A week from today I’ll be running the New York City Marathon.

And that merits bringing back the Sunday Paper for a week or two because it’s all I’ll be thinking about this week so I might as well write about it.

I especially wanted to write this post because I’ve been thinking about it for about a year.

I really did think I was going to take a significant break from running marathons after Chicago last October.

The plan was to run a half marathon or two, see how my body felt, and then go from there.

Then last November, my cousin passed away and I adjusted the plan.

I’ve been the recipient of so much support from so many people in my marathon running these past few years.

Whether it’s through advice, cheerleading, or donations, I’ve heard from so many different people who have offered me so much.

But one of the greatest supporters, covering all of the above and more, was my cousin Patrick.

The relationship I had with him these past few years was extra special because he was fighting his own battle but always took the time to text me advice and inspiration.

It began in October of 2021 with my first marathon, and continued as I trained for marathons two, three, and four.

I always looked up to Patrick. Whenever we were together when I was growing up it was sports that dominated our conversation - the sports we were fans of, not the ones we participated in. Well, he participated in.

I was too young (or ignorant at the time) to appreciate the training he did, but I remember being impressed hearing about his long bike rides or about him running the New York City Marathon. (I remembered him running one. Turned out he ran four.)

So, when Patrick passed away last November, it didn’t take me long before I decided I should try to run the 2024 New York City Marathon in his honor.

I like writing out my training plans so I took out a notebook and planned out my 100-plus days of training.

Then I went through all of Patrick’s texts from the past few years and typed them up, cut them out, and taped them into the notebook.

So almost every day of my training continues to be inspired in some way by Patrick’s words.

(And I’ve included some from my brother. He and Patrick are similar in some ways - both great runners. Matt’s language is a little saltier.)

In order to run New York City, of course, I had to find a charity I could get behind. I thought the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation was perfect because it helps children affected by the trauma of domestic abuse, and on a non-serious level, it’s baseball-related. That checks a fun New York City-connected box for me (Torre played for the Mets! and I think he had something to do with the other New York team), and baseball is one of the things Patrick and I bonded over early on.

I’m almost at my fundraising goal here in the last week - I think I need to have all that settled by Halloween. So if you can give and haven’t already, or if you’ve been meaning to give and haven’t yet, or if you’ve been thinking about giving to one of my marathon runs and haven’t yet - here’s the link for you to donate. I appreciate it. A couple of people have already donated in memory of Patrick and a couple of others have asked if they can and that means a lot to me.

(For what it’s worth, this is most likely the last time I’ll do a marathon fundraiser. Even this one I felt like I was pushing it. I’m not out to chase the six major marathon stars…unless I get accepted through lotteries. So if you’re waiting for the next fundraiser to give…don’t hold your breath. Give now.)

Next Sunday - and I know this is true because I’ve done it four times already - I’ll be thinking of all of the support I’ve received to help me get through those 26.2 miles.

But I’ll probably be thinking about Patrick more than the rest.

And the beautiful thing about all of this is I won’t have to wonder what he thought about all of this…because I’ll know.

He told me so himself.