Mile By Mile

As we get closer to the day of the marathon, I have continued to work on my list of mile by mile dedications.  This is certainly not an original idea, but I thought it was a good one.  It will help keep me focused and it will help keep me going when going gets harder in the late miles.  It is important to me that some of the dedications are meaningful as they relate to the overall experience I have had during my five months of training for my first and probably only full marathon.  Additionally, since this is a pretty significant effort for me I also want to dedicate the effort to people who I love and have been important in my life for a long time.  I am going to incorporate some of the pictures from my past blogs here as well.  There is one mile I haven’t filled yet, perhaps it will remain that way, but I expect I will complete it before my run.  Here we go.

Mile One:  Mile one is dedicated to John Craven.

John Craven - 1969 - He never forgot the children

  It was John’s dedication and conviction for the school project that made me want to help him and the children.  It was John’s visit to Phoenix that started me thinking about a way that I could help him finish the school mission or at least this stage of it.  I am honored to have the opportunity to work with him to help the children.  It only seems fitting to me that I start the final leg of the journey in his honor.  “If you would be first, first you must serve.”  John has earned this spot.

Mile Two:  Mile two is dedicated to Tony Durbin. 

Tony and Norma Durbin

I will call him my crew chief.  He has been there the entire way supporting my efforts with his emails to “A” Company as well as his emails to me helping and supporting me along the way.  Tony’s dedication to supporting me over the past months and his unrelenting dedication to preserving the history of “A” Company and keeping all of us connected makes it easy for me to dedicate this mile to him.

Mile Three:  The Dove Fund gets this mile for all the good work they have done both for their members and for the people of Vietnam.   Theirs is a noble cause and I am pleased to be able to support their efforts in some small way.  Generations to come will benefit from the work they are doing today, and the world community will be a better place as a result.

Mile Four:  The men of “A” Company, 70^th Engineer Battalion Combat, many of whom I will have the pleasure of being reunited with and some of whom I will meet for the first time at our reunion in Chattanooga later this year.  I am looking forward to getting together with them.  Although my entire marathon is dedicated the men and families of the men who served in “A” Company I thought they should have a mile of their own as well.

Mile Five:  Paul Shimon who got me started running when we were kids in high school and has completed over

King Of The Road

 120 marathons over his running life.  He dedicated himself to teaching school for over 30 years and has promoted a healthy life style and running to thousands of children and adults in his community.  He is one of my running heroes. 

Mile Six.2:  The 10K mark of the run goes to Bill Schrope, an old and recently rediscovered friend and “A” Company comrade who has supported my effort with emails of encouragement as well as his donation to help pay for the school and support the children.  Getting back together with Bill after all these years was one of the

1st Lt. Bill Schrope -1968

bonuses of being reunited with “A” Company.  10K is the first check point of the run where my progress can be monitored on the website or via text message.

Mile Seven:  In memory of Capt Robert Hoy who was killed April 27, 1969 in Vinh Long, Vietnam as a result of hostile artillery fire.  Bob was a classmate of Bill Schrope and me at the Army Corp of Engineer School.  We graduated and were commissioned together in 1967.  Of over 60 men who started in our half of the class on day one, I think only 22 or 23 were finally commissioned.  They were all good men who served their country in Vietnam.  Bob Hoy was one of the best and a leader in our class.

Mile Eight:  This mile is for my friends.  For all those people who it would take a very long time to list who have been part of my life for so many years. Many of them, I don’t see on a regular basis, but we manage to stay in touch. They are in that special group of people who you know will always answer your email and will always return your call and are always interested in what’s up in your life.  They are the people who you never hesitate to help if there is a need and who never hesitate to help you if you are in need.  They are the ones who if you have been away from then for very long always get a hug when you see them.

Mile Nine:  There are endless possibilities in life. 

Just one of lifes possibilities

This mile is dedicated not to any person or group of people, but to the potential that life offers all of us.  The possibilities before us whether we are six or sixty.  Each new day offers us boundless choices to fulfill our lives and lives of others.  This mile is about listening and looking and becoming aware of the opportunity.  It is about giving ourselves the freedom to act on our compulsions and allowing us to be curious and to follow the path of those events that seem at first glance to be coincidental.  It is about living our lives as they were meant to be lived.  

Mile Ten:  Steve Harper gets mile ten.  Steve and I have been friends for as long as the personal computer business has been around.  We have known each other through all kinds of weather as they say.  He has always been around when I needed some help and never failed to make me laugh when I needed to most.  He is a good friend, a good business man and another one of the really nice people I am happy to know. 

Mile Eleven:

Mile Twelve:  This is the last mile of the first half of the race.  This is the time when a lot of runners begin to fall off the pace.  It is when the fun stops and things start to get serious and begin to require some effort.  It is when you start to know you are in for a long day and that day has just started.  This mile is dedicated to my sister Marie Gallagher and my nieces, and great nieces and nephews and great, great nieces and nephews on that side of the family.  I told you I was old.

Mile Thirteen:  This one is for Vince Acosta. 

Vince Acosta - 1969

Vince was the one who located me and brought me back into the “A” Company family.  None of this would have happened if not for that.  He was also the first one other than John and me to make a donation to my run.  His comment on my blog in the early going also provided the inspiration for a couple of my blog entries.  Vince has insisted for some time now that he will be at the halfway point, mile 13.1, with oxygen to help me along the way.  I don’t know about that, but I do expect to see him at the finish. 

Mile Fourteen:  The Kruschwitz Family.  If you count my bother-in-law Al there are 14 of them, so for no better reason than that I will put them here at the beginning of the second half of the run. Let’s see – John and Heidi Walker and Alton and Chloe in London, Brian and Jennifer Kruschwitz and Adam and Helen in New York, Craig and Alex Kruschwitz, the newlyweds in New Mexico, and finally Peter and Katy Carricato and the newest member of our family Emma in South Carolina.  An international contingent of fans and all important people in my life who will help push me along as I start the second half of my run.  Their support and contribution to this effort was greatly appreciated.

Mile Fifteen:  My sister Patricia Woodside and her daughter Katie will be my support during mile fifteen.  Actually, my sister will be here in Phoenix for the marathon and will be there to meet me at the finish.  She said our father would have wanted her to come.  Patti has been a regular reader of all my blogs, both the Tao of John and Johns Marathon, and has followed this journey closely.  I know Katie will be cheering for me back in Virginia.

Mile Sixteen:  The Honor Roll represents the people who have come forward and will come forward to provide financial support to Hoang Van Thu Junior High School and its 240 students and the legacy of hope that it represents.  I was both pleased and surprised by some of the people who have chosen to support my effort.  If you had asked me in the early going who the some of the people would be, you would find most of them on the list now. There are others however who I have worked with over the years but have not been in contact with for some time who stepped forward and surprised me with their help.  I am thankful to all of you.  I am dedicating my marathon effort to you and mile sixteen is in your honor.

Mile Seventeen:  Mile Seventeen is dedicated to SFC Ronald L. Reil and SP4 Clifton A. Davis who were killed during a mortar attack on September 21, 1968 in Pleiku. 

Clifton Anthony Davis 1947-1968

Ronald Leroy Reil 1926-1968

Our base camp near Khanh Duong, a remote village in the central highlands of Vietnam, was named in their honor.  It is also dedicated to Eddy Ray Casey and William H. Lutz who served with A company and also died in Vietnam.

Wilmer Thomas Lutz 1936-1968

Eddie Ray Casey 1949-1969

Mile Eighteen:  “On October 4, 1969 “A” Company lost three men, George Davenport Jr., Wayne Elkins Sr. and William McLaughlin. 

George Clayton Davenport 1948-1969

Wayne R. Elkins 1946-1949

Almost 40 years later the tragedy of their deaths created a legacy of hope when the Hoang Van Thu Junior High School was dedicated on April 29, 2009 near Camp Reil-Davis in Vietnam. 

William F. McGlaughlin 1944-1969

I will run mile eighteen in their memory and for the future that is represented by the school.

Mile Nineteen:  Over the past five months I have talked a lot about the children.  I have published pictures of them in this blog and asked you to consider helping them.  I believe, like all God’s children, they are equal in his eyes and like any other child are deserving of our help.  I also believe they represent the future of their country and will play a

Proud and Happy - On The Steps of The New School

role in making its place in the world community.  What we do to help them today will go a long way in determining what that role will be.  I will run this mile for these children and for all the children who are in need around the world.  

Mile Twenty:  Lt Col Albert Kruschwitz, my brother-in-law, gets this milestone mile.  Al was a runner for many years until his body wouldn’t let him run anymore and he got all his children running at some point as well.  He has checked on my progress regularly throughout my training.  He is my golfing buddy whenever we get the chance to play, which is more often than you would expect considering we are separated by 2,000 miles.  He is also one of the nicest people I have come across in my 62 years of life and is more a brother to me than brother-in-law.  Mile twenty is when it will start to get a bit uncomfortable.  I am sure if he were standing there when I went by he would have something inappropriate to say to encourage me. 

Mile Twenty-one:  Col. and Mrs. John J. Rice will get me through mile 21. 

Colonel John J. Rice - Parade Ready

It is appropriate that my father who was somewhat of a gambler get mile 21.  Blackjack was his favorite game when he visited Las Vegas.  If he were around today he would get a kick out of all this. He was not only a great soldier but also a fine athlete during his life.  My mother, on the other hand, would be fretful over the whole thing and be worrying about her little boy.  They will both be with me in spirit in the true sense of the word.  I will wear a small gold medallion that belonged first to my grandfather and then to my father when I run my marathon.  Eventually, it will belong to my son, but I hope that isn’t anytime soon.

Mile Twenty-two:  This mile, which begins the unknown distance over which my legs have never traveled, is dedicated to Ruth Ann Edwards in memory of her brother-in-law Kinneth Glenn Edwards who was killed November 21, 1967 by mortar fire. 

kinneth Glenn Edwards 1947-1967

It is the mile that will start me on the final leg of my marathon journey to honor the men of “A” Company and help raise the remaining funds needed to pay for the school. I genuinely appreciate her kind comments and her support.

Mile Twenty-Three:  I would be remiss if I didn’t honor all the men and women of our country who have given themselves to preserving our way of life, our freedom and our ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness in whatever way we choose.  Many have died in the effort in both war time and in times of peace.  They are soldiers and sailors and fireman and police officers and patriots of many kinds who have defended and continue to defend liberty and the belief that all men are created equal, both here at home and in foreign lands. 

Mile Twenty-Four:  There are a lot of people who I have loved and who have been part of my life in significant ways who are no longer with me.  My parents who I have already mentioned, my wife Sylvia’s parents and to me especially her mother, Katherine Thomas, who shared her joy for life and her wisdom with us past her 100^th birthday.  My sister-in-law, Nancy who fought a courageous battle against cancer and who we all miss dearly, and whose name Emma Nancy, my new niece will carry proudly through life.  My niece Susan who left us sooner than seems fair and many others.  When you are in your 60’s the list gets too long.  So, Mile 24 is for my celestial fans, my family and friends who I loved and will remember fondly.

Mile Twenty-five:  Mile 25 is for my son Michael.  His generosity in supporting my run and the children was very special to me.  He

Mike Rice

has coached and encouraged me along the entire way and although I have been known to bore people with my incessant running talk over the past 5 months, he has always listened with interest.  He provided fuel for my blog on more than one occasion.  He is also, other than his mother, my best friend.  I might be struggling at this point in the run, but he will get me through it.

Mile Twenty-six:  I am sure you could not have guessed that on this final mile I would be thinking about my wife Sylvia.  No matter what it takes in life, no matter what the challenge, I would overcome it for her.  She can get me through the final mile.  Over the last five months she has edited my blog, worried over me, waited for me at water stops along my runs and put up with all the aches and pains and inconveniences of my training program.

Sylvia - I would run 500 hundred miles

  She has been there every step of the way.  But, I guess that has been true for 43 years now.

The Last .2 of a Mile:  The last two tenths of a mile belong to me.  Although I am aware that many millions of people have run marathons, and that many people who have, have run more than one, this one is mine.  It may be the only one I ever run.  I am proud of the effort I have made in training and will make the day of the marathon. 

See you at the finish Line

I am proud of why I have run and I will finish joyfully knowing that in some small way what I have done has not only been good for me, but has helped others as well.  I will enjoy that last two tenths of a mile and although I will be very happy to cross the finish line, I will be a little sad that it is over.

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