David Jablonski: A Mother’s Day tribute to a Marathon mom

Mom’s career peaked in the late 1980s. At 36 in 1989, she won the Turkey Trot in Miamisburg in 30 minutes, 36 seconds. That was a pace of just over six minutes per mile over the 8-kilometer course.

Earlier that same year, Mom ran the Boston Marathon for the first time in 3:42:58. She qualified with a time of 3:30 in the Columbus Marathon in 1988.

Mom dragged her four kids to many races. All of us eventually became runners in some form. Now most of her 13 grandkids are runners.

I’ve done every sort of race — from the Turkey Trot to the full Ironman in Louisville — over the years. Mom’s running career served as an inspiration every time.

Mom didn’t have to drag me to Boston. I waited until I was confident she would be healthy enough to run and booked my trip.

My dad and I experienced the race by walking a large chunk of the course. After getting Mom to the bus, we hiked two miles to Fenway Park and hopped on a commuter train to Natick. Then we walked 3½ miles to Framingham, passing many residents holding marathon parties in their front yards.

We saw my mom for the first time around the 6-mile mark. I used the same camera I carry with me to every Dayton Flyers basketball game to capture images of her on the course.

Then we returned to the train to head back toward Boston. We got off in Wellesley and spotted mom again before she entered the famous Scream Tunnel, where Wellesley College students create the loudest section on the course.

“They beat it all,” my mom said later.

Spectators cheered runners the whole way. There were only a few segments of the course we walked without fans. Of course, they can only do so much.

“I do a lot of self-talk in my brain,” Mom said. “Toward the end, in the last four miles, I was actually talking out loud, just saying, ‘Come on, you can do it.’”

The hills provided the biggest test for Mom. My parents now live in German Village in Columbus. She had to search for elevation challenges there. It was hard to prepare for Heartbreak Hill in Newton. That’s a 0.4-mile stretch with an 88-foot vertical ascent.

“There were more than one Heartbreak Hill,” Mom said. “At least, that’s the way it felt. Heartbreak seemed very long. It was steep. But the downhills were wonderful.”

Dad and I tried to catch her at the finish line, but the crowds prevented us. She finished with a smile as the images I later bought from MarathonFoto.com showed. First, she had one final challenge. She stopped running with two-tenths of a mile remaining because of a charley horse cramp in her calf.

Fellow runners inspired Mom along the way. She saw amputees and blind runners competing.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “That made me think, ‘What am I complaining about?’”

Mom’s final time was 4:46:49. She finished 44th out of 81 runners in her age group. Her dream time was 4:10. She hoped for 4:19. Her last goal was just to finish, which she achieved.

Among the top local finishers on the men’s side were: Ethan Knemeyer, 22, of Yellow Springs (2:27:53); Thomas Guidotti, 26, of Bellbrook (2:28:56); and Sam Duncan, 24, of Centerville (2:29:14).

The top area women finishers were: Lindsay Babish, 43, of Xenia (3:04:17); Jessica Jones, 38, of Hamilton (3:04:44); and Alicia Neumeier, 24, of Bellbrook (3:06:47).

This was Mom’s last marathon. She’s sure of that. She will continue to race at shorter distances.

Mom has covered many miles since her days with the Alter Lancerettes, and she has many more miles in her, even if they’re not in Boston.

I hope to find more excuses to write about her on Mother’s Day and that all the moms reading this don’t feel shortchanged by the chocolate and flowers they received.

Happy Mother’s Day to all.

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