Monday, April 15, 2013
Boston Marathon Memory
Excerpt from my completed but not yet published, book, "Running on Faith," describing the finish of the 1995 Boston Marathon. Due to dehydration, I finished back in 47th overall and 10th American.
Running down Boylston towards the finish line, I thought I heard someone scream "Rick Meyer." Am I delusional? Immediately upon finishing, I was thrown into a wheel chair. While being wheeled through the finish chute toward the medical tent, I look up to see a very familiar face.
I just could not put a name with a friend. David Schneider, a former teammate and twin of Dan Schneider from Manhattan High School in Kansas, walked beside me.
Dr. David Schneider M.D. responded to my Facebook correspondence regarding this finish on the 15th Anniversary of the 1995 Boston Marathon.
"Rick...that is a very happy memory. I was graduating from med school and went on a trip to Boston to see one of the last basketball games in the old Boston Garden. Because one of my buddy's uncles was an executive at John Hancock I had VIP seats right on the finish line, sitting next to the Mayor. And here comes Rick Meyer, one of the top American finishers!!
I jumped the barrier and followed you into the med tent. We hadn't seen each other in 10 years, so you were a little shocked to see me (besides being in physiologic shock after crushing the hardest Marathon in the world)."
David later served on the medical staff of both the Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers, once attending a Dodgers game with Tommy Lasorda.
Initially, the medical tent hesitated to allow David's entrance; I told the staff that it was okay as he was about to complete medical school. Based on later comments from David, I expounded that he was married to Wendy. Evidently, I viewed that as making the difference in his admission to the tent.
Inside the tent, a nurse placed a thermometer in my ear, producing an unacceptably low temperature reading. A reporter from one of the Boston papers interviews me sometime during my examination. The nurses suggest I drink broth to warm-up.
Mumbling in exhaustion, "What is broth?"
They patiently explained that is the juice in soups. My temperature remained exceptionally low despite consuming a bowl of steaming hot chicken broth while wrapped in blankets.
David Schneider returned to his friends, it was a pleasure seeing an old friend away from home following a brutal race.
I complained about the thermometer continually probed in my ear. "Don't you have other options?"
One of the five nurses, all in their mid-twenties, responded, "Yes, we do have other options. Would you like to roll over?"
I mumbled, "You can continue placing the thermometer in my ear." Options provide healthy perspectives.
The nurses announced my severe dehydration mandated an IV. I hate needles! A few of the gals tried to offer comfort as some guy jabs my arm with a needle as if competing in a dart throwing contest. I scream due to the pain and dislike of needles; an immense television camera captures the moment from a few feet away from my face.
The staff informs me that I am the first finisher requiring IV's. The gals find humor in my screaming disdain of needles, questioning this pain versus completing the Boston marathon.
Five young nurses stood around my cot, trying to help me warm-up. I began wondering if I had died and gone to heaven.
The IV bag emptied, yet my temperature remained low. Subsequently they connected a second IV bag. I am oblivious to any other race participants in the medical tent. Two hours later they released me from the medical tent. The Boston journalist notices me, "You're still alive!?"
I think I ruined his story of a Midwest runner dying after the race.
David Schneider continues, "My favorite memory...that night after the Celtics game, I walked back through that huge public square to see the race results posted on dozens of mobile classroom chalkboards, lined up as far as the eye could see.
I walked all the way to the first board, and there on the top sheet of paper on the board was your name, along with a bunch of East Africans!! YOU STUD!!! Not bad for the son of a corn farmer from Smith Center, Kansas."
See Christ, Believe Christ, Achieve with Christ!
Rick E. Meyer
See, Believe, Achieve Inc.
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