The Finale.
around the baseball field at the Portland Seadogs' home game. Could we have finally run out of luck? Fortunately the rain held up and we received loud cheers from the Seadogs' fans as we rounded the field, and continued on our final leg. 30 miles now separated us from Camp Sunshine.
We got a pleasant surprise as we ran down this final 30 miles that led to Camp Sunshine. Many local business had put up signs to "Welcome Miracle Marathon runners!" It was entirely unexpected and we were pleasantly delighted. These signs really meant a lot to us. For the fact that these people didn't have to do that but they did. They took the time to show their support. A small gesture that meant a world to us. Now we were looking out for the signs on both sides of the road, like bunch of kids on a road trip playing "spot this" games. "Hey here's another one!"
We were 2 miles from Camp Sunshine when the sky finally opened up. Rain started pouring down. But nothing could dull our smiles now. We ran out of luck? No. I would like to think that even the sky was touched by our dedications. And that were tears falling from the sky. Merely 2 miles to go!
Right on time, we arrived Camp Sunshine's brand new campus at around 4:30pm. A crowd of about 50 was on hand cheering for us at the entrance. It was hard to believe that this very same Camp Sunshine once over 1600 miles away, now stood right in front of our eyes. It was a feeling no word could describe. Two people shook our hands as we entered the building. First was Dr. Larry Gould, the founder of Camp Sunshine. He was to be expected, but the second person was not. My already emotionally overloaded mind almost failed me in recognizing this face. Joan Benoit-Samuelson. The Olympic gold medallist of the first ever Women's Olympic Marathon.
I knew that Joan, a Maine resident, volunteers at Camp Sunshine, but we didn't expect to see her standing in the rain there for us.
We were then led down the hallway to the main hall where the grand opening ceremony was to be held. We were dripping water and our shoes made funny noise as we walked into a hall of over 300 volunteers, families and members of the media. All standing on their feet, clapping and cheering.
We were seated on the stage as guests of honor. Various politicians took turns making speeches. Laurie, Dr. Gould's daughter, also spoke to the crowd. In her own words, she told us how she witnessed Camp Sunshine grew since it first opened
Latest Articles