I Want my Blue Badge!

Well, the countdown for me has begun...16 weeks until I will be running in the NYC Marathon on November 2nd, 2008! I am running on “Fred’s Team” in support of the Aubrey Fund benefiting the pediatric cancer center of Memorial Sloan Kettering. I’ll be digging deep over the next few weeks to train and ready myself to cross the finish line.

Those of you who know me well know what a stretch this goal is for me.

Having grown up with asthma, running long distances – let alone the lap before gym class – was never part of my life. After setting the school record for the 50 yard dash in 5th grade I became inspired. So, in sixth grade, I set my sights on achieving the “Blue Badge” in the Presidential Fitness test. I had easily passed the highest ranks for sit-ups, push-ups, long jump, etc, but the 600 yard run was still ahead of me. I had gym during the first period that year. The dew glistened on the freshly cut grass (never mind that I’m highly allergic to grass and would be sent to my bedroom whenever my father or brothers were cutting the lawn), I was gonna get that damn Blue Badge if it killed me! So, I set out. I was humming along…running all by myself (not sure where the rest of the class was that day), thinking “this isn’t so bad”, breathing in the cool morning air, looking at the blue sky and trees and the William Woodruff Elementary school building where I went…the last thing I remember, I was rounding the backboard of the softball field when I collapsed in the grass. When I awoke, I was in the hospital after having had suffered an asthma attack. They never gave me the blue badge. Fast forward several decades, this marathon is my Blue Badge and I’ll be damned if I don’t get it! Like I said, I’ll be digging deep.