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Why I'm running
Countdown to the 105th Boston Marathon -- Monday, April 16, 2001

	Richard Doubleday. Photo by Vernon Doucette

On April 16, I'll be running my 9th Boston Marathon -- and 40th marathon overall. I love running and enter marathons simply to challenge myself. In fact, I entered my first ultramarathon (100 kilometers, or 62 miles) in 1999, completing Boston's Chancellor Challenge in 7:56.

I qualified four times for this year's race, beginning in the fall of 1999 at the Cape Cod Marathon. My time was 2:49. At the 1999 Boston Marathon, I finished in 2:46, crossed the finish line at the Clarence Demar marathon in 2:48, and completed the Baystate Marathon last fall in 2:48.

The only marathon goal that has thus far eluded me is crossing the finish line in under 2:40.

-- Richard Doubleday, instructor, School for the Arts

When I was a little kid, I lived in Brookline. Each year, my mother would take my brother and me down to the corner of Washington and Beacon streets to watch the incredible spectacle known as the Boston Marathon. Last fall, my brother and I decided that this was the year we were going to run in it.

Jason Beaubien. Photo courtesy of Jason Beaubien

After training for months, we flew to a qualifying race in California in January. We'd picked a relatively flat course in a warm climate and were confident we could log a time of just under the qualifying time of 3:15.

My brother had bruised his ribs playing basketball about a month earlier; it had disrupted his training, but he said he was feeling pretty good. We ran the first half of the marathon exactly to time, but then my brother started to slow. By mile 18 we were down to a 9-minute mile. I wanted to get him to the 20-mile mark, but he urged me to leave him. "You'll never make Boston if you don't go now," he said. So we parted.

Even though I was way off our planned time, I managed to make up the minutes in the final miles. I needed to cross the finish line in under 3:15 -- I made it in 3:14:17.

All this, just so I can wear a Citgo number and run up Heartbreak Hill!

-- Jason Beaubien, reporter, WBUR

This spring, I'll be running my third consecutive marathon for Children's Hospital -- and my ninth marathon overall. Children's Hospital has a program that matches patients with runners, and this year I'll be running for two people: Pam Peach-Sengers, a 33-year-old patient at Children's, and Brendan Woodworth, who is 5 years old.

	Domenick D'Amico with his niece Casey. Photo courtesy of Domenick D'Amico

Running Boston is not like running a marathon at all; it's only a few hours out of my life. What keeps me going is thinking about the people I'm running for, what they've had to go through every day of their lives, and knowing I can make a difference.

Boston is one of the hardest marathons to train for; running all winter in rain, snow, ice, and temperatures below zero has a way of catching up with you. But I have a great group of friends who train with me, which makes all the difference in the world.

When I finally cross the finish line, it's the best feeling -- something that no one can ever take from me.

-- Domenick D'Amico, desktop computer specialist, School of Medicine Office of Information Technology

CALLING ALL MARATHONERS -- The B.U. Bridge would like to know if you're planning to run in the 105th Boston Marathon this April -- and why. Are you running to fulfill a dream, to support a great cause, to honor the memory of a loved one, or to challenge yourself? Please send your name, your University affiliation, and the reason you're running to B.U. Bridge, 10 Lenox St., Brookline, MA, 02446 or e-mail to bridge@bu.edu.

30 March 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations