July 2nd ,2005… I walked 13.1 miles in 3 hours, completing my first half marathon at the San Francisco Marathon.
Oct 4th,2006… I walked 26.2 miles at the Portland Marathon, successfully completing my first full marathon
April 20th,2009 … I became the first person with documented severe lung disease, ever to finish the Boston marathon (I couldn’t run it obviously, so I walked it)
Aug 24th,2009,… I racked up my 4,000th mile since the summer of 2005. That equates to an average of about 83 miles that Ive walked every single month, for 4 years in a row. Not bad when you consider that the average healthy person probably walks or runs less than a 1/10 of that. And btw, those 4,000 miles are above and beyond the regular walking that one would do during a typical day at home or at work.
Aug 17th, 2009 … I completed my 1000th round trip walk across the Al Zampa Memorial and back in Crockett,Calif. In total , Ive walked more than 2,000 miles on that bridge alone. If you remember, my friend Melvin celebrated his 1000th crossing of that bridge just a few months back.
Sept 12th, 2009. I officially became a senior citizen. ( pretty scary huh). I have survived this disease from birth all the way to middle age.
Nov 20th,2009 I got the pleasure of meeting probably the best severe asthma doctor in the world, Dr Sally Wenzel, and was entered into the SARP database. Since then, Dr Wenzel has become a partner in my asthma care and a dear friend.
November 26th,2009 My partner Douglas and I celebrated our 20th anniversary together.
January 1st, 2010 I achieved a dubious record of racking up my 16th intubation.
April 19th, 2010 I did the Boston marathon for a 2nd time and shaved 14 minutes off my previous finish time.
September 14th 2010 Racked up my 17th intubation and 101st hospitalization for asthma ( probably a worlds record). I refuse to die and it pisses them off.
April 18th,2011 Finished my 3rd consecutive Boston marathon, shaving another 12 minutes of my finish time.
April 26th,2011 Racked up my 18th intubation and 102nd hospitalization. I’m sure the insurance company loves me.
May 13th,2011 After 6 years of continuous blogging about my walking and asthma, I decided it was time to call it quits, but never actually did.
March 10th,2014…After suffering a near fatal asthma attack, my partner was told I had less than a 50/50 chance of surviving another 2 years……That conversation took place 9 years ago today!
June 15th, 2014. After a long 3 year break, I set my sights on attempting one more marathon for my 60th birthday. I began training on July 1st, but 15 days later got really sick and ended up in the hospital for 9 days, wiping out all of my training gains. Doubtful this marathon goal is obtainable now. Lungs are just too messed up.
July 16th, 2014 Survived up my 115th hospitalization and 20th intubation. There must be a guardian angel watching over me.
Oct 5th, 2014 Despite major setbacks, I did indeed achieve my goal of completing my 9th full marathon.