The Red Hills Running Club relay teams, two teams of middle and elementary school kids, grabbed the top two co-ed relay team spots.

Flip back a few (OK a lot of) years to 1985. I ran my first marathon in the time of 2:58:24 through Killearn neighborhoods, on a cold day. Numbers under 3 hours earn a smile. 2:48:14 marks my first and successful effort to qualify for Boston in 1986. In 1994, I ran Boston in 2:43:57, the fastest time I would ever run. Of course, I started slowing down long before I was diagnosed.

Not many people enduring Parkinson’s Disease have been fortunate enough to continue running. Michael Westfall is one such person. He was diagnosed with Parkinson in 2006 and believed it probably began noticeably affecting him in 2003. Westfall has issues with what seems to be a fairly strong case of dyskinesia. He does not let it stop him.

In an interview with Runner’s World he reports: “My neurologist says that it is quite unusual for someone diagnosed with Parkinson’s to exercise and move as fast as I do,” he added. “I may just be the exception to the rule or just lucky, but I think part of my positive results of running with this disease is the runner’s high, or as the doctors might put it, the increased production of dopamine in my brain.”

few miles. They would show up several times around the course. That was number 1. The second was running back along the St. Marks Trail, maybe near the 21-mile mark. My pace was so slow and slowing down more.

Eventually, I made the turn onto Copeland Street and then right on Madison Street and headed for the finish. Somewhere along that route “the kids” from the Red Hills began running beside me and shouting encouragement to Coach David as loud as they could.

It was an hour and a half, at least, after they had finished. The numbers 4:41:57 didn’t seem too mean much at that time at all.