One Man on a Mission Committed to a Cause Worldwide Impact
Mission: To raise $100k for kidney cancer research in memory of my brother John by running worldwide marathons on 6 continents.
Worldwide Marathons for kidney cancer research marathon number: 1
Marathon: USMC Marathon
Marathon Goal: To finish the marathon in 4:45 and to do it by running all of the 26.218 miles.
Marathon date: 10/24/99
Amount raised for kidney cancer research: $4,635.22
Finish Time: 4:39:55 [13.1 mile split 2:09:55]
My worldwide marathons rating: Most historic route “The Marathon of the Monuments”
Most memorable moment: Finishing at the USMC Iwo Jima Monument.
Marathon Highlights
- Running past the many historical Monuments and Memorials in Virginia and Washington.
- The thousands of people cheering you on during the marathon 26.218 route.
- The 2,200 hundred Marines manning all of the water stations and encouraging you as you went by.
- As a former Marine it was great to meet many other Marines who ran the race.
- Having coffee with Brigadier General Leif H. Hendrickson the Quantico Marine Base Commander.
- As a former Marine Sergeant having the USMC 2ND Lieutenants remove my chip from my shoe after finishing the race.
Marathon selection and registration: My story began in early March 1999 when I made a commitment that I would finish worldwide marathons on 6 continents to raise $100k for kidney cancer research in memory of my brother, and best friend John, who lost his battle with kidney cancer on February 27, 1999. After much deliberation and many hours on the Internet looking at the hundreds of worldwide marathons that will be run in 1999 I decided that my first marathon for kidney cancer research would be in the US and it would be the USMC marathon, “the people’s marathon”, that would be held on October 24, 1999. The reason that I chose the USMC marathon was because I am a former Marine and I felt it would be great to meet and run with so many other Marines –“once a Marine always a Marine” – Semper Fidelis, which means “always faithful”. After finally making my marathon selection I thought that registering on-line would take a few minutes – boy was I wrong. During the on-line registration process it looked like I would not be able to register for the marathon because there were so many people trying to log on that it took me 2 days before I was able to successfully register for the marathon. I found out later that I was fortunate to get registered because they closed the on-line registration 2 days after I registered. After finally registering it seemed like it took forever for me to get confirmation of my registration and then it took at least 2 more months before I received my Bib# [13499].
Travel: Now that I was finally registered and had my Bib# my next step was to make my hotel and Air reservations. I traveled alone and was fortunate to get a single room at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City Virginia from 10/22/99 to 10/26/99. The hotel was only 15 minutes from the start of the race using the Metro and the marathon Expo was located in the hotel – excellent hotel and great location. I made my airline reservations with US Airways departing from Boston’s Logan airport and arriving at Dulles airport in Washington D.C. Because there were over 20,000 runners registered for the race I made my hotel and air reservations 6 months before the marathon.
Training: During 1999 I ran in a number of races to give me a sense of my readiness for the USMC marathon and to estimate my marathon pace. The races and my finish times were:
James Joyce Ramble 10k 51:41 [8:28 pace]
Great Bear Run 10k 51:19 [8:22 pace]
Covered Bridges 10k 56:39 [9:07 pace]
Wellesly 5 miles 41:17 [ 8:23 pace]
People’s Beach to Beacon 10k 51:53 [8:23 pace]
Although I finished both of the marathons that I had run I never had a training program – and believe me I suffered because I did not have a well-planned and executed training program. My first two marathons [Boston in 1989 & 1995 as a Bandit] produced the normal injuries, aches, and pains that you would get for not being prepared to run 26.2 miles. I made sure for the USMC marathon that I would not make the same mistakes that I made for the 2 Boston marathons and with the help of a number of seasoned marathoners I was able to put together a 12-week, 450-mile, training program. Prior to starting my training I had a physical to ensure that I was fit to run – there were no problems that would stop me from running the marathon but I weighed 170 pounds, which was 15 pounds more than I needed to weigh to ensure that I would finish the marathon in a credible time for my age of 63. So along with my training program I setup a weight reduction plan to bring my weight down to 155 pounds before the USMC marathon. I started my 12-week USMC training on August 2, 1999 while I was living in Lexington, Massachusetts and running with a great running group – “The Concord Runners”. I was able to train almost every day during my 12-week training program even though there were days of less than ideal weather – rain, wind, muggy, and cold – typical New England weather. During my training I also ran three 10k races to help prepare me for the USMC marathon. I ran 6 days a week with 1 day of rest and my longest runs were 20, 21, and 22 miles. I was very fortunate that during my training I avoided any major injuries. During my training I really worked on controlling my weight and by week 12 my weight was down to 160 pounds. I tapered my last week of training and felt that I was ready to finish the USMC in a creditable time for my age.
First 2 days [10/22/99 & 10/23/99]: I arrived at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Crystal city Virginia on Friday October 22nd at 5:00 pm as the flight from Logan airport in Boston was delayed for about 2 hours. After unpacking I went to the USMC marathon expo that was being held in my hotel. The expo was already packed with people waiting in many lines to get their chip and Bib# – it took me about another 2 hours to get my chip and Bib# as they could not find my registration information – what else could go wrong?? After walking through the expo, meeting some of the runners and visiting the many booths, I went to get a cup of coffee before going out for a short run. At the coffee shop I ended up sharing a table with the Commanding General of the Quantico Virginia base, USMC Brigadier General Leif Hendrickson and his wife. Had a great conversation with the General about the Marine Corps and how it has changed since I went to Boot camp in 1956 at Parris Island South Carolina. That evening I went out to an Italian restaurant for my Pasta to get loaded up on carbohydrates for the marathon. The next day, the day before the marathon, I just stayed in the hotel and relaxed – in the evening I went out with a group of runners that I had met for a “Pasta party”. After a great meal it was back to the hotel and in bed by 10:00 pm to get some rest before the big day.
Marathon day [10/24/99]: On the day of the marathon I woke up at 6:00 am to get ready for the marathon – stopped by the restaurant and had a bagel and a banana prior to getting on the packed Metro for the 15 minute ride to the start of the marathon. I arrived at the marathon 1 hour before the marathons start time of 8:00am there were about 18,000 runners of the 20,000+ runners that registered for the marathon. I ended up pretty far back in the pack of runners and was not able to move either forward or back – once you were settled you were not able to move. The weather was cool at the start, which is great weather to run a marathon. Standing near the USMC Iwo Jima Monument waiting for the start of the race made me proud to say that I am a former Marine. The race started at the Iwo Jima Monument in Virginia where the countdown began and before you knew it the cannon went off to start the 24th USMC marathon. The race begins and ends at the Iwo Jima Monument in Virginia. It took me over 10 minutes of, mostly walking, to get to the start line and once I crossed the start line I was able to start a very slow jog.
Miles 1 to 8: The first 8 miles of the racecourse took me past Arlington cemetery and the Pentagon, then around the Pentagon, before heading back to the starting line at the Iwo Jima Monument. After passing the start line the course crossed the Potomac River over Key Bridge arriving in Georgetown at mile 8.
Miles 9 to 13: At mile 9 we past the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial and then turned onto Constitution Avenue just before mile 10. Along the way people were yelling at me “go Johnny” because I had my brother’s name on my hat. The crowds were very large and very loud, up to and past, the U.S. Capital, which helped to push me on to the ½ waypoint in the marathon [mile 13.1]. I reached the ½ waypoint in a time of 2:09 [9:50 pace] which if I kept up the pace I would finish the marathon in a time of around 4:18.
Miles 14 to 22: Miles 14 through 22 took me south all the way to Hains Point where there were very few spectators to cheer you on. I was able to keep my 9:50 pace up to mile 19 but at mile 20 I hit “the wall” my body was telling me that I would not be able to keep up the 9:50 pace that I had set in the first ½ of the marathon. At this point in the race my goal was to simply finish the race because the most grueling parts of the race were yet to come.
Miles 23 to 26: Mile 23 at the 14th street Bridge marked the start of the most challenging 3 miles in the marathon. The on-ramp to the bridge is steep and all cement – I began to feel very sharp pains in my Quads and Hamstrings and it took everything I had to keep me from stopping and walking the rest of the way. Once over the bridge I found a little more energy because of the encouragement from the crowds and I was able to continue the last 2 ½ miles without stopping.
The “dreaded” last ¼ mile: Ahead of me was the most daunting part of the race, the infamous USMC Marathons last ¼ mile. It took me past the marathon start line where I quickly had to start running up a very steep hill and then around a long circle that seemed to go on forever. The crowds along the hill were very large so that only a few runners at a time could climb the hill but the enthusiasm and encouragement of the crowd gave me the boost that I needed to overcome my last obstacle on the way to the finish line. Once I turned the corner I could see the finish line – and just in time because I did not have the strength to go any further.
After the marathon: I was so elated when I finally crossed the finish line that I went right past the area where the USMC 2nd Lieutenants removed all of the finishers chips from their running shoe.
I had to go back and wait in line to get a seat while the Marine Lieutenant removed my chip; after my chip was removed I found it very difficult to get up from the seat, as my legs were so tight. I tried walking around and managed to get some food to eat – after eating I tried to do some stretching to work out all of my aches and pains. I went to the marathon results board to check my official finish time it was 4:39:55 and I came in 48th out of 127 males in my age group of 60 to 64. My legs were like rubber and my Quads, Hamstrings, and Shins hurt so bad that it was difficult to walk. The USMC Marathon was a challenge to finish but it was truly a great experience. The Marines and the organizers did an outstanding job in managing the event.
It was starting to get cold out and I really wanted to get back to the hotel to get off my feet, take a shower, get some rest and then go out to get something to eat. I walked to the Metro station, which was around ¼ of a mile from the finish line; it was a very painful walk which took me over an hour. When I finally got to the Metro station there was a long line of people waiting to get on the down escalator to get to the trains. Once I got to the escalator I found out why there was a line to get on it – the escalator was broken and it was quite a distance to the bottom. The only way I could get down the escalator was to walk sideways because I could not lift my legs – all you could hear was people cursing and moaning because the escalator was broken.
When I got on the Metro to go back to my hotel it was packed with runners and there were no available seats so I had to stand for the 15-minute ride to my stop. It took a while after getting off the Metro but I made it back to my hotel and immediately went to my room to shower and change to go get something to eat. When I went downstairs to eat at the hotel restaurant it was about 4:00 pm and by the time I finished eating it was about 5:30 pm. I paid my bill went back to my room took a couple of Advil laid down on the bed about 6:30 pm the next thing I remember is waking up the next morning at 7:00 am.
I arrived back home in Lexington in the evening of October 26th still very sore from the marathon and the flight back. I did not do any running for 2 weeks to rest all of my aches and pains and when I started running again it was very short and easy runs. The good news is that I raised $4,635.22 for kidney cancer research at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical center in memory of my brother John. I also beat my personal marathon finish time goal of 4:45 by 6 minutes and I did it by running all 26.218 miles. During the first week of December I started the planning process for next years worldwide marathon [2000] for kidney cancer research, my 2nd worldwide marathon, which would take place somewhere in Europe.
If you would like to learn more about Bob Rebello’s worldwide marathons to raise money for kidney cancer research please go to www.bobrebello.com
To get in touch with Bob Rebello:
Bob rebello
Founder/Marathoner Worldwide Marathons for Kidney Cancer Research
1399 9th Avenue #918
San Diego, CA 92101
Cell: 858-883-3447
E-mail: rjreb@aol.com
