Sue Ann’s Recap…

This was certainly a day to remember! We are Bosco's Buddies! We are Bosco's family! Some of us were official participants and others just came along to cheer us on or to join us to give us support, staying with us to make sure we got through this together and crossed that finish line all in one piece! They were not bandits! They were our thoroughbreds and flying angels! It was their first experience too! They were so used to running so FAST and missing all the action around them that for the first time, they were able to absorb the atmosphere, the crowd and take in all that was all around them! Ruben was amazed! He'd never experienced this before! Every time he ran, it was lonely and quiet! Not loud and noisy! Hehehehe! We just have sooo much fun being sloooooooow!
We all wore "Bosco Buddies" T-shirts to promote Hepatitis C Awareness and stayed with Bosco the whole time! At first, we were 9. . . . Bosco, Bernie, Michael, Jenn, Tammy, Darrin, Shobha and myself. Then we found Larry! The 9 of us headed toward the bridge together and we were sooooo close to the Starting line! We were "3" minutes from the Starting mat! Larry quickly left us when the pack started moving. Then we lost Jenn, Tammy and Shobha at the bridge. After we met my co-workers Ann and Robert at mile 2.8 miles to gather & take pictures, we lost Darrin! We're now down to 4! Ooooy! Art & I carried our cell phones with us! We both kept in close contact as we came closer to the group waiting at Mile 6. All of us had a LOT to carry! All the pouch pockets on our shorts were FULL! Everyone's fanny packs were stuffed to the limit with power gels, tissues, cameras, etc. There was so much in Michael's shorts that they were falling OFF him! He had to stop at a Med Station get some pins to keep them up but instead, came back to us with duct tape taped around his stomach to keep his shorts up! Hehehe! Whatta sight to SEE! He ran 3 miles with duct tape until we met up with the rest of our family patiently waiting with PINs at Mile 6! As Art peeled off the duct tape (OUCH !!!), Laura was pinning up his shorts! Whatta TEAM! There were 8 waiting at Mile 6—Ian, Art, Muayyad, Jim, Pam, Laura, Linda and Ruben ! Now there's 12 of us! It was great having us all together! Michael was starting to feel queasy, nauseous, light headed, etc. I stayed with Michael as the group went on ahead. After leaving the Med Station with Michael and getting onto the Queensboro Bridge, we found Shobha! Her leg muscles were tightening up and she was considering quitting. The person at the Med station told her to walk for 10 more minutes so her muscles wouldn't tighten up. With the bridge being so LONG! We caught up to everyone up ahead! There were now 13 of us together!
Then Debbie joined us at mile 16! We gathered for more pictures when we saw my boss (Gerry) at 67th St. He said, "2 of your Bosco's Buddies are up ahead!" They told him they were heading for McDonalds! We soon found Bernie slurping a jumbo sized Soda! The 14 of us moseyed on up 1st Ave. and were happily surprised! Both Jenn & Tammy caught up to all of us! Whatta reunion! We maxed out at 16!!!! We then found Michael's wife & son at mile 18 and took some more pictures! Bernie disappeared again into a local grocery store and came out with an assortment of Gatorades! We all stayed together the rest of the way! Shobha was now feeling better and no longer thinking of quitting. Michael was hangin' in there. Everyone made sure Michael was within view of us when he started walking. Debbie had Bosco in a 1 minute routine to keep him going too! One minute walk & one minute run... We were all working to keep everyone together and to pull everyone through to the finish line!
Ooooh man! Did I give Debbie a great run! I disappeared into the porto potties on 5th Avenue and had given my camera to Shobha. When I left the potty, 2 blocks later, I didn't know where my camera went! I actually ran back to the porto potty to find the camera! As soon as I opened that potty door, it hit me! Grrrrrrrr! I gave it to Shobha! Oooooh man! I'm too far behind everyone now! I gotta go catch-up! I must've been 1/2 mile behind! Art realized I was the only one missing and gave me a call to find out what happened to me. I told him what happened and Debbie waited for me to make sure I was OK. We were both doing catch-up now! We were going FAST! With us last 2 Bosco Buddies trailing along, all the spectators kept saying "Your Bosco's Buddies are up ahead!" Your group is Waaaaaaaay up there! We needed to catch them before they hit 25 miles! We needed to gather again to run past those cameras together! We did it! Yaaahooo! It was tough, but we did it! Those crowds yelling, "Your Buddies are up ahead!" kept us going! As we approached the cameras at Mile 25, we all chanted "Go Bosco! Go Bosco!" As we passed the cameras again at Mile 26, Art yelled out “NJ Marathon! Last weekend in April!”
I was sooo sure that we could all cross the finish line together, family and all, but as we approached the end, our family pulled away and stopped! It was like them telling us that, "ok, now, our job is done. We guided you and brought you to the finish line and it's now your job to cross it and get your medal!" Ooooh! How it wished they didn't STOP! I'm sure it would've been OK to stay with us! I'm not one to cry when I'm happy, but seeing Bosco cry after the finish line made it hard to hold back my tears!
Just so you all know, I love you all and I'm grateful you're all a part of my life!
--Sue Ann aka 3:30 Turtle