The impetus, in
part, was a decision to return to marathon running after a hiatus of 23 years.
It began in
Pittsburgh, where the Penguins, a team I’ve been following since I played
bantam ice hockey in Owen Sound, Ontario, play. The Penguins starting franchise goalie, Les
Binkley, was a chum of my local hockey star cousin, Bruce Neath.
So, Pittsburgh it
was.
A light rain fell
on that day in May 2010. I shocked myself with a personal best time, and the
community’s outpouring of support – electric garage bands playing under leaky
tarps, come to mind – was also the best I ever experienced during a marathon.
I love this city.
It is with
determination and a heavy heart that I will be going back to western
Pennsylvania to compete in the 2019 Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday, May 5.
I will run, as I’m
sure countless others will too, in the loving memory of those 11 Jewish
worshipers who were massacred last month during services at the Tree of Life
Synagogue in the city neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.
Pittsburghers will
surely be out in force to cheer on those who’ve chosen this city to run in the months
after the killings. It is that kind of close-knit town.
Regardless of my
race time next May, this marathon promises to be the best in so many ways, far
beyond the personal.
Next: Running
for Your Life: Penmanship
