First race of the year is coming up in Tinley Park on March 14. It's the Runnin' O' The Green 8K at the Bettenhausen Rec Center on 171st Street just west of 80th Avenue.

Lynn and Jamie will also be appearing at the Dick Pond Athletics store in Lisle on June 10th before their weekly Thursday night 4-mile fun run. We'll do a meet & greet from 5-6, then the 4-miler, followed by a Q & A until about 8:30. We'll have DVDs with us there too. Hope to see you there.

Lynn and Jamie will be pacing Jamie's sister, Jodi, through the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon on July 25th. That just happens to be Jamie's sister's 40th birthday.

Jamie's running streak (at least one mile every day) is now over 18 years.

The 2009 racing season is over for us. Lynn and Jamie ran 19 races (thirteen 5Ks, two 5-milers, one 4-miler, one 1/2 marathon, one marathon relay of 7 1/4 miles and one duathlon which had a 2-mile run, 11-mile bike & 2-mile run). We got age group awards in 14 of the 19 races.

Annalyn ran 12 races (ten 5Ks, one 5-miler and one duathlon <2-mile run, 11-mile bike, 2-mile run>). She got age group awards in 8 of her 12 races which is very impressive because she is usually in the 14 & under age group and she just turned 10). She set her 5K best time of 28:47 in July.

11/15 was the last race of the year for Lynn and Jamie. It was the Red Eye 8K (5 miles) in Joliet. Our main goal was to try and beat last year's time of 32:01. We got off to a slow start because the first 1 1/4 miles was against the wind and slightly uphill. After a 6:30 and 6:37 first two miles, we picked up the pace a bit and did 6:22 and 6:28 the next two. We came back into Memorial Stadium and saw that the clock was still under 32:00. Jamie put the hammer down and we hit the line in 31:58, 3 seconds better than last year! I'm not sure if the course miles were slightly off but according to Jamie's watch, we did 6:00 for the last mile. We were 17th of 342 finishers and 3rd in the 45-49 age group (got some socks).

11/8 was race #200 for Lynn and Jamie since we started at the Heart & Sole 10K back in July of 1991. We started out a bit quick with a 6:02 first mile and just tried to hang on. We slowed a bit on the second lap of the course but still finished less than half a second off of last year with a time of 19:09.82. This was Annalyn's last race of the year and she finished in 31:11, just 16 seconds off of last year's time. Our 14-year-old niece, Shannon came in with a time of 29:05.

We hit a big milestone on 10/21 when the two of us ran our 15,000th mile together. Our FIRST mile together was on July 11, 1991 when we decided to train for the Heart & Sole 10K race.

On 10/27, we did our 2,000th mile since we got our racing chair from A Step Ahead Prosthetics and Orthotics. We've had a lot of great runs and races (and 2 flat tires) with this chair.

We had a great time in Milwaukee on the weekend of 10/2-4. We were honored to be the Keynote speakers at the expo the day before the Lakefront Marathon (thanks Kris Hinrichs & Co.). We got to meet some of the race volunteers and other runners at In Step, a running store on Friday night. We were pleasantly surprised with an appearance by Jenny Crain at the store. Jenny is the Olympic Women's Marathon Trials competitor who was tragically struck by a car while training in downtown Milwaukee two years ago. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and is still on the road to recovery. Since she and Lynn have this in common, they could talk about their experiences. Because of all of the crowd noise, it was difficult for them at the running store but the next morning we visited Jenny where she lives and our 30-minute meeting turned into 90 minutes. We wish it could have lasted longer. We met and got to talk with Jenny's Mom, Donna, along with some of her close friends who have stuck by her side throughout her recovery. Jenny still has some work to do but I think Lynn inspired her with her words of encouragement. The reason we couldn't stay longer with Jenny was that we had to get to the Marathon Expo where we were speaking twice that afternoon. Our talks were well received and well attended. Of course, Lynn and Annalyn got all of the best laughs while I had to try and stay with the "script" so we'd finish on time. We hung out at a booth that was provided to us where we could meet and greet folks and sell a few of our "Marathon Love" DVDs. We spent the evening enjoying pizza with the race organizers. Race day was great. Lynn and I were running as part of the Marathon Relay. We ran the last 7.25 miles as part of Team Running For Jenny. Annalyn and our other relay partners joined us for the last mile. It was a fun time. We hung out and handed out a few awards afterwards. All in all, a great trip. Special thanks go out to my brother, Jason, who helped in a million ways and to Dennis Wantland who squired us around town and made sure we were where we were supposed to be when we were supposed to be there.  

After 13 years doing the same mail route in Lansing, Jamie is "movin' on up and taking another route. It has less than half of the walking that he does now and a lot more driving. It will help to save his legs over the next few years until retirement. Winters will be easier too. It will be hard to leave the customers he's gotten to know over the years. He has a lot of friends on his route and they will be missed.

Jamie spent 32 hours at South Suburban Hospital on 8/10-11 due to a combination of factors resulting in severe dehydration. It started the week before when he was having chills, fever, body aches and headache. He went to see his doctor and she looked at his sinuses and throat and determined that it was an Upper Respiratory Infection. Jamie disagreed because he didn't have any congestion or other things usually associated with that kind of infection. Can't argue with the doc. She put him on antibiotics. By Friday evening, 8/7, Jamie realized that the infection he had was a bit "farther south." But he figured that the antibiotics the doc put him on might get rid of that too. We had a race coming up in Shorewood on Sunday, 8/9, and Annalyn and our niece, Shannon, were signed up to run it too. Jamie told himself that if he felt lousy before the race, he would just take the girls and watch them run. He felt good that morning but it was a very warm and humid day. The race is mostly flat to downhill for the first two miles before it starts to go back up. There is one really huge hill about 3/4 mile from the finish. Jamie went out conservatively in 6:15 for each of the first two miles. The hills, heat and his health combined to knock him for a loop at the end of the race and we crossed the finish line in 20:43, our slowest 5K this year by far. He still didn't feel any worse than normal after the race and we got Gatorade and water and waited for the girls to come in. Annalyn finished in 32:07 and Shannon just 3 seconds later. They were 91st and 92nd Overall and 4th and 5th in their age group. Lynn and Jamie were 10th Overall and 2nd in the 45-49 group. After awards, we went to church and then to Jamie's Mom's house for lunch. He still wasn't feeling any worse than he usually does after a race. Then, when we got home, Annalyn noticed that it felt warm in the house. It was 85. The Air Conditioner was broken. We put all of the ceiling fans on and the portable fan wherever we were at the time. Jamie tried to get someone out but no one could get there the rest of the day. We all took cool showers and pulled the shades closed to try and keep the hot air out. It got up to at least 88 in the house before nightfall. Lynn and Annalyn went to bed but Jamie couldn't sleep. What he didn't know was that the infection was worsened by running the 5K in hot, humid conditions and then compounded by the lack of AC in the house. He was slowly dehydrating but didn't realize it. Monday morning was Annalyn's first day of Running Camp. We all walked there since it was only 3 blocks away. We stayed while the kids did their stretching, warmups and 1 1/2 mile run. We talked with Mr. Heenan, the coach. Nice guy. After practice, we walked back home. Lynn and Annalyn ate breakfast but Jamie had no appetite. He got on the couch (mind you, the AC was still out) and things progressively got worse. He knew he'd have to go back to the doctor so he asked Lynn to call her Mom at work so she could come over while Jamie was gone. He got an earlier appointment than he thought he'd get so his sister-in-law, Lisa, came over so he could leave right away. He got to the doctor's office and after she saw the sample he gave, she said, "You need to go to the hospital." His Mom said she'd drive him and would meet him at home. He got there before she did and then did something only an obsessed runner with a 17 1/2 year running streak going would do. He ran. If you call it that. He shuffled a mile (must do at least a mile to keep the streak alive) in 11:06. By that time, his Mom was there and she and Lynn read him the riot act for doing his run. We headed to South Suburban Hospital where he was admitted and spent the next 32 hours getting IV fluids and antibiotics dripped into him. Doctor said that his white blood cell count was nearly triple what it normally is and that he could have gone into Renal Failure, where his organs start to shut down. He felt much better the next day and talked the doctor into letting him go home that evening. His Dad picked him up and dropped him at home. So what did he do before he picked up his prescriptions at the drug store? He went outside and ran a mile. Streak intact.

"Marathon Love" is now an award-winning documentary!! The US International Film and Video Festival in LA named it a Gold Camera winner for 2009 and it was nominated for "Best in Festival."

We were in Cumberland, Maryland on April 18th & 19th as honorary starters of the Mountain Maryland Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 5K and Kids' Marathon. Thanks to Race Director Kevin Spradlin for inviting us. We spoke at their pre-race dinner on the 18th and fired the starting gun on the 19th. Annalyn ran the 5K and finished in 29:31, her best 5K ever by 1:24. She was 70th of 137 Overall and 2nd in her age group. Weather turned out great.

On April 25th we spoke just before the start of the Novacare Rehabilitation Lakefront 10-Miler in Chicago at Montrose Avenue and the lakefront. Novacare was where Jamie went to rehab his various running injuries in the weeks leading up to last year's Boston Marathon. Jamie's therapist, Jerry Davis, is one of the best in his field. A picture of us there is on our "Picture Page."

After we left there, we went to meet Phil Keoghan of "The Amazing Race" at a Bike MS event in Chicago. What a nice, approachable guy. He signed autographs for us and we took pictures and video before he shot a segment for the Bonnie Hunt Show. We hung out with his Dad, John, for probably 20 minutes while Phil was doing his "thing" for his sponsors. Incredibly nice man. We can see where Phil gets it from. He invited us to the Bed & Breakfast that he and his wife run in New Zealand just south of Christchurch. Better start saving now. We also talked with Greg, the motorcycle driver for Phil's Ride Across America. Funny guy. He shared some stories with us of things that have happened so far since they left Santa Monica on 3/28. We put up a few pictures of our time with them on our "Picture Page." Check it out.

Due to an overwhelming demand for copies, "Marathon Love" is now available for purchase on DVD. Send e-mail to Lynjameracing@sbcglobal.net to request a copy. $5.00 from each DVD sale will go to Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse in Chicago.

Lynn and Jamie are now on Facebook.

Jamie's Facebook

Lynn's Facebook

You can also join the group Marathon Love Fans

You can now follow us on Twitter too. Look for JamieParks1.

Here's the interview we did on February 11th, 2009 with Linda Lawson. "A Way With Words"

Lynn and Jamie were interviewed on the Nancy Turner Show on Moody Radio (90.1 FM) on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009. It went great except Jamie said "you know" about 100 times, you know?

Here's the audio of the interview. 2009-02-10Jamie&LynParks.mp3

Here is the official press release and promo put out by Discovery Health Channel (Jamie had to tweak it slightly just to fix a few incorrect numbers).
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Katie Crockett: 240-662-2707
November 18, 2008 Katie_Crockett@discovery.com

MARATHON LOVE CHRONICLES TINLEY PARK COUPLE’S MIRACULOUS JOURNEY FROM A PARALYZING ACCIDENT TO THE BOSTON MARATHON
-- Hour-Long Special Following the Tragedy-to-Triumph Fairy Tale of Jamie and Lynn Parks. Encore Presentation Saturday February 14, at 8 PM (ET/PT) on Discovery Health --

(Silver Spring, Md.)—Just before her wedding day in 1987, Lynn Parks’ dream of walking down the aisle was shattered when a devastating car accident left her comatose and clinging to life. Miraculously, she awoke seven months later to find that her fiancé, Jamie, had never left her side. However, her struggle was not nearly over, as she had suffered a brain stem injury rendering her unable to ever stand or walk on her own again.

Fast-forward to 2008—this amazing husband-and-wife team has now run more than 14,000 miles and completed several marathons—and are the proud parents of a 9-year-old daughter. On Sunday, December 14, at 8 PM (ET/PT), Discovery Health premieres MARATHON LOVE, an engrossing hour-long special that weaves together professional footage with Jamie’s personal home videos to tell a tale of true love, perseverance and the power of the human spirit.

Even during the darkest days after the accident, Jamie’s faith never wavered—and after seven years of grueling physical and speech therapy, he and Lynn finally walked down the aisle on their wedding day. An avid runner, Jamie began to push Lynn in her wheelchair as he ran the one-mile loop through their Tinley Park neighborhood. Soon after, the couple began entering races, eventually qualifying for the ultracompetitive 2008 Boston Marathon.

While the Boston Marathon was a lifelong dream for Jamie and Lynn, they will tell you that it doesn’t compare with another miracle that occurred nine years ago. Doctors had told Lynn that because of her injuries, she would not be able to have children—but in 1999, Lynn gave birth to a healthy and happy girl, Annalyn. As a baby, Annalyn sat on her mother’s lap as Jamie pushed them in more than 50 races. Now 9 years old, Annalyn shares her parents’ passion and often accompanies them on their daily runs.

MARATHON LOVE is an inspiring account of a family coming together that serves as a moving reminder of the power of love and the strength of the human spirit.

MARATHON LOVE is a co-production between Discovery Health and LMNO. For Discovery Health, Wendy Douglas is executive producer, and for LMNO, Ruth Rivin and Eric Schotz are executive producers.

###


 

Annalyn is in Fifth Grade at Bannes Elementary. Her teacher is Mrs. Stanovich and Annalyn says she's great. Mrs. Stanovich returns the compliment.

Annalyn will be 11 on August 23rd. WOW! She is 4 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 73 pounds. She is now in 5th Grade. She is very talkative and loves to sing and dance. She has a great sense of humor.  She loves to watch The Amazing Race, Mythbusters, Stormchasers, Dancing With The Stars, iCarly, and Dirty Jobs. Her new favorite shows are on the Food Channel and WWE wrestling. She watches them all the time. Weird kid.

Our Yellow Lab, Lulu, will turn 5 on 8/26. There have been a few times when I wasn't sure she would survive until then (chewing everything in the house, etc.).

Lynn and Jamie have a milestone coming up. May 18th will be 25 years since we met at a party neither of us was planning on going to.

We have some other important people in our lives who need prayer for various issues. If you have the time throw a few out for Mike, Jason, Butch, Marilyn and Jack.

Jamie's obsessive running streak reached the 18-year mark on 1/28. To keep the streak alive, he has to run at least a mile every day (although he still does 30 miles a week). There have been several times when the streak nearly ended due to the flu or nagging minor injuries (plantar fasciitis, ITB syndrome, broken elbow) and hernia surgery. There was one time where it nearly ended because Jamie fell asleep. He was planning on doing his run late at night around 11:00. He fell asleep in the recliner and woke up just in time to get it done before midnight.

ANNALYN is nearly 11 years old now. We want her to stay like this. Forever.

My youngest bro, Jason, helped set up and design our new website. Thanks, J!

Lynn and Jamie were EACH given the honor of carrying the Olympic Torch when the Torch Relay came through Chicago in January, 2002. It was an incredible experience for both of us.




VIDEO FROM BOSTON MARATHON

There are several videos that we appear in. The first one is here http://wbztv.com/video/?id=61686@wbz.dayport.com . It shows us crossing the finish line. We appear on there about 30 seconds after it starts. Keep watching to see how close Lance Armstrong came to catching us. Next, go to www.youtube.com  and find the "search" box. There are 5 YouTube videos that we appear in. For the first one, type in Boston Marathon 08 Elite Runners Technique. We pass through the shot at 46 seconds into the video. For the second one, type in Boston Marathon 2008-Natick. Starting at 13 seconds, there is an interview with one of the camera guys who shot for the documentary. They show us on screen as he is interviewed for 30 seconds. For the next one, type in Boston Marathon 2008 Get Boston. This video shows us for just 6 seconds starting at 1:15. For the fourth video, type in Vectrix at Boston Marathon. This will bring up two videos. The top one shows us from :15 to :39 and the bottom one (titled "Vectrix at Marathon Weekend") is the best one. It shows the three of us as we came up Hereford Street and turning onto Boylston for the run to the finish line. We're on from the 8:40 mark for a full minute.

ANNALYN'S FIRST 5K RACE

Annalyn ran her first 5K race on 5/4/08. It was in Romeoville. She had trained for 4 months and done up to 3 miles in practice but she was still worried that she would finish last. Well, that didn't happen. On a sunny, somewhat chilly Sunday morning (40 degrees when we left the house), she had an outstanding race. Lynn and Jamie ran with her the whole way and were able to videotape her entire race (we had an HD camera rigged to Lynn's wheelchair). She paced herself well considering that this was her first race. Her first mile was in 10:57 on the only slightly uphill section of the course. Mile two went by in a brisk 10:42 (what goes up must come down). Towards the end of mile 2, she started to get a side stitch and some pain in her left shoulder. This can be frustrating for any runner knowing that you still have nearly half the race to go and now you have this pain to deal with. Jamie has run many races so he knows that a side stitch, while annoying, can't do any physical harm to a runner. Annalyn's frustration was showing because she started to get a bit whiny. After praise and encouragement didn't work, he had to resort to a little "tough love" to help her through. Mom was being "good cop" the whole time which helped. Since Mom and Dad had run this race several times before, they knew how many turns were left and how close to the finish she was getting. As you get near the finish, the course makes a left turn away from the finish line and the runners go about 50 yards, do a u-turn and head down a straightaway to the finish. At the left turn, Jamie handed off the camcorder to his friend Mitch Alvarez who ran it to the finish so Jamie's brother, Jason, could put it on a tripod and get the three of them as they came to the finish. It worked perfectly. Once Annalyn knew she was near the finish, the whining stopped and she started smiling. Mile 3 was done in 11:07 and she covered the last 1/10th of a mile in 58 seconds.

She crossed the finish line in 33:45 to a roar of cheers from the crowd. She got flowers and a stuffed animal from Grandma and got to pick where she wanted to go for lunch from Mom and Dad.

Her best prize came shortly after the finish when it was announced that she came in 3rd place in her age group.

She got a medal on a ribbon and wouldn't take it off for two days. And as far as her worry about finishing last? She was 112th of 132 Overall.

A NOT-SO-WELCOME CHALLENGE


THE BOSTON MARATHON STORY

What a way to run your last marathon. And what a place. We ran the pinnacle of all the marathons, the Boston Marathon, on April 21st. The weekend didn't start out too great when on Friday, the 18th, Lynn and Jamie got some bad news. Jamie's brother, Jason, was in the hospital with some unexplained internal bleeding and might not be able to make the trip with us. Jason did a boatload of work on this project and deserved to be there. His doctor asked if he could wait a day and fly out Sunday so they could do some tests. He would miss our course recon that we planned for Saturday and early Sunday but his health is more important so we said OK. In his place, at least initially, would be Ruth Rivin, the Executive Producer of the documentary for LMNO Productions. Ruth called Jamie Friday afternoon and said, "Can I crash on your couch tonight?" Not exactly the accommodations she's used to I'm sure. Jamie said, "Sure." Ruth got there about 11 PM.

Saturday 4/19

We had to get up at 4 AM because we had an early flight and we had to deal with getting the new chair on the plane. Jamie's sister-in-law, Jen (Jason's wife) had spent 1 1/2 hours bubble-wrapping the chair the night before to make sure it wouldn't be damaged on the trip. Southwest Airlines didn't like that. They needed to inspect it to make sure there was no damage. Jamie finally signed off on the fact that it was new and undamaged. Our flight was uneventful and after we landed, we took a shuttle to the Holiday Inn in Manchester, New Hampshire (where we landed). We got our 12-passenger van that we rented and drove to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Natick, Massachusetts. It was about 17 miles from Boston and very near to the marathon course. We checked in and then went to downtown Boston to meet up with the rest of our documentary crew. We knew Kathy Williamson, the director, because we had worked with her years ago on the "Miracle Babies" show that featured Annalyn when she was born. We only knew Melissa Tallerine through dozens of e-mails that we had sent back and forth trying to get things set up ahead of time. I think Jason's wife thought he had a girlfriend with all of the Melissa e-mails he was getting every day (just kidding-she's married too). We also met the Director of the Boston Marathon TV Production. He was very nice as was Adam, our liaison to the BAA (Boston Athletic Association). Boylston Street (where the finish line is) was closed down so we decided to do our run for the day right there. Annalyn ran with us and we did a mile and then walked over to the place where we were planning on sneaking our daughter onto the course on Sunday. We want her to finish the race with us as a family. The documentary crew thought it was a great idea. I doubt that the BAA would agree but since it's our last marathon, we want to go out on a high note. The place we picked was on Commonwealth Avenue, about 30 feet before you get to the turn onto Hereford Street. It's about 1/2 mile from the finish but we knew that Annalyn could make it. 1/2 mile is nothing to her anymore since she had already done 3 miles in training for her first 5K that she did on 5/4 in Romeoville. After a nice meal with Ruth and Kathy, we were done for the night. Earlier in the day, we got the official word that Jason would not be out of the hospital in time to join us in Boston. We were bummed.

Sunday 4/20

This was our sleep in day. We got up at 8:15 and had room service breakfast. Then we went down to the hotel fitness center and Lynn walked on their treadmill and did some stationary bike work too.

Top left to right: Jamie's Dad Charlie, Kathy Williamson,

Jamie, Annalyn, Melissa Tallerine. Bottom: Ruth Rivin and Lynn.

We met the crew in the lobby and drove to Hopkinton. That's where the race starts 26 miles west of Boston. We parked at a church and walked to the start area. A very nice police officer actually stopped traffic both ways on Route 135 so LMNO could get some video footage of us looking at the start line. We did pictures and video and went back to the cars by the church. We hadn't run yet so we decided to just do it right there. We did a mile and Kathy shot footage of us running. We met more of the crew there, including Dan Franks, our Boston go-to guy. He has run Boston before and worked in the TV production of the race too so he was invaluable to us in this project. There was an idea to use a lipstick camera to get a point-of-view shot from the chair as we came in to Boston at the end of the race. The camera was very small but the battery pack and monitor weighed too much. So that idea was out the window. It was decided that an HD camcorder would be taped to the left handle of the chair and Jamie was instructed to turn it on with a mile to go in the race. We left and went back downtown so Jamie could get his race number and packet. Then expo was at the Hynes Convention Center. David Willey, the Editor-In-Chief at Runner's World Magazine (and a great guy), was giving a seminar on "Real Runners" at the expo and Lynn and Jamie were invited weeks earlier to drop by and be introduced. We found the room where he was and went in. There were 6 athletes on the stage, each with a fascinating story about survival or perseverance. We were about 10 minutes late so we hung out in the back. David saw us and asked all three of us to come up. He introduced us and mentioned some of our running accomplishments. He asked us a few questions and then a few questions from the audience were taken. One person asked the panel who their favorite running partner was and most everyone said their dog, a relative, a friend or their music. Jamie said that it's great having Lynn and Annalyn as running partners but as much as he prays during runs, his favorite partner is Jesus Christ. After the seminar, we went to pick up our race number. It was temporarily misplaced but eventually found by Barb Mancuso, the head of registration for the marathon. She got us our race shirts and then we went and met Dick and Rick Hoyt.

Dick and Rick are the guys who we got the idea from about Jamie pushing Lynn in her wheelchair in races. They've done nearly 1000 races together since 1977 and this will be their 26th Boston Marathon. Dick said that he thought they'd finish somewhere around 4 hours because he has been so busy lately that his training has suffered. We took pictures and video and met their "people," Kathy Boyer. Jamie and Kathy had been e-mailing each other over the last few months since we knew that we'd be doing Boston and were getting a new racing chair. They were all very nice. Jamie got Dick to sign a poster and one of their books. Dick didn't want Jamie to pay for either but Jamie insisted and we settled on $20 for both. After that, we met up with the crew again and did a little souvenir shopping for us and Annalyn. We went back out and walked to the spot where Annalyn would enter the course. The barriers were up but not very high. That would make it much easier to pick her up and over them. Back to the hotel and just as we were about to leave to go to Olive Garden for Jamie's carbo-loading dinner, we realized that the keys to the van were locked inside. Ruth called AAA and the guy was across the street at a local mall. He was there in about 5 minutes. He got the lock open with a coat hanger. We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for Jamie's pre-race breakfast (2 bagels). We had a great dinner with the folks (Mom and Dad flew with us). After we got back to the hotel, Melissa gave Jamie an index card that showed where the cameras would be along the course and which side of the road to be on at certain points.

Monday 4/21

It's Boston Marathon Day!!!

We had to be at the start area at 5:30 AM to meet up with the camera people and assistants who would be working with us at the race. That meant we had to get up by 4:00 (3:00 Chicago time). Jamie had his pre-race breakfast of 2 bagels and Gatorade. We drove out to Hopkinton and met the rest of the crew at a different church from yesterday. The crew and the LMNO girls worked out all of their logistics as we waited in the van (mind you, the start wasn't for another 4 hours). It looked like the weather was going to be ideal for the race. It was overcast and about 45 with no wind and no rain. After everything was coordinated with the crew, we drove back to the church we were at yesterday (sensing a theme here?). The crew wanted to film us getting ready before the start so they shot Jamie putting the racing chair together, Lynn getting out of the van and into the chair, Jamie preparing his energy gels and water bottles and Annalyn joining them for the walk towards the start. We did that in one take. There was a little pre-race interview and then a near disaster happened. In the bigger races, runners wear a little black plastic timing chip that they tie to their shoelace. It's like a little homing device that triggers a sensor when you go past various points along the course. This sends the information to a computer so they know that you completed the course and didn't cut it like Rosie Ruiz did a few years ago. Jamie thought he had put his in a bag with all of the things he would need for race day. It wasn't in the bag, it wasn't in the van, it wasn't at the hotel and no one had it. This was bad. No timing chip means no official time or place in the marathon. Jamie asked Kathy, the Director, to send someone to the start line area to see if there was a way to replace it. After a tense 15 minutes of waiting while we drew closer to the race start, we were told they could replace it. Jamie was given the new chip and in the process of putting it on, he stripped down to his racing shorts. As he took off his sweatpants, he could see something tucked into the top of his sock. You guessed it. The missing timing chip. He said that he had absolutely no recollection of putting it there. So he put it on and double-knotted his shoelace so it wouldn't come off. He kissed his Mom and we headed to the start. Many people came up to us to wish us good luck. We saw Dave McGillivray, the Race Director, and thanked him for helping to make this happen. We hugged and kissed Annalyn and Jamie's Dad and they went up to a spot in the bleachers where they could see us off. We lined up behind the wheelchair racers along with Dick and Rick Hoyt and Mark and Amanda Collis (the other pusher teams). For some unknown reason, Jamie was visibly shaking as we waited for the gun. It wasn't nerves or weather. John Kerry was there and made the rounds wishing the athletes good luck. He fired the starter's pistol and we were off. The first few miles of the race are mostly downhill so it's important not to go out too hard or you'll pay for it later on when you hit the Newton Hills. We ran the first 1 1/2 miles with the Hoyts and Collis' but before we knew it, we were way ahead. The spectators along the sides of the road were amazing. They really can carry you through some tough spots. It was hard to concentrate on running with all of the waving and smiling that we were doing. It was really fun, though. It was like we were in a 26.2-mile parade. After we ran in Toronto and qualified for Boston, we agreed that we weren't going to worry about our finishing time in Boston. We were going to have a good time and enjoy ourselves. We had a cameraperson filming us from the back of a motorcycle for the first 6 miles for the documentary. Jamie was doing well physically but it was hard to get a good idea of just how well we were doing with our pace. With all of the rolling terrain, you just had to try and maintain a good rhythm. Jamie's goal was to try and hold a 7:30/mile pace until we got to the Newton Hills at 16 miles. Miles 2-4 we did in 7:12, 7:05 and 7:04. The motorcycle pulled off at the 6-mile mark to go back to the start. The cameraperson had to be back to film that. Just about this time, the elite women passed us. Apart from the start, this was the only other time that we were shown on the TV coverage. As the women passed us, Jamie applauded them. Jamie was taking his energy gels every 5 miles and staying hydrated with water and Gatorade. Lynn was enjoying the scenery and the chair was rolling perfectly. At around the 8-mile mark, the motorcycle guy pulled up alongside us. He had nothing left to do after he dropped off the cameraperson at the start. So he decided to come back to us and ride alongside us. That was cool. Jamie told him that we had people ahead filming for the documentary who would be running along with us while filming for as long as they could. He suggested that the motorcycle guy ask one of them if they wanted to ride and film from the bike. By this point, we were nearing the 10-mile mark. That was where Jamie's first instruction was on his index card. He was supposed to stay on the left side of the street because there was someone positioned on the right in a building to film us for the show. Not long after that, we went past our first running cameraperson. He stayed with us for maybe 50 yards or so before peeling off. The course took a dip down a hill here and you could see an uphill section ahead around a curve. What you REALLY couldn't miss was this huge wall of sound. We were probably 1/2 mile away but we knew it had to be Wellesley College. Wellesley is an all-women's school and they have a reputation of being very loud and enthusiastic as the marathon runners pass by. As we neared Wellesley, we saw Melissa, our other running cameraperson. Melissa is a Lead Producer of the documentary but also a marathon runner and triathlete. She ran with us and filmed as we went past Wellesley. Jamie moved over to the right side of Lynn's chair and held on with his left hand so he could slap hands with everyone lined up behind the barriers. That was fun. One of those pictures is on the Runner's World website in their Boston Marathon coverage section. Just after we passed Wellesley, the motorcycle caught up with us and there was Melissa on the back grinning from ear to ear. Not only was she getting a ride to the finish but she was going to tape us while doing it. That wasn't planned at all. We were just past halfway and the Newton Hills were coming up so Jamie just concentrated on staying within himself and conserving energy. The gels and liquids were working perfectly so far but the worst was yet to come. The first hill you hit when you get into Newton is a long, gradual incline that's not too steep. It goes over Route 128 and leads you to the first turn on the course. Yes, I said the FIRST turn. In fact, in the entire 26.2 miles, there were only three turns and the last two are in the last 1/2 mile of the race. You make a right turn onto Commonwealth Avenue right by the Newton Fire Station. At Mile 18, you hit a nasty hill that is fairly long and steep and makes you wonder just how bad Heartbreak Hill is. That was still 2 miles ahead. Jamie had a hard time keeping the chair going forward on one section that was really steep but we got over it. He was just trying to keep an even effort and not overcook himself. We got a respite of maybe a mile before we saw the 20-mile mark sign. Heartbreak Hill dead ahead. There aren't a lot of hills in the Chicago area so we don't get to train or race on many. There is one on Western Avenue in Joliet that we've raced on that is actually worse than Heartbreak Hill. It's very steep and just when you think you've topped it, it kicks up again even steeper. But that is in a 5-mile race. Heartbreak Hill is 20.5 miles into a marathon, right at the point where the majority of runners "hit the wall." Jamie has played that game a time or two so that's why it was so important to stay hydrated and keep using the energy gels even in the early part of the race when he felt good. For lack of a better word, Heartbreak Hill sucked. Jamie has a habit of praying during his training and racing and the prayers were a huge part of making this whole thing happen. Well, the prayers were flowing fast and furious on Heartbreak Hill. He kept looking at his feet and praying to just keep them moving forward. He wanted to do this race without stopping but it was very close to happening here. It seemed like the top would never come. The spectators REALLY pull you through here and the cheering lifts you up. It felt like it took 10 minutes to get over it when it was probably 3 or 4 but we made it. Before you get to celebrate too much, you're going downhill and holding back on the chair is murder on the triceps. We knew we had 6 miles to go and no more huge hills so now it was time to make sure we finished. Jamie was taking water from the aide stations along the course and pouring it on his head to stay cool even though it was only in the mid-50s. The crowds grew even thicker as we neared Boston. We had a camcorder duct-taped to the left side of the chair and Jamie was supposed to turn it on and hit "record" as they went past the Citgo sign with one mile to go. This would give the viewer the perspective that we had as we neared the finish. The 25-mile mark was at the top of a small rise on an overpass. Jamie thought this would be a good time to start the camera so he could concentrate on his next project, sneaking our daughter onto the course. We went underneath Massachusetts Avenue and we knew that Annalyn was not far away. We came up from under the viaduct, went around a small curve and saw a bunch of orange hats waving along the barriers. These were the Discovery Health Channel hats that our crew was wearing. We knew that Annalyn was with them and Jamie's Dad. We pulled up to the curb and Jamie lifted Annalyn over the barriers and said, "Let's go to the finish!" This was about 20 feet before the second turn on the course, from Commonwealth onto Hereford Street. We don't know if Annalyn got caught up in all the excitement or if Jamie was just slowing down but it seemed like she was flying that last 1/2 mile to the finish line. She held onto the left side of the chair while Jamie held the right. The cheers were so loud it almost hurt your ears. We made the last turn onto Boylston Street and you could see the finish line 4 blocks away. Our 26.2-mile parade was nearly over but we were going to enjoy every last moment. And we did. This was one of those moments in life that you want to freeze and last forever. We were briefly misidentified by the race announcer as the Hoyts but he corrected himself before we finished. We knew that Lance Armstrong was not far behind us because his name was called out too. With about 100 yards to go, we all raised our arms for the finish line photos.

The three of us crossed the finish line in a moment that we'll never forget. Jamie stopped his watch and it said 3:25:45. Not bad considering how much we were enjoying ourselves. WE DID IT!!!! We ran the Granddaddy of them all, the Boston Marathon and finished as a family, as the Parks Family Racing Team. Oh, and we beat Lance Armstrong by 13 seconds. After we crossed the line, we got our finisher medals and headed to our pre-planned meeting point, the Jury Hotel. It was 5 blocks from the finish but we were so stoked that it didn't feel like it. Jamie realized that he actually didn't feel sore. This has never happened in any of our other marathons. Thanks NuBound! Dozens of people congratulated us as we made our way through the crowds including Dave McGillivray, the Race Director. Melissa found us and taped us walking to the hotel. After freshening up a bit and making a few cellphone calls, we found Jamie's Mom and Dad and did much hugging, sweat and all. There was a big group from the Discovery Health Channel that came out to cheer us on and we saw many of them there at the hotel. The crew wanted to do one more interview to get our post-race reaction and thoughts. The very last question we were asked was, "So now that you've run and finished the Boston Marathon, is this truly going to be your LAST one?" Jamie said, "The ONLY way we'll ever do another one is if we run it with Annalyn."
 

We would like to dedicate this achievement to Jesus Christ. Special thanks go out to Jason Parks, Ruth Rivin, Kathy Williamson, Melissa Tallerine, Dan Franks, Jerry Davis, Marty Ozinga and the guys at A Step Ahead Prosthetics. Without all of their efforts this never would have happened. Jamie would like to thank his Mom and Dad too for making the trip to Boston and shlepping around town with us even though it was physically demanding on them. And an EXTRA special thanks to our awesome daughter, Annalyn.

YOU ROCK!!!

We retired the old racing wheelchair on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008. We finally got a day with temps in the low 50s and decided to go out and do Annalyn's long run for the week outside. It was 2 1/3 miles. It took her 25:05 Jason was there to capture it on tape to possibly be used in the documentary. The Lord was really watching out for us because it started raining right after we finished. We ended up doing nearly 8600 miles with that chair. Later that day, we put the new racing chair together. It looks sweet.
                    


On 2/12 of 2008, Lynn, Jamie and his brother Jason flew out to Long Island to A Step Ahead Prosthetics where they were presented with Lynn's new racing wheelchair. Wow! The seat looks like something out of a Formula One race car and has a 5-point safety harness. It has an adjustable height in back for Jamie to find a comfortable level to push the chair. All Jamie had to do was add the water bottle holders in the back and a place for his energy gels. We took it out on a test run with Amy Palmiero-Winters (world-class marathoner now training for the Olympic Trials). Very smooth ride. Lynn loved it. Jason was along to shoot all of this for the documentary (see next paragraph). LMNO shipped an HD Broadcast-ready camera for him to use to shoot some extra things for the show. He has also taped us on the treadmill (Annalyn too) and singing with the church choir. We had a heck of a time trying to bring the new chair back home. Even after taking wheels and the front fork off of it, it was still bigger than is normally allowed for a checked bag. After pleading our case with the ticket agent at Southwest Airlines, we were allowed to bring it home with us.

A very cool thing happened on 2/7 of 2008 when we got the official word from Ruth Rivin at LMNO Productions that they will be shooting a documentary about us (tentatively titled "Marathon Love") for the Discovery Health Channel. It will show us training for and eventually running in this year's Boston Marathon on April 21st. It will also include footage of us receiving, tweaking, modifying, training and ultimately racing with Lynn's new racing wheelchair that was put together by A Step Ahead Prosthetics in New York.

Our Runner's World issue turned out great. It was the December issue of 2007 and there was a great picture of us running with Annalyn and a wonderful story written by Gail Kislevitz of Runner's World. There was a picture of us in the current February 2008 issue. It's a small one from the Heroes Awards Banquet at the bottom of David Willey's column. There's a short blurb about us in the Heroes Awards wrapup on Page 75. There's also a brief mention of us in the March '08 issue explaining how A Step Ahead Prosthetics is making Lynn's new racing chair for free.

Well, we did it! We needed to break 3:30:00 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on 9/30/07 to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Our training said we should finish somewhere around 3:15:00 and we came in with a time of 3:15:24. Not without a few anxious moments, though. Then again, we ALWAYS have anxious moments when we're doing a big race.

New video/slide show presentation of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon put together by Jamie's brother, Jason. Check it out here.

Toronto Marathon 3.wmv (may take a couple of minutes to load).

We did an interview with the Globe and Mail (Canada's equivalent to USA Today). It turned out surprisingly well. Usually, when we do a phone interview, the reporter gets a few things mixed up. Not this time. Check it out on the "Articles" link.



THE TORONTO STORY

The story starts on Friday, 9/28/07, when the three of us drove along with Jamie's brother, Jason, and his family 10 hours to Toronto. We actually checked in to our hotel after midnight so technically it was Saturday when we got there. On Saturday we picked up Jamie's Dad from the airport (can't imagine why he didn't want to drive with us). Then we all went to the Marathon Expo at the Convention Center so we could get our race number (602) and timing chip for the race. We went back to the hotel so we could do our workouts. Lynn and I did a 1.8 mile tuneup running around the block 4 times. A guy pulled up next to us during this and said that he saw the article that was in Friday's Globe and Mail. It was very well written. One of the best articles ever done about us.

We met up with Lynn's brother, Mike and his wife, Rosalee and went to the CN Tower. That was awesome. Up until a few weeks earlier, it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world. On one level, you can stand on a plexiglass floor and see all the way to the ground. Kind of freaky. Not for Annalyn, though. She was walking on it, lying down on it for pictures and even jumping on it. Weird kid. We went out for a nice dinner afterwards and then went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep before the marathon on Sunday. Here's where the mistake was made that led to anxious moment number one. Jamie has a habit of not setting his watch forward or backward if we travel to a different time zone. He just figures out what time it is by adding or subtracting from his watch or alarm clock. He brought the clock from home because he didn't want to risk something happening like the hotel alarm not going off or the front desk forgetting to do the wakeup call. The plan was to get up at 5:00 A.M. Toronto time and meet up with Jason and his family at 5:40 so we could be down at the start area by 6:00. That would give us an hour to take care of anything else that might come up before the race started at 7:00. So instead of setting the alarm for 4:00 (5:00 Toronto time), Jamie set it for 5:00 and went to sleep. Everyone was still asleep when Jason knocked on the door at 5:40. Much freaking out ensued but we all managed to get ready in record time and we got to the start area about 6:25.

Jason and his family dropped us off along with Jamie's Dad and Annalyn. Jamie's Dad, Jason and his wife, Jen were all going to videotape Lynn and Jamie at several points during the race. Jason had it all planned out ahead of time with maps and directions for everyone. After we were dropped off, Charlie (Jamie's Dad) and Annalyn had to go and find a good place to tape the start from because they weren't allowed in the start area. Lynn and Jamie found the start corral where they would begin from (the organizers have runners line up according to their projected finish times so we went in the 3:10-3:20 section). It was 6:35 and Jamie still needed to find a port-a-john to "take care of business" before the race. Lynn stayed at the start and Jamie searched for one with a short line. This is where anxious moment number two comes in. The lines were snaking around all over the place so Jamie just picked what looked like the shortest. He kept checking his watch and at 6:55 there were still maybe 15 people in line in front of him so he had to bail out and head back to Lynn (who was freaking out herself wondering why Jamie wasn't back yet). Jamie was convinced that he would have to find a port-a-john at some point on the course and stop to go. There wasn't even time to stretch before the gun went off.

Weather was absolutely perfect for a race. It was 58 degrees and overcast with no wind, humidity or any chance of rain. The temperature did climb as the race went along which became a factor closer to the end. A marathon is 26.2 miles long but in Canada, they use the metric system so the course was marked every kilometer (42.2 of them). This actually worked in our favor because it made it easier to deal with mentally when your next split is coming just over a half mile away. The plan was to try and hold a pace of 4:30 per kilometer for as long as possible. This would have us finish around 3:10:00 but we knew we would probably slow a bit towards the end so it would give us enough of a cushion to get our goal of 3:15:00. Our training went so well that we knew that barring something unforseen, we should easily break the 3:30:00 that we needed to qualify for the Boston Marathon. A few unforseen things did come up. Of course they did. They always do. The course is advertised as flat and fast and a great Boston qualifier. I would amend that to say that it's MOSTLY flat. There were a couple of good-sized hills that we had to deal with. Nothing huge but just long and gradual. Then there were the train and trolley tracks. They don't mix very well with wheelchair wheels. I'm guessing that we went over at least 50 sets of these. Last, but not least, were the speed bumps. Out on the Leslie Spit (a landfill at the east end of the course), there were probably 15-20 speed bumps that we had to go over on the way out and then again on the way back.

The start corral that we were in was maybe 50 yards from the start line so it took us about 20 seconds from the time the gun went off until we got to the line. There were over 2000 runners so it took us some time to weave our way through and find some open space. Several runners told us during the race that they had seen the Globe and Mail story. We held our 4:30/kilometer pace pretty well until we got out to the speed bumps. Jamie was alternating drinking water and Gatorade while taking an energy gel every 5 kilometers (3 miles). That system worked well until the temperature started to rise and the water and Gatorade bottles started to empty. Starting at around 35K (21 miles), Jamie started taking Gatorade from the volunteers at the aid stations and then dumping water over his head (a few times dousing Lynn). It was around here that our pace started to slow slightly. We started doing kilometers closer to the 4:40-4:50 range. Then with about 3 miles (5K) to go, Jamie's left calf started to cramp up. ANOTHER anxious moment. We were well inside our Boston qualifying time so unless he stopped and walked the rest of the way, we would make it. He told himself that he wanted to run the whole way so he just put his head down and kept pushing. The spectators along the course were wonderful, cheering us and our fellows runners along. There were a few sections where there weren't very many spectators and from 37-40K was one of them. The cheering can really help you through a rough spot physically so with no one there to cheer, it made it all the more difficult to deal with the leg cramps. There was a very rough patch of road on this section also. It was like asphalt with gravel mixed in. We went over the same stretch near the beginning of the race and got through it OK, but when we hit it near the end, it felt like we were going through sand. Jamie was praying a lot during the race but it was more focused at this point. It started to seem like the kilometer flags were farther and farther apart as we got closer to the finish. We saw Jamie's family videotaping at I think 9 points along the course. From 40K to the finish (the last 1 1/2 miles) was back downtown so there were many more people cheering on the sides of the road. That helped a lot. At about 200 yards to the finish, there was a small rise in the road. Nothing major but as we went up, it felt like someone had reached down and grabbed Jamie's left calf muscle and twisted it as hard as they could. It nearly brought Jamie to a walk momentarily but just then he saw Charlie and Annalyn cheering. That was all he needed. They crossed the line in 3:15:24. Lynn's brother, Mike and Jamie's brother, Jason were there to congratulate us.

We hooked up with everyone else within a few minutes and high fives were all around. Lynn and Jamie each called their moms and Jamie called his brother, Mike to let them know we made it. We needed to get back to the hotel because, even with them granting us a late checkout because of the marathon, after 1:00 we would be charged for an extra day. We still had to shower and Annalyn had to do her run (she did 1/2 mile Saturday and Sunday on the street behind the hotel). Traffic was pretty congested as we headed back and then about 2 blocks from the hotel, police were turning cars around because the street ahead was blocked off for a Walk For The Cure fundraising walk for breast cancer. Jason dropped off the three of us and we walked (Jamie limped) back to the hotel. Annalyn did her run and we had just enough time to shower and load up the van before 1:00 rolled around. We met up with Lynn's brother, Mike one more time at a nearby McDonald's for lunch and then hit the road back. Charlie had taken a shuttle back to the airport for his flight back to Chicago. 10 hours later, we were back at home sweet home.

THE END

We got some very cool news on 8/20/07. It started with an e-mail I received on 8/14 from Runner's World Magazine. It was from Katie Neitz, their Senior Editor. It said, "We are amazed by your athletic achievements and think your story would be inspiring for our readers to hear. We'd like to cover you in an upcoming issue of Runner's World." She went on to say that a writer would be contacting us in the near future for an interview. Well that's pretty cool. It gets better. We didn't hear anything for nearly a week but then one morning, I got a phone call from Debbie Maish, the Church Secretary at our church, Eagle Rock Community. She said that there was a message in her voice mail from a woman at Runner's World who was trying to contact me (if you scroll down a bit, you'll see a link to the Eagle Rock website. She must have gotten the phone number from that and called Debbie). She said in the voice mail message that she had been trying to e-mail us and they kept getting returned to her. It turns out she had been adding an "s" to our e-mail address and it kept getting sent back to her as "unknown." Later on in the day, I was able to contact Katie and she said that we would be getting a call from David Willey. She didn't go into much detail though. David Willey is Editor-In-Chief of Runner's World. Maybe an hour later, he called and said that Lynn and I are going to be honored (along with a few others) in their December issue as "Heroes Of The Year." WOW!! They sent a photographer out on 9/13. We did a 20-minute interview with the writer, Gail Kislevitz. It gets even better. On top of that, they will be flying us out to New York City to be honored at their Heroes Banquet on November 3rd. We've received a few honors over the years (Olympic Torchbearers, TV appearances, magazine and newspaper articles), and it's always very humbling. I'm not always sure why these things happen but I think it may have to do with what happened to Lynn 20 years ago. Maybe this is the Lord's way of giving Lynn a little pleasure to offset the struggles that she goes through every day.



In the fall of 2005, we all had been grieving for the people of the Gulf coast and wondering what we could do to help. Well, the Lord put it on Jamie's heart to try and help out in a big way. We organized a 5K Run/Walk with ALL of the proceeds going to help these fine Americans. Lynn came up with the name, the Katrina Relief 5K. It was held on October 15th of 2005 at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park. We managed to get everyone involved to donate their time, services, materials, or cash so that everything we took in on race day could go out immediately. We raised over $5100 for the American Red Cross. Not bad for a month's planning. We had a couple hundred of our race t-shirts left over after the event so we donated them to the State Of Hope (where the Hurricane Katrina evacuees are staying at the Tinley Mental Health Center).

The race itself went well. We had good weather and because of that, 75 people signed up the morning of the race. We had a total of 172 people registered and 165 participated and finished.

It's very obvious that the Lord had his hand in this project by the way that things fell into place.

On 11/14/04, at the finish line of the Tinley Turkey Trot 5K, Lynn and Jamie crossed the 10,000 mile mark of running together. We started in the summer of 1991 on a lark after Jamie was inspired by seeing Dick and Rick Hoyt doing the Boston Marathon together with one pushing the other in a wheelchair. We trained for a local 10K and finished and now, over 17 years (and several wheelchairs) later, we've made it to 10,000 (now over 14,000). Over 4000 of those miles came with our daughter, Annalyn, riding on her Mom's lap. She's too big now to do that anymore.


Annalyn made her television debut on 5/1/00 on Miracle Babies. It ran on the PAX-TV network. Hope you got to see it. It was great.

Our story was mentioned in the 2/8/00 issue of Variety.

It's a small world again. The guy that edited the TV show out in Hollywood is the son of the receptionist at our former dentist's office.