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" won the 2009 Gabriel
Award for Documentary (National
Release).
The awards are given by the Catholic
Academy for Communication Arts
Professionals.
The Gabriel
Awards are designed to
honor works of excellence in film,
network and cable television and
radio programs. These include, feature
films and documentaries, entertainment
and news programming, public service
announcements, and stations which
serve audiences through the positive,
creative treatment of concerns to
humankind.
The single most
important criterion of a Gabriel winning
film or program is its ability to uplift
and nourish the human spirit. A
Gabriel-worthy film or program affirms
the dignity of human persons; it
recognizes and upholds
universally-recognized human values such
as community, creativity, tolerance,
justice, compassion and the dedication
to excellence.
"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.
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 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.