BOOK LAUNCH CELEBRATION AT FENWAY PARK TO BENEFIT THE JIMMY FUND: BOSTON MARATHON RACE DIRECTOR WRITES SECOND PICTURE BOOK ABOUT RUNNING ACROSS AMERICA
RUNNING USA
On August 29th, 1978 Boston Marathon Race Director, Dave McGillivray ran into Fenway Park in front of over 30, 000 cheering Red Sox fans as he finished an epic run across America. The lap around Fenway was the final leg of McGillivray’s 3,452-mile cross country run to raise money for the Jimmy Fund.
On Monday, August 26th, 2019, forty-one years later, McGillivray will celebrate this run with a book launch party for his second picture book, Running Across America, which tells the incredible, true story of that cross-country adventure.
The Book Launch Party will be held from 6:00-9:00 at the State Street Pavilion. Guests will be treated to tours of Fenway Park, a jazz band, complimentary Sam Adams beer & Barefoot wines, and classic Fenway Park food. A gift bag will be given to each guest and includes an autographed first edition of Running Across America; a gourmet USA cookie with a map of Dave’s route; and a souvenir.
Additional copies of Running Across America and Dream Big will be available for purchase and can be autographed and personalized.
Tickets are available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/running-across-america-book-launch-party-tickets-63397158608
Each ticket includes:
An autographed, first edition of Running Across America
Complimentary Sam Adams Beer & Barefoot Wines!
Classic Fenway Park food including Fenway Franks!
A wonderful gift bag for each guest!
Access to the grandstands to view the historic park and the running races being held that night. (Dave runs from 5:00pm-6:00pm. Almost 41 years to the day when he finished his epic cross-country run!).
Optional, private, complimentary Fenway Park Tours! (Come early, if you wish! 5:15pm & 5:30pm "Monster Tour" and again at 7:30pm & 7:45pm).
Donations to the Jimmy Fund and the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation.
And, a surprise or two!
Come watch runners competing in the 3rd Annual Fenway Park Marathon (and 10K / Half Marathon) starting at 5pm!
About Dave McGillivray
Dave McGillivray has a lot of energy: He has completed 156 marathons, including 47 Boston Marathons in a row and the World Marathon Challenge in 2018, which involves running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. He’s done the Ironman Triathlon World Championship nine times, twice run across the country, and has devoted many thousands of miles of running for charities, including the Jimmy Fund, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts Special Olympics. He established DMSE Sports, a sports event management company, and the DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation. He’s been directing the B.A.A. Boston Marathon for the past 32 years, is a motivational speaker in high demand—and writes books!
Dave’s Picture Books
McGillivray’s debut autobiographical picture book featured the story of the first time he ran the Boston Marathon—Dream Big: A True Story of Courage and Determination (Nomad Press 2018) drew praise from the likes of Matt Damon, Meb Keflezighi, Rob Gronkowski, and School Library Journal.
His second picture book, coming September 2019 also from Nomad Press, again draws from his life as a runner and describes his 3,452-mile, 80-day run from Medford, Oregon, to his hometown of Medford, Massachusetts. In Running Across America: A True Story of Dreams, Determination, and Heading for Home (Nomad Press September 2019), McGillivray tells the tale of how he braved the Sierra and Rocky Mountains, millions of grasshoppers in Nebraska, days of pouring rain in Ohio, the occasional rattlesnake, and intensely sore knees. On top of it all, homesickness and doubt are constant companions as he tries to achieve his dream of running from coast-to-coast.
But that’s not his only dream. By making the run a fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund, McGillivray joins his favorite baseball team, the Red Sox, in making lives better for children battling cancer. Through 13 states, blistering heat, and being “pulled over” by a state trooper, McGillivray relies on good friends, family, a sense of humor, and sheer determination to fulfill a dream—and to help kids who can’t run. Part of the proceeds from this book will go the Jimmy Fund for children’s cancer research and the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation for children’s heart research.
“Working with Dave is a pleasure,” says Alex Kahan, publisher of Nomad Press. “The energy he puts into achieving all of his goals, and his commitment to making children’s lives better, perfectly aligns with our philosophy at Nomad of doing everything we can to get quality books into the hands of kids. Plus, his stories are just terrific.”
Running Across America serves as the foundation for McGillivray’s Dream Big Marathon, explained at the end of the book, which challenges kids to run 26 miles, read 26 books, and do 26 acts of kindness in 26 weeks, sponsored by the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation (jmbigheart.org). By encouraging kids to be active, keep learning, and do good whenever they can, the Dream Big Marathon helps children to build confidence in themselves to succeed in whatever they choose to do.
McGillivray, in conjunction with the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation, has spoken at 20 schools and donated almost 5000 copies of Dream Big.
Dream Big and Running Across America are available on AMAZON.
Want to see Dave in action? Even if you’re not in Boston on Marathon Monday, you can catch his inspiring TED talk about defining moments in this video, made the week before he ran his 47th Boston Marathon!