Cara Spilsbury
April 03, 2007 03:00 pm
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MIDDLETON -- On April 19, the day of the Boston Marathon, 500,000 spectators will line the 26.2 mile course as more than 35,000 runners pound the city's pavement. Somewhere in the massive pack of athletes will be bib number 24459, clad in a neon yellow jersey and crisp white Brooks sneakers. But to the Children's Hospital Boston, Middleton resident Cliff Lusso is more than just a number. He'll conquer the urban terrain to raise money for the hospital's Miles for Miracles team.
Lusso will also be running to honor Bobby Morse, a 10-year-old leukemia patient at Children's who the team paired him up with for an extra boost of inspiration on the day of the race. They have yet to meet, but Lusso hopes to meet Bobby at a Miles for Miracles pre-race reception.
The Patriot's Day event will be Lusso's first ever marathon, but he is no stranger to challenging races.
"I did a race up Mount Washington last June," he said. "That was a challenge and a half."
Running the Boston Marathon is a feat he has always wanted to accomplish since his star running days for Revere High School in the late 1970s. Crossing the finish line will be a moment of personal satisfaction, but finishing the race in the name of Children's will bring an added level of achievement to the 47-year-old.
"We've all been there as kids," Lusso said of the hospital, "and we've taken our children there. Luckily it's never been for anything serious, but the care and compassion they have is just incredible."
To train for the event, Lusso has joined up with a group of runners based in the Tri-Town area who call themselves the No Name Athletic Club. He joked that they often look like a high school track team, as sometimes 20 runners trek through the streets of Boxford, Topsfield and Middleton. Most of the runners met through their children's sports teams in the past, and have become more dedicated to their training as their children have gone on to college and moved out of the house.
"Now that the kids are gone, we need something to help us stay out of trouble," he said with a chuckle.
Lusso has two children; one is a senior at Simmons College while another is a sophomore at Stonehill. He has lived in Middleton with his wife of 26 years, Cheryl, since 1995.
Many of his peers are veterans of numerous challenging marathons, including Boston, New York, and even races at Kilimanjaro and in Antarctica. They stick to a strict training regimen of varying distances and difficulties, leaving days to rest and recover.
The group has encouraged and motivated Lusso, who admits that the grueling training regimen would have been a lot harder to follow without their guidance.
"It's hard trying to do it by yourself," he said.
Lusso runs five days a week, despite of a nagging meniscus tear in his knee from mid-July. Doctors originally thought he'd have to have surgery to repair it, but Lusso wanted nothing to do with it.
"I've never had surgery in my life, and I really didn't want to start," he said.
Opting for a cortisone shot instead, Lusso gradually eased back into racing shape, and has been training the past four months specifically for the marathon.
"(My knee) hurts a little bit, but I can live with it," Lusso said.
Running has always been a passion for Lusso, but it took a back seat for many years to his career in the financial world. He did find, however, that he could squeeze in an early morning treadmill run at the gym before commuting to Newton every day if he was out of the house by 6 a.m.
"It's an efficient exercise," he said. "I can run for 30 minutes to an hour and have a pretty good workout."
But running 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the Copley Plaza is about more than just physical fitness. After running the full distance for the first time in a recent training session, his blistered feet told a harrowing tale.
"Afterwards, you do get those endorphins," Lusso said, "but during the race you're like, 'What was I thinking?'"
These days, Lusso has the luxury of doing his financial consulting on his own schedule, which has freed up the time he needed to gear up for the marathon.
Lusso's family has also struggled through some trying times in the last year, as his sister-in-law passed away suddenly and his father underwent surgery and chemotherapy for lung cancer. Experiencing those trials with his family made him realize how blessed he has been.
"It made me sit back and think about how lucky we've been," he said.
His challenges during the past year made running the 2007 Boston Marathon in the name of a charity all the more important.
Because he's running for Children's, he gets a number through their charity team. But Lusso's goal is to finish the race in under 3<1/2> hours, the qualifying time for his age bracket.
Last year, Lusso was just one of the hundreds of thousands of spectators at the marathon, elbowing through the crowd at Kenmore Square trying to catch a glimpse of his friends as they ran by. He loved the atmosphere that day, as the entire city partied and celebrated every runner at every mile.
"It's amazing how many people show up," Lusso said. "It's an amazing day for Boston."
This year, Lusso will get to experience the Boston Marathon as one of the thousands of participants, each one of his strides for a worthy cause.
"I just want to get to that finish line," he said. "The middle of the race is the hardest to say motivated. You just have to keep telling yourself to keep going. You've done the training."
Want to help?
Cliff Lusso's goal is to raise $3,500 dollars for Children's. So far, he's raised about $1,500 but he hopes to increase that total as the Marathon comes closer.
To donate with a credit card online: Visit www.mwareinc.com/events/web/profiles/?ProfileID=LC0024&EventID=93 to donate directly to Cliff Lusso's efforts. You can also go to www.chtrust.org/bostonmarathon and click on the right of the page under "Highlights" where it says "Sponsor a runner." Click on "Give Online" and enter "Lusso" of his profile I.D. "LC0024" into the search box. Clicking again on "Lusso" will take you to the donation page.
To donate with a credit card via mail or fax: Visit www.chtrust.org/bostonmarathon. Click on "Team Resources" then click on "Fundraising Tools" and then "credit card slip." Print, complete the form, and fax it to Children's Hospital at 617-355-6530 or mail to Children's Hospital Boston, Miles for Miracles Team Boston, P.O. Box 414417, Boston, MA, 02241-4417. Be sure to write "Lusso" and "Profile ID: LC0024" on the sponsor line.
To donate by check via mail: Make checks payable to "Children's Hospital Boston" and write "Lusso" and "Profile ID: LC0024" on the memo line. Mail to Children's Hospital Boston, Miles for Miracles Team Boston, P.O. Box 414417, Boston, MA, 02241-4417.
Reefer:
Be sure to read next week's Town Crossings for more on local people running in the Boston Marathon April 16.
Boston Marathon Facts
The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon. This year is the 111th running of the marathon.
The race begins in Hopkinton and continues through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley before passing by Boston College in Newton. It then continues through Cleveland Circle, down Beacon Street to Kenmore Square and then follows Commonwealth Avenue to Boylston Street. The race finishes near the John Hancock Tower in Copley Square.
It is organized by the Boston Athletic Club.
Since it's inception, the Boston Marathon has been held on the holiday commemorating Patriots Day.
The all-time record for the world's largest marathon was established at the centennial race in 1996, when 35,868 finishers out of 36,748 official starters participated in the 100th running of the Boston Marathon.
In 1975, the Boston Marathon became the first major marathon to include a wheelchair division competition.
The Boston Marathon fields the second largest on-site media coverage for a one-day sporting event in the world, behind the Super Bowl. More than 1,100 media members, representing more than 250 outlets, receive credentials annually.
Last year, approximately 1,200 participants, representing 18 charities, raised more than $7.5 million through the Boston Marathon Charity Program.
Each runner is outfitted with a computer chip that records their time and position at every check point. Fans can follow their favorite runners on the Boston Marathon website throughout the race using their athlete's specific ID number.
Source: www.bostonmarathon.org
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