember doing a very fast run before the day of the surgery, and a day after I got home going out to walk, but with running shoes on, and gently easing into my first postoperative run. In March 2012, I learned that the cancer had metastasized deep into my body, and my future would be very brief. Typically, people in that situation live from 2 to 7 months. This was a very heavy burden to bear.

And here comes the best part. It is now more than 3 full years later, and I have gone from being a registered hospice patient to running in the Boston Marathon tomorrow. With the support of modern medicine, supportive and loving family and friends, I have survived. This will be a special race indeed! Hip hip hooray! Thank you for this perfect day! And tomorrow!

If you would like to track my progress on Monday, April 20, go to the website www.baa.org and enter this bib number - 24248.  

Peace and love, Nigel

Boston Bound!

Well, the time has come to hit the road again! I am off to Boston today in preparation for the 119th running of the Boston Marathon, on Monday, April 20.  Boston is the world's most famous marathon and all runners dream of running it.

For months I have been training hard to be strong on the beautiful course all the way from Hopkinton, a delightful village of heritage houses, over hill and dale, up the famous Newton Hills, especially Heartbreak Hill, and thence down into Boston. I know it is a tough course as I ran it in 2004 and 2006. This is likely to be the last time I will run it and I intend to celebrate! 

I was deeply upset by the bombings near the finish line 2 years ago that killed 3 innocent bystanders and injured hundreds. An 8 year old boy died. Just imagine the horror. He goes out to enjoy the thrill of watching the runners come in and he dies. In any event, I am running to celebrate life, love, forgiveness and redemption. I am also running to make a clear statement that no matter what happens, I will run while I can. Runners cannot be intimidated!  I have many friends who are travelling from White Rock and Surrey to run, a group of 16 in all, so we will have a very special time together.

If you would like to track my progress on Monday, April 20, go to the website www.baa.org and enter this bib number - 24248. You will then get a message every 5 ks to say I have crossed another line! I hope to complete the course in about 4 hours, laughing all the way! I will start running at 11.15 am, Boston time.

I am also running to celebrate my own survival against the odds. I will wear a shirt that celebrates the Save Your Skin Foundation, a local organization that has offered me support and comfort. There is currently no organization in BC or Canada that  funds research specifically into the rare cancer that afflicts me. I am in the process of reaching out to SYS to see if we can work together not only to raise funds, but also to support others who are stricken by this dreadful disease. To see a hopeful video recently  produced by SYS, click here: 

I'm Living Proof - A Video About Survivorship - YouTube

▶ 5:40

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EGkPVLQvx0

Feb 18, 2015 - Uploaded by saveyourskinfdn

April 20 will be a wonderful day for me. I hope you enjoy it too. Peace and love, Nigel

A Taste of Vietnam

I have been in Hanoi for a few days and tomorrow I head for home.

I chose to stay in a hotel in the Old Quarter, not only because it is easier to get a sense of the history of the town, but it remains very much the centre of town and it is easy to walk everywhere. The hotel turned out to be on a very narrow little street but surprisingly quiet at night, given that people spend a lot of time out on the sidewalks, not only because living quarters are small, families are large, but also because it is cooler outside in the evenings. Everyone eats, plays, socializes and shops on the sidewalks. Most traffic is scooters and they are parked everywhere!

It has been an amazing experience to explore this cohesive and energetic, highly organized urban society. It is a real surprise to see how far Vietnamese society has come since the end of a terrible war in the 60s and 70s. I came of age in the 60s and well remember participating in street protests against American imperialism. I had somehow assumed that the destruction of war would permanently have held the country back. But that's 40 years ago now. It's history. Everything has changed.

I love the friendliness of the people. Tourists are as welcome as anyone else here. If anything, tourists seem just to participate more in the Vietnamese way of doing things. In restaurants, most diners always seem to be Vietnamese. The goods in the shops all seem to be for everyone, and not for tourists in particular. I must say Hanoi is a fantastic shopping town!

The food is exciting! This evening I feasted on bún bò nam bô and it was really delicious. The variations of phô have also been delightful. Coffee is of high quality and people love to eat baguettes.
There are lots of reminders that the French were here!

The hardest thing for me to do has been to learn how to cross the street. Traffic is constant and can come from any direction, even on one way streets. Junctions are comical! Scooters travel super fast along the sidewalks, and straight into the very narrow corridors into the buildings. There is only one way to get across. You work up your courage and just start walking out into the traffic. You move slowly forward and everyone drives around you. It is very dangerous to stop or step back. This is much harder to do than it sounds! It's terrifying! I find I can do it quite well by the afternoon but by next morning, the terror returns!

Ho Chi Minh

Strange to recount, but one can still see Ho Chi Minh in person. This is all the more interesting since he is now 125 years old. He rests in a very austere mausoleum and thousands of people line up every day to walk silently around him. The crowds are extremely well organized and the human chain moves inexorably forward so it does not take as long as one might fear. All bags are taken and stored and electronic equipment is taken separately and stored separately. Happily, no one takes photos! Complete silence falls on the lines of people long before they enter the mausoleum. I was firmly and silently instructed by a crisply white-uniformed honourguard to walk with my arms straight down by my sides as I am in the habit of walking with them behind me.

The Father of the Nation just looks like he is asleep. His face is fatter and generally bigger than I remember from pictures. There are very few monuments like this. It is a strange place indeed.

When I was at university I decided to grow a beard as it was fashionable at the time amongst students. Mine grew strongly only on my chin and my father used to tease me by calling me Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh is still wearing his beard but I'm not wearing mine.

The River

Some of my happiest moments in Luang Prabang were spent on the banks of the Mekong, watching as boats came and went, the sun rose and set and people went about their daily business.  Rivers provide an easy way to move about when roads are inadequate or don't exist. This leads to a different pattern of living, with villages strung out along the banks.

One day,  a long transport boat came across the river and suddenly there was a whirlwind of activity as people unloaded their goods. I could hear some very loud screaming so I watched until I could see two pigs being unloaded. They had a string tied to one back leg and the 'driver' had a little stick to guide the pig with. The pigs were not being very cooperative, especially the larger one. It kept sitting down and then would need to be tapped with the stick to get it to move again. It came to a wall and lay down alongside it. Even with prodding it remained on strike! The owner eventually picked it up in frustration and carried it over the wall! I wondered where they were going. Were they going to or coming from the market? I didn't dare think too much about their future. One never should!

to or coming from the market? I didn't dare to think too much about the future. One never should!