Thank You Team Armory Track
We Completed Our Goal
Team Armory Track ran the ING New York City Marathon on November 4th to benefit The Armory Foundation. Many thanks to all who took part, and here are a few of the pictures and emails we received:
Hello Rita,
Sorry It has taken me so long to contact you about the marathon, but it was wonderful! I had a cold leading up to the big day, but in the end I felt fine, finishing in 3:56 (my new PR). I do have one more check for you that I need to send by snail mail, could you give me your mailing address and I will forward it on to you. Thank you again for all the encouragement and interest in my training and running. It's been a pleasure,
Susan Fourmyle
Hey Rita,
Here's a picture of me from the marathon. I had a great time! I wanted to fundraise for the armory because I saw it as a way of keeping kids on track, and off of the streets! Being a medical student at Columbia, I live across the street and pass by the armory every day! I'm happy that I was able to do something good for my community. :) The marathon was a blast!!! Painful after 18 miles, but I made it to the end! My sister, Christine, came from Texas to cheer me on. It was so nice to show her around NYC and take a weekend off from studying. The marathon is something that I'll never forget...it was a huge personal challenge for me and now I feel empowered! Thanks for the wonderful opportunity.
Natalie Cerda
Hudson Valley Names and Games: Marathon no longer a dream
November 10, 2007
Matt Gawors was too young to run the New York City Marathon last year. But his good friend, Scott Dickover, had met the minimum 18-year-old requirement and turned in a blistering sub-3 hour finish in New York. After graduating from Middletown High in 2006, Dickover, a University at Buffalo sophomore, handed his finishing medal to Gawors and told him, "I just want this back when you get your own."
Gawors got his own six days ago, running New York in 3:08 and finishing either first or second in the 18- to 19-year-old age group. (The listed winner might have been 20 years old.) A day later, he put Dickover's medal in the mail. "I was 8 years old when I said I wanted to do it," said Gawors, a SUNY Binghamton freshman after graduating from Middletown in June. "I just kept the dream alive."
A nightmarish few minutes threatened to end Gawors' dream. By mile 15 he was spent, never a good thing with 11.2 miles to the finish. "I felt I wasn't going to finish the race,'' he said. "I couldn't lift my legs; my feet hurt."
Gawors focused on reaching points along the course — a water stop, a light post — and then would identify other points and try to reach them. With a mile left, Gawors, wearing his Middletown cross country singlet, thought about his training route all those years in Middletown. He imagined running along Wawayanda Avenue and taking a left at the Priory. Gawors crossed the finish line 2:00 ahead of the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon in April.
Gawors rested his sore legs this week and will ease back into running maybe as early as next week. "It (marathon training) controlled my life from the beginning of (college) until now," Gawors said. "But it's funny. These days (not running), I didn't know what to do with myself with all that free time."
Training 50-70 miles a week also helped fill the void from not competing in cross country at Binghamton. In an August tryout, Gawors ran tight in a 5K on the track and didn't make the team. His 19:20 clocking was a time he would normally meet on casual training jogs. In fact, a week later he ran a 17:19 in a hilly Warwick road race.
So Gawors thinks he's going to give the cross country team another shot next year. If he runs anything like he did six days ago, Gawors will soon be wearing a Binghamton singlet.
Kevin Gleason's column appears weekly. He can be reached at 346-3193, or via e-mail at kgleason@th-record.com.
Rita,
Thank you so much for the opportunity to run for the Armory. My story is very similar to Scott's. My husband and I were training for the past six months for the marathon. About six weeks ago my husband got a stress fracture in his leg and was only able to run in the water, swim and ride a bike. About three weeks ago, I came down with shin splints and tendinitis in both legs. I am a pretty avid runner and never had any health issues. I went through extensive physical therapy for two weeks, even the day before the marathon.
Our goal was just to finish and we did. Our time was 5 hours and 46 minutes. Our original goal was 5 hours but after our injuries we just wanted to finish together. Luckily our legs held up. We were able to run almost the entire marathon except for the last few miles. The view of NYC was amazing and so were the crowds. We had many friends and family members cheering us on which helped immensely. Running the marathon was a dream of mine for the past 10 years. I thank the Armory and my husband for making this dream come true.
Kristen
I had a great time running in the New York Marathon. I finished in 3:37. I, too, beat Katie Holmes!!! My favorite moment was the beginning running over the Narrows Bridge. Second favorite moment was 8 mile marker when everyone merged together.
Marti
Dear Rita,
I had a wonderful run: I finished in 4:24:54--thirteen minutes short of my PR from three years ago, but I'm still thrilled with it; I had gotten out of shape and stopped running, and my first run in two years was actually my first training run in July for this marathon. Because of that, I didn't set a goal time, but I know I'd have been disappointed with myself if I'd finished in more than 4:30, so I'm happy. I never had to stop and walk except while I was drinking water at the water stations. I wrote my name on my Armory Track jersey so that people would shout it, and that helped a lot, but I made a mistake in where I placed it (above "Team"); since the "Team" and the "Armory Track" are printed so far apart, several spectators thought I was "Team John." I think the thousands and thousands of people lining every mile of the course were what shamed me into keeping on going toward the end when I desperately wanted to stop. It was a great experience. Thank you, Rita and Team Armory Track!
John
Hi Rita, it was a pleasure to run for the Armory.
Thank YOU for everything you did to make it possible - buses, seminars, etc. Here is a picture of me on the day.
Best,
Serene
Karen DiGiovanni is in the pink hat. Also pictured are her husband Tony DiGiovanni, five children Matthew, Ana, Thomas, Grace and Luke, sisters Kathy McMahon and Suzanne McMahon, nephew Ryan McMahon and sister in law Mara McMahon.
Joining this team and running the marathon was probably the best thing I've ever done. At the end of the summer, I weighed 213 pounds and was in the worst shape of my life. On Sunday, I weighed 177 pounds, felt great, and was able to finish in 3:53, which I was really happy with. So thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to run with the Armory. It's meant the world to me.
Robby
I have been training pretty hard for the past 4 months and ran 22 miles on the Sunday 3 weeks prior to the marathon. Last Tuesday, October 30th, I went out into Central Park for a 45 minute run. This was going to be my last real run of the taper. During that run, I strained my calf muscle.
It wasn't too bad at first. But as the week progressed it got worse. On Saturday, the day before the marathon, I went out for a 20 minute warm-up run. By the time I finished, I couldn't walk. My calf was totally shot.
A few hours later I was at a Physical Therapist who gave me ultra sound, electric stimulation and ice therapy. He taped my calf and told me I could give running a shot on Marathon Day but he wasn't optimistic about my prospects. I started the marathon cautiously. I was doing ok and then in mile 4 my calf popped and I began limping. The pain was intense. I thought for sure I was going to have to stop. I carried on and then slowly over the next couple of miles my stride got stronger. By the 14th mile, my calf wasn't an issue. I finished with a 4 hour and 20 minute marathon. My trainer thinks that as my muscle warmed-up, a knot released and created the pain and ultimately the ability to begin running strong after a few miles. Scary day, but a great day!!
Regards,
Scott
The weekend was amazing and the race was both amazing and humbling. I am so glad to know that through running and fundraising I am able to help the Armory.
Thank you again for your guidance in support.
All the best,
Allison
Dear Rita,
This is just a quick hello and a huge THANK YOU to you and Dr. Sander for your help with my marathon preparation. I had a great time yesterday, and am happy to say that I finished within 14 minutes of my goal time at 4:43:10 (since this was my very first marathon, I was incredibly happy just to finish, to be honest!). I kept Dr. Sander's words of wisdom in the front of my mind, and they really helped me to pull through to the (sometimes painful, but mostly exhilerating) end.
Thank you again! I'm happy to have run for Team Armory Track!!
Best wishes to you both,
Anjoli
Yipeeeee! I am happy to report Tracie and I completed the NYC Marathon yesterday! I want to thank each of you for your encouragement, financial contributions to the Armory, love, and support! Here's our marathon story:
Woke up at 4:30 am yesterday, couldn't sleep much anyway, which everyone says is okay and normal. I had to take a car to the LIRR train to Manhattan, then the subway, then a shuttle bus to the Staten Island Ferry, then another bus from the Ferry to the start area. What feeling to get there! Tra and I wandered around, taking it all in. There were some characters there: Larry the Lighthouse, who runs every year with a 5 foot lighthouse on his head! The blues Brothers, people dressed up from Star Wars (Chewybacca must have been so hot), a guy dressed like a banana...I don't know how those crazy people manage to run in their costumes, but it was funny to see. My client Mark Collins was running his third marathon (on no sleep nonetheless!) so he met up with us for some last minute encouragement and laughs. Calmed us down to see a familiar face! Congrats to Mark who finished just over 3 1/2 hours!
We put vaseline everywhere (supposed to help with chafing...we basically tried to do whatever we saw other people around us doing to prep for the race) I had a "Live Aloha" sign that I pinned to my pants. We had Kevin on our shirts and in our hearts. I also made a thank you sign with each name of family and friends that supported my charity which I put on the back of my shirt. It fell off after only a mile, so I taped it to my head and kept all of you with me the entire race! I probably looked Amish with it on!
We were hearded like cattle to the start area, just a sea of people as far as the eye could see. We were so excited to be a part of this! As the race began, and we headed across the Verrazano Bridge, Frank Sinatra's "New York New York" boomed over loud speakers, followed by Bruce Springstein's "Born to Run" I wanted to cry, it was so surreal. Tra and I said a quick blessing, hugged and kissed, then we were off! Getting into Brooklyn was amazing, there were rock bands, and people lined up along the streets. Fire fighters in uniform on their big trucks waving and cheering. Looking around we saw so many other people running for loved ones, people who battled cancer, people young and old, some in wheel chairs, some missing limbs...even a blind man being assisted by the sighted...yet we were all in the same race with the world class professional athletes. We were all equal in facing the same challenge at hand. That realization really took my breath away. One of those "I'll remember for the rest of my life" moments.
Since we had our names printed on our shirts, total strangers were screaming our names, urging us forward. I was screaming and cheering and waving my arms all around, Tra had to remind me to conserve my energy. I felt like I had wings...that lasted about 5 miles! Our microchips tied to our shoes checked us in every 5K and as we'd step on the mat we'd grab hands and cheer. At mile 7 my friends Nicole and Mike were waiting...but as we passed I only saw Mike. After a quick hug he asked if I could wait because his wife Nicole had gone to the shop to get us some marathon treats. WAIT? Don't tell my legs that! :) We had to keep running, but I instructed him to give my love to Nicole and so sorry we missed her. About 4 blocks later I hear someone yelling my name coming up behind me. I turn to see Nicole (who is pregnant by the way) running up to meet us. She handed us granola bars, hugs and energy. I again, wanted to cry, touched by her kindness to chase us down and run a few with us! Wow! We missed another friend Rena and her husband. Apparently they changed the street name from Park Place to Baltic but we hear they were there with signs and cheering everyone one nonetheless. Thank you! A few blocks later we saw Tracie's boyfriend Tom with her niece on his shoulders with signs made just for us. It was so comforting to see the familiar faces! Thank you! After some quick kisses we carried on!
Each neighborhood in Brooklyn had a different feeling, different smells (some good, some not so good). Churches along the way were preaching and screaming and the choirs were-a-singing! Even non-Christians were pumping their arms in the air for Jesus. Anything to keep on running! Tra and I were briefly separated after a drink station (hundreds of people grabbing water and Gatorade while moving gets confusing) I saw Kai and friends waving signs with our names and cheering. Thanks for the energy boost! Good thing for cell phones, Tra and I could call and find each other in the mass of moving people. Strangers were handing out bananas, little kids offering tissues (great to wipe the salt from your face), the down and out offering a stick of gum, a mommy offering freshly baked brownies (yes we tried them...good in theory, terrible in practice!) I was surprised to find myself running past Adelphi Street in Brooklyn, which was where my first NYC apartment was 12 years ago! Memories...
I felt confident 13 miles down and we were feeling pretty good. Once hitting Queens I felt a little tired, we'll a lot of tired. Running over the Queensboro bridge, my legs felt like a ton of bricks. I wanted to walk. I told Tra I needed to stretch and to carry on...thinking this would be it for me. I knew my buddy Mark Yates (different Mark from the one running in the Marathon) was somewhere on the other side of the bridge, where he had been waiting for a good 2 hours (thanks hon)! I convinced myself it would be okay to give in and walk, just when I saw a young girl on the side of the bridge grabbing her knee. I stopped to help and we figured out it was a cramp on her inner thigh pulling at her knee. "Never fear, a massage therapist is here!" We did a few stretches and she said she felt much better. As I turned to leave, I noticed I was running, NOT WALKING! This girl had confused my brain enough to forget I had wanted to quit. I caught up with Tra as we entered MANHATTAN! and what felt like coming home...even though we still had a good 10 miles to go! My brain was starting to get a little fuzzy. Mark had told me where he was going to be like 10 times but I couldn't remember. We knew Tracie's family was in the 80's on First Ave, her boyfriend, friends from work...this got us from block to block, knowing we we would see loved ones. When I finally saw Mark I threw my arms around his neck and he said "I know you're gonna finish this, I KNOW IT!" I then advised him that I was tired and could he please run the rest for me? Tra urged me on and the highlight of the day was seeing her family wildly clapping and yelling for her, and for us! This family that has been through so much pain, ill health, bad news and negative things were now upbeat, beaming with pride for their girl Tracie. Her parents had tears in their eyes, they were so happy. Her sister jumping up and down, her boyfriend beaming with love, her niece waving wildly with the hugest smile I've ever seen! I cry just thinking about it. The look of love and excitement on her family's face is etched in my mind forever and I am so happy to have Tracie be the cause of it and to have witnessed it. I'm happy she could share in this wonderful journey with them and with me. That high carried us up to the Bronx.
Lots of marathon people talk about "the wall" They say it usually happens around mile 20 and your body just rebels against you. Or your mind flips out. Or scary things happen. I was actually looking forward to this milestone, since it was 3 miles longer than I had ever run in my life and I was ever so curious about this "wall" thing! I had a special ipod mix of jams to pick me up and keep me going at this point, just in case. We hit mile 20 and nothing happened! I felt good! Only after the marathon did I realize that my "Wall" came much earlier...on the Queensboro bridge where a stranger in need was there to take me outside of myself. I over came the wall without even knowing it! What a pleasant surprise! We got through the quick mile in the Bronx and headed over the last bridge back into Manhattan. Tracie seemed to be losing steam. She said each leg felt like 100 pounds. I told her that was impossible, since her entire BODY weighs about 100 pounds! Somehow I had the energy to encourage and talk her though it. She just needed salt. Some food. It was just the last incline before we hit Central Park. We had done this part of the run before...I knew she could do it. I believe the real reason she was hitting her wall was because she used so much energy along the run. Tracie is so amazing, each time someone would yell her name she'd answer back "whooo hooo THANK YOU!!!!" I mean EVERY TIME. She probably thanked 400 people. When I could only manage a small smile or a weak thumbs up (which felt like a fake politician move, but that's what I did), Tracie thanked each and every person. What a human being she is!
Coming into the park Tra got her legs back and was ready to sprint to the finish. Deborah could not sprint, talk, cry or blink. Just jog. One foot in front of the other. A source of inspiration was a woman passing us in a superman's cape. On the back it said "70 and sexy" What a lady! She blew past us but gave us a good laugh for a few yards! We knew Mark was at 40K (about 2 miles from the finish) and I was never so happy to see him. Another hug to get us a little further. As we entered our last turn before the home stretch, there was Tracie's family again. Pushed up against the fence yelling like crazy. Tears, smiles, PRIDE for their girl! She stopped to embrace them, while I had to keep movin or I thought I'd pass out. I waved and blew kisses, wanting to give them their private moment together. Again, I am grateful to have seen that exchange of love! Home stretch! 400 meters, 200 meters, I thought I've done enough, when the hell can we stop? Why is the finish line getting further away? We joined hands and jumped across the finish line TOGETHER! We did it. We were there for each other. We finished what we started! We don't care that we missed our 5 hour goal by 14 minutes. That extra time was spent hugging loved ones, helping others, thanking strangers, and moving aside to let others pass on their journey. I wouldn't change a thing. I am so proud of Tracie. I know Kevin was with us, smiling down from heaven, so happy to see his family smiling and sharing this journey together. A deep thank you to Tracie for allowing me to share in this amazing journey with you. You are so strong, so brilliant, so wonderful. Thanks to Kevin who was with us the entire time, just as he promised! Thanks to the wonderful people of NYC who cheered us on. Thanks to family and friend who came out to support us. Thanks to Tracie's Tom for his support and never ending encouragement for her. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the Armory Charity, with a special thanks to Rita from the Armory who got me into the Marathon. I ran for your charity with pride and look forward to meeting you in person soon! Thanks to my Mom and Dad who are always there for me, no matter what crazy task I take on! I know you were worried Mom, but I survived without injury and nothing means more than to hear you are proud of me! Thanks to everyone who sent text messages during the marathon (Deena you out-did yourself with support)! Thanks to my massage clients for their understanding of my schedule changes and missed appointments because of injuries and training. Thanks to my wonderful husband (who had to coach soccer yesterday but was with me in spirit the entire way). We haven't seen much of each other due to training, so yes, you have your wife back now! Thanks to anyone that thought about us, we felt the energy! Thanks to Ali for your marathon experience and love! Thanks to Grandma for telling everyone she knew I'd do it! Thanks to Mark Yates for serving as my Manhattan home, workout buddy and since day one never losing faith in me. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! And dear Tracie, my best friend since 1995, my running buddy, my soul sister! Thank you for believing in yourself and in me! WE DID IT! All those years saying we'd love to do the NYC marathon and now WE DID IT!!! Love ya girl! Anyone else I forgot...so sorry. I love you all and thank each of you for being a part of my life!
Love,
Deborah
PS On a completely trivial note, WE BEAT KATIE HOLMES (Tom Cruise's wife) by 15 MINUTES!!!! WHOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
