MEDFORD2MEDFORD VIRTUAL RUN ACROSS AMERICA CONCLUDED AUG. 29
WICKED LOCAL - MEDFORD
Medford2Medford Virtual Run Across America concluded on Aug. 29 at the steps of the Medford, Massachusetts, City Hall.
The virtual team running event powered by DMSE Sports brought fellow runners together while they were apart to help to raise over $55,000 for 20 local charities. The M2M was modeled after Dave McGillivray’s 1978 run from Medford, Oregon, to Medford, Massachusetts. Over the course of 80 days, McGillivray ran 3,452 miles, averaging 45 miles a day and raised more than $100,000 for the Jimmy Fund, a Boston-based charity that supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
The M2M was suggested by Bryan Lyons, who pushed Rick Hoyt of Team Hoyt in many races across the country for the past few years. Lyons passed away in June right before the start of the idea he came up with. Members of Lyons’ family were in attendance at Medford City Hall to participate in the brief official finishing ceremonies. Lyon’s mother Patty, brothers Mark and John, sister Beth and husband Bob and girlfriend Sandy Lehane along with Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Keohn held the official finishing breaktape in front of the steps of City Hall. DMSE Sports colleagues Ron Kramer, Bob McGillivray and Matt West assisted with all the ceremonial arrangements.
At 9 a.m., McGillivray, Mayor Lungo-Keohn, Lehane and two other runners, Becca Pizzi and Kelly McLay, both who have competed in the World Marathon Challenge, ran the same last 1.5 miles the McGillivray ran in 1978 from Medford High School to the steps of Medford City Hall. Two years ago, a stone monument was unveiled at the foot of those stairs in honor of McGillivray and his 1978 historic run. The mayor, McGillivray, Lehane and City Councilor Rick Caraviello offered a few remarks about the occasion and the overall success of the virtual run. McGillivray then made a phone call to former Medford, Oregon, Mayor Al Densmore who was in Medford, Oregon, to speak to all present at the finish even though he was 3,452 miles away in Oregon. McGillivray then donated copies of his latest children’s illustrative book, “Running Across America,” to the mayor and to the city of Medford, his childhood hometown and presented all the runners and Lyons’ family members with an official M2M commemorative medal. Then the runners ran the final seven miles from Medford to Fenway Park under state police escort where McGillivray ceremonially finished in 1978 inside Fenway Park before a Boston Red Sox/Seattle Mariners game and in front of 35,000 cheering spectators.
The M2M event kicked off on June 11, exactly 42 years to the day when McGillivray departed Medford, Oregon — and ceremonially ended 80 days later. Mayor Gary Wheeler and Densmore fired the starting pistol in Medford, Oregon, to begin the virtual version of McGillivray’s 1978 trek. Over 1,500 participants from around the U.S. ran, walked and/or cycled around their own neighborhoods to compete in the M2M virtual. Over 150 teams participated.
“I am thrilled with the success of the virtual M2M,” said McGillivray, president of DMSE Sports. “Three months ago, we thought if we couldn’t help people cross a physical finish line this summer, perhaps we could encourage them to cross a virtual one. It is more important now than ever to exercise and keep our minds and bodies fit, and to continue to help those who are in need. A lot of us needed another reason to lace up our shoes, and the Medford2Medford was that reason.”
Walkers, runners and cyclists teamed up — and, for some, went solo— while competing in one of three distances: The Medford2Medford (3,452 miles), The Mississippi2Medford (1,258 miles), or the Massachusetts2Medford (142 miles). Participants received real-time updates on their progress along the virtual course. As team members inputted their miles into the event’s tracking platform, they instantly saw their team’s progress along the course line.
Each participant had the opportunity to fundraise for any of the charities already partnered with the event, or for a nonprofit organization of the participant’s choosing. A total of 20 different charities benefited from the M2M.
For information, visit http://dmsesports.com.