Maine’s Marathon Monday

One Race, One Runner, One Cause
April 20th, 2020

Thank you for all the support and love for this event – it turned out to be incredibly special. The messages, donations and encouragement is part of what helps me continue to honor my parents every year and with the “real race” being moved to September, this was *almost* as good as the real thing!

Fundraising Update: (a/o) 4-26-20

$9,784.80 raised / $18,000 goal
(54% achieved)

Final Results:

WCSH6 Story (NBC affiliate) – aired 4/20/20

WMTW Story (ABC affiliate) – aired 4/20/20

Maine’s Marathon Monday is the state’s first and only race which features one participant and was also created by that participant. One could even speculate he created it because he has never won a running race….The event began on April 19th and will conclude on April 20th, the original date of the 2020 Boston Marathon.

Jason created the race to continue his streak of running every Patriot’s Day for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. It will be a Solo Run given the current circumstances but he will be running in memory of his parents and in support of many others.

To Donate: http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/jasonkroot

All donors will receive a Garmin Live-Link to follow his progress via GPS link!

How the Race came about:

When the news broke in mid-March that the 124th running of the Boston Marathon would be moved to September (and then my backup race in Rhode Island was cancelled), I decided to take a step back from distance training with all the uncertainty. It made sense to dial back my mileage, focus on speed and strength and wait until the summer to re-start a 18 week training cycle.

Over the last week, memories have started popping up on social media as they do every April prior to the race and I can’t help but miss the anticipation. Patriot’s Day has always been a special day but was truly cemented for me personally in 2012 when I hugged my Dad just before completing what I expected would be my only 26.2 mile undertaking. A sudden relapse of his Leukemia a few months later took his life and since then the Jimmy Fund Walk in the fall and the Boston Marathon in the spring have been a fixture in my life. These two events, the organization and ability to fundraise gave me a sense of purpose following losing both parents to the disease. Perhaps most importantly, being on the Marathon Challenge team introduced me to meet a special teammate who would become my wife.

Simply put, I need Patriot’s Day for many reasons so on Monday, I will be running.

Initially I planned to loop Back Cove as long as my legs could take it but was urged to hit the full 26.2 distance over the course of 24 hours so I intend on completely a half marathon on Sunday afternoon and then running ANOTHER half marathon on Patriot’s Day (Monday) at noon.

I will be wearing my Dad’s laces, my singlet from Boston 2019 and the hat that bears my Mom’s name that I’ve worn every Boston since 2012. Most importantly, I will be raising necessary funds for Dana Farber. I’ll be keeping my distance from others and will miss slapping hands along the course and the hugs I usually share at on the Kenmore Square bridge, Mile 25, with my patient partner Colin.

While our national attention is appropriately focused on the current pandemic, I continue to read about the additional difficulties that cancer hospitals and patients are facing. The majority of these patients are incredibly immunosuppressed and remembering how close my dad was to losing his fight in the very early stages due to pneumonia, can’t imagine what it’s like for them at this time.

If you are able and not financially impacted, I would so appreciate your donation during this important time. I’m approaching achieving 50% of my $18,000 goal and would love to reach $10,000 on Patriots Day!

Stay tuned, stay safe and thank you for all your love and support!