Laura Michello, Mitch Pollack, Rafi Shrem and I were planning to run in 3 hr. 30 min, and I was the pacer, AKA the metronome for the group. We started out on pace, joking along the way. Laura was telling these funny stories about her husband Vinnie during the race and it felt as if this was just another long run in Harriman. Laura was joking about how she successfully managed to qualify for Phoebe Snow division after gulping down gallons of Gatorade and stuffing loose change in her pocket. She actually won that division!

Laura and I had met a year ago at David’s Bagels via Kathleen Daly and had discussed that qualifying for Boston in the fall would be possible with the right kind of training. So, besides her focused daily runs with 6 O’clock group during weekdays, we did runs together, like Arden valley road run and south Nyack 10 miler. Those runs helped us understand Laura’s side stitch issue and we were able to deal with it like pros during the race. We would stop for few seconds, take a deep breath to force the diaphragm down, lean forward to expel as much air as possible, get rid of the stitch, and then resume.

Mitch and Rafi needed 3:30 to qualify for Boston, and Laura needed 3:40. So Mitch and Rafi kept moving on pace during our routine and soon they were pulling ahead.

At mile 20, entering city of Scranton, Laura said she needs a bio-break. So she heads into this deli, and returning back in seconds. The bathroom was not functional! So we go across the street to the firehouse. The guy outside lets her in, and I do not see her for over 2 minutes! It turned out there was this guy occupying, and finally, after pleading to hurry up, Laura hears him wash his hands. After she comes out, Laura goes to me “Guys usually do not wash their hands, what was up with this guy? He wasted few precious seconds of my time.” I told her he was just trying to impress her :).

At mile 23, Laura goes, “Ernie, lets talk.” Oh Boy! Am I in Trouble? I was glad I was not hearing those dreaded words from my wife J. I usually do not say much during the race, but I realized that it’s really a good way to kill those last miles, so here I am trying frantically to pull out topics out of my head to talk about, being cautious to avoid negative talk. Laura came to my rescue again and said “tell me about Boston”. Ah ha, now she started to believe me that we really were going to Boston! So we spoke.

When Laura realized at mile 25 that even she walks rest of the way, she will go to Boston, she goes to me “Ernie, I am going to cry now.” I replied “no crying until we cross the finish line, besides, if you cry, I might get cramps.”

Into mile 26, she goes “Ernie, I want us to finish this together.” I replied “just keep moving, I am right behind you.” Actually, I had started to cramp and my left toes were curling in and it was not a pretty site :).

Well, few yards from the finish, we hear Vinnie calling Laura’s name, she turns around, about to cry, but holding her tears and going through the finish in 3:34. I followed, we hugged, she was now crying with joy, Tommy Gannon comes over to greet her too, and I was telling everyone in sight that Laura was going to Boston! I tell you, I felt so happy that our mission was accomplished. Laura, you have really done an outstanding job to transform yourself from a happy-go-lucky 4 hour marathoner into fast running, goal setting go-getter.

Mitch needed 3:30 for Boston and he stayed focused the entire way, just missing his goal by 80 seconds! It’s only a matter of time, Mitch J. Rafi was hoping to get under 3:35 but managed to finish in 3:42. Six months later, Rafi accomplished his goal at New Jersey Shore Marathon.