Winning a Marathon in Mom's Honor

After she swam over 2 miles, biked about 100 miles and ran over 26 miles, Marci Goldberg knew she had accomplished more than a marathon. Competing in marathons isn't new to the 27 year-old Silver Spring resident but the motivation for it was. She raced in honor of her deceased mother.

Goldberg said her mother recently passed away from injuries sustained from a fall in her home. She writes about her experience in the recent ChesapeakeMan Endurance Festival in her blog called Triathlete 4 Life.

Marci’s Story:

I lost my biggest fan on April 25th this year, my mom!  She suffered major injuries from a fall in my parents townhouse and passed away a few days after her fall. At her funeral a few days later I talked about how she was Marathon Mom because she always came to cheer me on at swim meets, marathons, and triathlons. No matter how I did she was the first one at the finish to greet me with a hug and congratulations. Two weeks after she passed away I ran the Dicks Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon.  My mom is a Pittsburgh native so the race was run in her memory. It was thanks to talking to her the whole race and having her spirits push me through.

At ChesapeakeMan this past weekend in Cambridge, I once again raced for my mom. I carried a photo of her and I throughout the race because I know she will always be there for me. The 2.4 mile swim was rough, with so many people around and caps bobbing up and down while trying to find the buoys to direct me. The 112 mile bike went amazingly well, I just seemed to roll along.

As I biked I asked my mom (a) if she could tell me when to eat and drink so there was no chance of dehydration and blacking out and (b) if I were to have a flat tire on the course could she change it for me. It was great to pass my dad to see him cheering me on and taking pictures. 

 The 26.2 mile run was very painful and sluggish. I asked my mom to help me just finish the race and get through it in one piece. I wanted to walk, but fought through the pain. At mile 22 my prayers were answered when I got some chocolate chip cookies from the aid station. It was a tough race overall, but the finish line was something I will never ever forget. 

Not only had I finished the race in one piece, but I had taken almost 1 hour off my only other Ironman time.  As I ran down the final chute to see dad shooting pictures, I raised my arms in the air, smiled big, and thanked mom for helping push me through to the finish in such rocking fashion that even dad was surprised to see me come in so early at night.