This is a story about the last place finisher at Monday’s Boston Marathon. Mary is 42. She’s been through 5 years of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant and has fought off cancer 3 times. Her body had been through a lot, so she knew she wasn’t going to do well in the race, but all she wanted to do was finish it. It was her first marathon.
She stopped at multiple medical tents where she was told she should probably stop because of her compromised immune system. It was 4pm, she was drenched from the rain, and her lips were blue. Her husband met her at a stopping point at the 15.5 point and suggested she take a break. They went home, she put on dry clothes and and hour and a half later they went back to the 15.5 point and started running again.
They finished the race together at 12:18am they crossed the finish line with a crowd cheering them on. Oh, and she raised $35,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.