The moment my number - 39 - was selected as the last person on the waitlist back in November 2019. If anyone knows who that lady with the blue scarf is…I owe her a big thank you.

(Sunday Paper, Year VI, Issue 16)

Ever since I was a freshman in college I’ve wanted to run the Boston Marathon.

I lived on Beacon Street, and that first Marathon Monday when I lived in Boston was amazing.

There was such joy in the streets and the runners ran right past my door and I was hooked.

I thought to myself that someday I’d like to be one of those runners.

And that brings me to this BIG NEWS:

This year, I will be.

I found out this week that, through a pretty incredible stroke of luck, I will be a part of Team Framingham for the 2021 Boston Marathon. (Details about how that all shook out are in the ‘Notes’ section below.)

It’s nice timing, considering that this year’s marathon would have been tomorrow, which is Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts. (It just so happens that this year the Patriots’ Day celebration is on the actual Patriots’ Day - April 19th - the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Otherwise, it’s the third Monday in April, which is when the marathon is run, and the week the kids here have spring break.)

The 2021 Boston Marathon, though, will be held in October, which is good, because I’ll need every one of those six months to prepare.

This was always the thing - I’d watch those runners and think, “If they can do it, I bet I can do it.” (Not the ones running at the front of the pack. The ones that would come by hours later. Those were the runners I aspired to be.) Then I’d worry, what if I can’t do it?

And for years that kept me from pursuing the marathon.

Then, when I found out about the Team Framingham opportunity, if I ran through the summer and felt good, I’d apply.

If I was sick of running, I wouldn’t.

And most times I applied I wasn’t selected. Well, every time I applied.

This time, as you will see below, I was waitlisted. (And then moved off the waitlist. Details below.)

I’m glad, because I’m feeling good about my running. And my core strength, and my leg strength. And I’m over the moon about this opportunity.

It’s probably the last feasible time I could try (or would want to try) something like this.

I’ll eventually be assigned to a charity that I will need to raise money for - I hope you will consider helping out there. It’ll be something in Framingham, and I like that I’ll be able to help something close to home.

But I can’t wait until October.

Later on the day we found out I’d be running Kathy started wondering how her marathon day would shape up, and where she should be that day.

Framingham has a pretty good set-up, as the 6-mile mark, so I told her I’d definitely look for her there.

She asked if I wanted her at the finish line.

I figure there’s enough going on at the finish line that it wouldn’t matter much if she was there or not.

Where I’d really like to look for her as I near the finish, though, is outside my old place on Beacon Street.

Notes

*So here’s how this entire thing went down: In this post from November 2019, I told you that I was the last person on the wait list in the lottery selection for Team Framingham in the 2020 Boston Marathon. By February I had given up hope that I would make it all the way up the waitlist and run the Marathon in April. As you know, by March everything in the world had fallen apart, the marathon didn’t happen (they had some virtual activities which made me glad I actually didn’t have to settle for them after building up for the marathon), and then this year’s marathon got delayed until October. When they decided the Team Framingham runners could carry over, everyone needed to reapply. I was up to something like 5th on the waitlist, and then I think one person dropped out and then I was 4th and 19 of the 22 original team members re-applied. So there were 3 spots and I was fourth on the waitlist…and then someone had moved out of Framingham and was no longer eligible. So in the unlikeliest of events, I went from last on the waitlist to last on the team.

*And this is why, when it comes to believing the best will happen, I usually do so. It leads to an awful lot of disappointments, but when that something happens and it’s great, it puts me on top of the world. (And when I wrote that sentence, I didn’t realize it was a sentiment I had already expressed in that November, 2019 link.)

*I know I’ve written about my running a bunch and my thoughts on marathons over the years, and originally I was going to link to all of those but who’s really going to re-read all of that? (Also in one of them there's an egregious typo that’s driving me nuts and I’m not going to change it. But I also won’t identify it and telegraph it to you.) But going back through those posts, I forgot that I almost went to Tennessee a few years ago to run the marathon in Memphis.

*I’m sure I’ll be writing all about this for the next six months here, or on the Facebook page, or on Twitter. Click those links to follow along with me if you’re interested. Thanks to those of you who started following this week.

*I actually have a comedy update this week - I did a virtual show Thursday night. It was outstanding. I don’t love the Zoom shows but this one made me realize they could be pretty good. I wonder if I’ll put the brakes on some comedy stuff while I’m marathon training or if I’ll keep doing everything. Seems like eventually something’s gotta give.

*I also will probably start giving running updates regularly, even if the Sunday Paper itself isn’t about running…like this one: I rain in the nasty weather on Saturday. Rainy and cold. But I did 60 minutes, at a pace that I estimate took me six miles. And I felt great. Legs were a little tired but I was not out of breath. In case you’re thinking, “John, can you really run a marathon?” I’m going to go ahead and say, “I’ll get there.”

*I have tons of stories about the Boston Marathon that I may or may not have written in previous Sunday Papers. Seems like this summer will be a good time to tell or re-tell some of them. I’ll try not to overdo the running posts, but please bear with me for the next six months or so. This is kind of a dream come true. Having the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon really means a lot to me. I look forward to sharing the experience with you.