Welcome!

Miles Completed: 1,000!

Next 1,000 Mile total: 268.3

NYC Marathon: 3:44:22

Next Stop: ???

(Originally Posted on January 14, 2013--Subsequent posts appear below with the most recent posts appearing first)

I have started this blog in honor of Chase Kowalski, one of the innocent souls taken in the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy on December 14, 2012.  I went to high school with Chase's parents, Steve and Becky Kowalski. Becky was a freshman when Steve and I were seniors.  Along with many neighbors, friends and classmates, I offered my support to the Kowalski's in the aftermath of the tragedy.  Amazingly, through their grace and strength, Steve and Becky have actually comforted the masses assembled to support them.  If nothing else comes of this blog, I hope it inspires you visit the Chase Kowalski Memorial Fund site to share in the strength of this family.  If you feel empty and powerless as a result of this senseless tragedy, like I did, the Kowalski's offer an antidote in their resilience and determination to honor their son's memory.  These traits leap off the screen at the Fund site.


Like many of those with direct or even tenuous connections to the Sandy Hook families, I have been searching for ways to pay a personal tribute to the children, in my case Chase.  I have settled on a commitment to run 1,000 miles in 2013 in honor of Chase.  Before he turned 7, Chase had already started to pursue a love of running, having completed (and winning) The Kids Who Tri Succeed triathlon last August.  Committing to a long-term running goal will allow me to connect with Chase every time I hit the pavement.

In addition to this simple gesture to the Kowalski family, I would also like to raise money to support their goal of opening one or more community centers in the Newtown area and perhaps beyond.  To that end, I will donate $1 for each mile I run.  I would also humbly ask that followers of this blog consider sponsoring one or more of my miles by donating $10 for each mile sponsored to the Memorial Fund.  For example, one mile sponsored = a $10 donation, two miles = $20 and so on.  I don't know if we'll get all 1,000 miles sponsored, but let's get started and see where it goes!  The details on how to sponsor miles can be found in the upper right corner of the blog under the title "How It Works".  If you have any questions about the process, please email me at kevelshea@gmail.com.


Lastly, if you are unable or unsure about making a financial commitment, please consider running a few miles in honor of Chase.  In addition to their specific goals, Steve and Becky also pray that Chase will touch people in small, personal ways--if he motivates a few people to share in his joy of running through this blog, that's a great start.

Kevin Bresnahan,
Colchester, CT

Nov. 3 - NYC Marathon!

It's in the books!  What an incredible weekend culminated with 26.2 blustery miles on Sunday.  The crowds were fantastic, especially in Brooklyn and on 1st Ave. coming off the Queensboro Bridge.  In addition to the multitude of bands, posters, kids giving high fives, etc., I was inspired by someone yelling out "Race4Chase!" on 1st Ave. just after mile 16 and by Ellie and Shea who were cheering my on from Central Park South at mile 25.  (BTW, does anyone know who the 1st Ave Race4Chaser might be?  My runner bib covered the Race4Chase text so the person recognized my shirt just from Chase's picture).

There were many fantastic sites on the course.  I saw quite a few blind runners assisted by the Achilles Guides; a guy who calls himself Dr. Dribble who was bouncing two basketballs alternatively with each stride (and he can't change careers given the Dr. Dribble tattoo on his back); a guy celebrating his Mexican heritage by sprinting ahead and stopping to high-five spectators about a million times--he could probably run a 2:30 marathon if he put his mind to it; a female spectator in the Bronx pushing some huge cart across the street, causing me and about five other runners to stutter-step around her to the boos of her neighbors; and a guy wearing a Boston Strong t-shirt carrying a big American flag on a pole the entire 26.2.

The race went really well.  I had planned to run the first 6 miles at or just below 9 mins/mi, but as occurs in most races it was impossible to roll back the adrenaline and I ended up running 8:30's over this stretch.  Amazingly, I felt very comfortable at this pace all the way to mile 24.  I didn't hit the wall there, but the 8:30 pace did start to hurt a little more as I was running up the incline on 5th Ave.  I dialed the pace back to 9-9:20 over the last two miles.  I wanted to push it a little, but I also knew I had some work to do to reunite with everyone after the race and I didn't wan't the tank to be completely empty upon crossing the finish line.  Overall I was thrilled to go so deep into the marathon at a steady pace.  Per the ingnycmarathon.org runner tracking data, my 5K splits were:

 5K - 26:13
10K - 26:37
15K - 26:12
20K - 26:27
25K - 26:38
30K - 25:57
35K - 26:30
40K - 26:44
last 2K+ - 13:04
Total time - 3:44:22

Unfortunately I wasn't able to meet up with Steve, Becky or Brian Mora after the race.  The logistics of NYC on race day are impossible--after the finish runners have to walk nearly a mile to exit the park on the west side in the 70's, and I had to get back to East 66th to meet Ellie, Shea and my sister at a friend's apartment.   I was able to hop in a cab at 75th and Amsterdam but the cabbie had to go all the way to 145th in the Bronx to get back to the east side of Manhattan.  By the time I got to the apartment, showered and relaxed a little, it was too late to hit the town, as our whole crew had work/school on Monday.  I was able to share a few nice texts with Becky--hopefully we'll get to celebrate in the quiet confines of Monroe before too long.

It was a whirlwind weekend of planning, carbo-loading and a little sight-seeing.  The pre-race logistics worked out really well--I was able to fight the urge to dive into the city, going back to the hotel room after a visit to the 9/11 Memorial and a late lunch on Sat.  I'm clearly going to have to the get the Bresna-girls into running because they spent my down time shopping in Soho.  I also was raring to go Sun morning at 5am, and was on the 6:30am Staten Is. Ferry on my way to the starting line.  Then it was a bus ride to Fort Wadsworth, the staging area, followed by about 2 hours of waiting, port-a-potty usage and assembling in the runners corrals.  I kinda felt like I had 2 legs of a weird transportation-related triathlon down by the time the marathon started.  No complaints mind you--it's actually quite amazing how the organizers can send off 40,000 runners over the course of an hour.

I have been plowing through myriad Facebook posts, emails and texts from so many people rooting me on.  Thank you so much for your support.  I though a lot about Chase and the Race4Chase team during the run.  I was really worried about faltering in the race but Chase's spirit and all the support from Race4Chasers kept me going strong.  I knew a few of you were tracking my progress and it was a real lift staying on pace and knowing that I wasn't letting you down.

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Fri night cargo-load at Inatteso

Ellie fueling up with the marathon spectator special (yes I was jealous!)

Sat morning easy jog near the Freedom Tower

Beautiful sunrise over Brooklyn Sat morn

Chase with me near the Brooklyn Bridge 

Brooklyn Panorama 

Rainbow peeking through a door at the hotel

Freedom Tower from the 9/11 Memorial

Bresnas at the Survivor Tree 

South Tower Pool

Getting my runner bib at the NYC Marathon Expo 

Ready to run at the Expo 

Sat afternoon lunch along the Hudson River 

Sat carbo-load (beet pasta) 

Nice Sat afternoon along the Hudson

Setting up for the marathon Sat evening 

Looking out our hotel window at sunset over New York Harbor

5:30am Sun Breakfast (yes, that's the infamous Bresna toaster)

Arriving with runners for the 6:30am Staten Island Ferry 

Passing Lady Liberty on trip to Staten Island

St. George terminal on Staten Island--first of several port-a-potty visits before the marathon 

Lining up for the start at the base of Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Off and running! 

Passing by Ellie and Shea at Mile 25

Finish Line--(that was quick!)

Happy runner after 26.2

Nov. 1 - Marathon Prep

I'm getting pretty fired up (and honestly a little nervous) about the big race on tomorrow, but at least the logistics are coming together.  I'm with Ellie and Shea at the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park on this early Sat morning.  I spent yesterday organizing and packing everything I need for the marathon (including our toaster -- LOL--won't bore you with the details, but this basically represents a nutty runner wanting to replicate every detail of a past successful run).

Shea and I picked up Ellie at work in Glastonbury around 5pm and fought traffic to arrive at the hotel a little before 8pm.  We had dinner at Inatteso II, one block from the hotel.  Great pizza bar, but I had to stick with pasta.  I was a little envious of Shea, especially when she dove into the chocolate gelati.  The weather was perfect, and a had to fight the urge to do a little late night exploring--I've read a lot of stories about marathons gone bad due to too much city.  As I type this Sat morning I'm pretty happy that lights went out at 10pm.

Today we will be visiting the World Trade Center memorial and then be heading up to the marathon expo to get my official entry bib.  Then one more carbo load dinner and another early night.  I hope to see Steve and Becky and maybe run into Brian Mora who will also be running for Chase.  While I was tapering last week, Brian completed the Miami Ironman Triathlon--an incredible achievement on its own--and now he's back a week later for 26.2 more miles.  This is awesome dedication and also evidence of the incredible inspiration that Chase has provided to so many of us.

So far so good, will let you know shortly how things turns out (for the race, and maybe the toaster).  Should anyone be interested in tracking my whereabouts during the race, the NYRR marathon website has information at the following site:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/spectators/trackmyrunners.htm

I'm not entirely sure how it works but I recommend scrolling down to the mobile app info because it's free.  I downloaded the app on my phone and it seems pretty easy--you just have to enter my name or bib no. (10795) where prompted.  I start at 9:40 am tomorrow and plan to pace myself between 8:30-9 min/mi which will have me finishing in 3:43 to 3:55 (finishing time should be between 1:23-1:35 pm).  If I bonk feel free to have a late lunch and check back on me at your leisure!

No Running Line - took yesterday off - may go out for a mile or two after this post to calm the nerves...

Lady Liberty outside our window

Yes, pasta again (but it was delicious)

Vino and pizza - definitely on the agenda after the race!

My #1 supporter

Oct. 31 - Garrity Charity Strikes Again!

I completed four more easy runs since last Friday, including a comfortable 8.1 mile run Monday morning, and my last real prep run Halloween morning (4.2 miles).  I have started carbo-loading and feel like I gained ten pounds this week!  I have stayed away from Halloween candy for the most part, but I did succumb to pizza and a couple of beers at the gathering house for Shea and her trick o' treating crew.  I think going rouge actually helped as I was starting to get a little too focused on doing a perfect taper this week--it was a nice de-stresser to break that pattern for a few hours.

Blog followers know that October 31 is a very special day--Chase's birthday.  The love and support that poured through Facebook was amazing.  Many, many Race4Chasers offered some truly amazing words about Chase and for the Kowalski's.  Chase has inspired countless people to live healthier, more meaningful lives--an incredible force for good emanating from his spirit and the way he lived his life.  I started off just trying to give my support to Steve and Becky in the face of their incomprehensible loss, but getting know how Chase lived and connecting with his spirit have more than repaid anything I have offered to the family.  Thanks Chase.

Chase's birthday was also an incredible day for the sponsors--I contacted Jim Garrity on Wed to let him know that I was doing the NYC marathon on Sun.  Back in April Jim had donated $2,920 (in honor of the Garrity family house at 292 Elm in Monroe) in support of the 1,000 mile journey.  He said at that time that he was willing to do more as the fundraising effort progressed, so I figured I would touch base with him about the marathon.  The next morning, on Chase's birthday, Jim pledged a $1,812 donation to take the 10004chase total to $15,000!  Incredible generosity!  Of course I now must continue running after the marathon because simple math tells me that at $10/mile I owe Jim few more than 26.2 miles!  Huge thanks to Jim for his support.

Recent Lines:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/26	Sa	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1219.3
10/27	Su	11:15a	4.5	35:23:00	7:49:41	0	0	1223.8
10/28	M	7:10a	8.1	1:07:20	8:18:46	0	0	1231.9
10/29	Tu	4:00p	4.0	35:19:00	8:48:26	0	0	1235.9
10/30	W	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1235.9
10/31	Th	7:45a	4.2	35:55:00	8:33:06	0	0	1240.1