Runner Laces Up For A Very Different Boston Marathon —In Waltham

WALTHAM, MA — On Sept. 12 — the day that would have been Boston Marathon 2020 — one Waltham woman will wake up, lace her shoes, put on a singlet with the images of the five children she's running to support and, rather than drive out to Hopkinton, she will head to Nipper Maher Park to start her Boston Marathon.

It will be the third time Rebecca Cyr has run the marathon to support Boston Children's Hospital, but it will be her first "virtual" marathon.

"This is my third and possible weirdest Boston, though I ran in the 2018 monsoon, so perhaps that's up for debate?" she said.

General practice is that marathoners put in about four months of training to prepare their bodies for the big day, which will have most runners on their feet between four and six hours. But because the April marathon was pushed to September before officials decided to cancel the regular marathon and offer runners a chance to run it anywhere instead, Cyr has been training since the second week of December. She's raised $11,435 toward her goal of $12,000 for the Miles for Miracles team for Boston Children's Hospital. If she achieves that, it will be the third year in a row she's been able to raise that much money for this cause.

Cyr, who is the mother of two girls 8 and 11 — who both spent time in intensive care at Newton-Wellesley Hospital after they were born — said she is dedicating this run to some young heroes who are getting treatment at Children's: Gabe, Elodie, Natalie, Daniel and Breslyn.

Gabe was in day care with Cyr's youngest, who is now 8, when he was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. It was a rough time for the close-knit community, she said.

Gabe's mom and dad ran the marathon for him two times after he had a life-saving hemispherectomy at BCH. They then challenged Cyr, who works for software company Advisor360 off Route 20, to run for him in 2018.

She did. It was the second marathon she'd ever run, but it was packed with meaning.

Cyr joined the Miles for Miracles team and learned the stories of those children other teammates were running in honor of: Elodie, who had four life saving heart and gastrointestinal surgeries before her first birthday; Natalie, who was the hospital's youngest surviving transplant recipient at 10 days old; and Daniel, who has survived open-heart surgery and spinal fusion. Breslyn was in preschool with Cyr's youngest when she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor right before the two went off to kindergarten.

"The kids are a huge inspiration — the things they have tolerated make every intolerable training moment seem silly," she said. "And they get so into the race, which is really fun."

Instead of running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton through Wellesley and Newton and Brookline into Boston, Cyr is opting to do a 6-mile loop around Waltham — four times.

She'll start at Nipper Maher Park, run past the Waltham Boston Children's Hospital location, down Moody Street to the river, across to Waltham, left on High Street and right on Moody Street, where she is hoping to get a little spectator encouragement from the outdoor restaurant-goers, before she turns left on Main Street, makes another left on South Street and back to Nipper Maher Park, where her supply station will be — before starting it again.

If running the same loop four times sounds like the worst idea to you, you're not alone. Cyr said she has never done such a thing, nor has she ever wanted to try. But the idea of running a solo "unsupported" marathon — meaning no water stops, bathrooms, medical tents — made her realize this might just be the best path forward.

"The loops mean its easy to remember the route, I'm always close to home, and I have bathroom and supplies access every hour or so," she said. "I also wanted a relatively low elevation, which is hard in Waltham."

She went to ID Art on Moody Street to get the images of five children she's running for printed on the singlet she will be wearing that day. To her surprise, the owner wouldn't let her pay, even with the coronavirus impacting business.

"The owner there has been awesome and very supportive," Cyr said.

As it gets closer to marathon day, Cyr is starting to feel the familiar butterflies that come before a big event, with the added uncertainty the pandemic has brought along with it.

"Training without the team has been tough," she said. "I'm nervous of injury, too. In the past while training, I'm used to the support of a chiropractor, PT, massage therapist — all of this is kind of off the table with COVID. So if my body fails me at all, it's kind of over."

The past marathons have been in weather that's much cooler than September, and that means she's had to prepare for different hydration, blisters and chafing needs. And then there's the day of — loops, lack of crowd, lack of support.

"I will say in spite of all the fears, there's something kind of exciting about a custom-to-you marathon," she said.

If you happen to see this runner on one of her four big loops — she expects to take off around 7:30 a.m. and estimates the run will take about five hours — Cyr said she welcomes sideline cheers and encouragement.

If you're interested in donating to Boston Children's Hospital, which has doctors actively working on the COVID-19 vaccine, visit: http://fundraise.childrenshospital.org/goto/RebeccaRunsBoston.