Kings had set up a nice breakfast buffet with all sorts of goodies including fruit, eggs, french toast, and even bacon. Each group could bowl a game for free. They also had a fun photo booth set up where you could take pictures with fun signs. They printed them out on magnets and gave each person their own to take home!
Those of us who attended had the ability to meet our patient partners. Patient partners are children who are currently being treated for a variety of reasons at Children's Hospital. Runners can elect whether they want to be a part of the patient partner program or not. I was very excited by this opportunity, as I am still considered a Children's Hospital patient myself. What better motivation to finish the race than knowing you will have a great kid to run for!? After looking around the room for a while for a child with the matching medal number I couldn't seem to find my patient partner, Amayah. So I went up to the check in desk and asked if Amayah and her family were coming to the Kickoff. I was informed that unfortunately, Amayah was sick and wouldn't be able to make it to the event. I was bummed to not have the opportunity to meet Amayah, but understood why she couldn't be there.
We were allowed to bring two guests so I brought along Jack and Carolyn. The two of them enjoyed the buffet and we all were able to enjoy a game of bowling. They had team jackets and hats available for purchase and after much debate I settled on a Headsweat running hat figuring I would get a lot of use out of it this winter (plus it was considerably cheaper than the jacket and we had the opportunity to purchase other gear online).
I was able to meet one of my coaches, Sarah. We talked for a few minutes - I told her it was my first marathon and I was very excited to be a part of the team. The Boston Trust staff who organize the marathon team made a brief presentation and showed a great video that was put together after the 2013 marathon. You can see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2dRo9Bp25g. Of course it made me tear up because I was so excited to be part of what seems like a great team. They told us there were 142 runners currently on the Miles for Miracles team with a few more TQs (time qualifiers) expected to join on in the next few weeks. There are currently 77 patient partners as well.
After finishing our bowling game we decided to head out since the crowd seemed to be dying down (the event was only from 9:00 am - 11:00 am anyway). It was a great way to kick off the 2015 marathon season. I'm so excited to get started with training tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment