At the age of 5, Mary McManus was stricken with paralytic polio. She was in a full leg brace and bore the brunt of a lot of teasing by her peers. Since she knew or thought she knew she could never compete on the athletic playing field, she pursued academics with a fervor. She literally and metaphorically limped through life although she had a stellar academic and professional career as a social worker. There was always something 'missing' in her life. She lived from her head, disconnected from her body and protected her heart. In addition to paralytic polio, Mary survived an abusive alcoholic father and an ill mother addicted to prescription pain medication.
In December 2006, Mary's world came to a screeching halt. After ten years of progressive symptoms of worsening limp, difficulty swallowing and breathing, chronic pain, tremors, muscle weakness and fatigue. Mary was diagnosed with post polio syndrome, a result of her childhood bout with paralytic polio. She was prescribed a leg brace, a cane, advised to use a wheelchair for long distances for mobility, and told she had to quit her full time award winning career at the Department of Veterans Affairs just 3 years shy of retirement.
As Mary always had during crises throughout her life, she turned to God. She got still and asked for guidance. When Mary was 5, her physical therapist read Dr. Seuss to her before every painful physical therapy session. Mary returned to the healing cadence of Dr. Seuss in February of 2007 only this time, she was the one holding the pen. She wrote the poem, "Running the Race". Mary realized that a new world was beginning to unfold before her. She went through intensive outpatient rehab at Spaulding Rehab Hospital and was preparing her exit strategy from her full time job at the VA. Mary harnessed all of her mental, emotional, spiritual and physical strength to begin to heal her life.
After Mary left the VA in May 2007, she began to feel better. When she returned to her outpatient rehab team asking them what more she could do to get stronger, she was told that if she used it, she could lose it; she would burn out the limited number of neurons that were already compromised from the initial polio virus. She expressed gratitude for how far she had come, for all of the advice of her team and left outpatient care. But deep inside, Mary felt a burning and a yearning to do more physically. In October 2007, she hired a personal trainer who is a friend of hers asking if perhaps she could get a little stronger. She decided that if she was going to experience pain, it may as well be on the side of health rather than disease.
In February 2008 after Mary met her initial fitness goals of getting off of a low toilet, diversifying her rehab program and by all of the assessment tools used by her trainer had gotten significantly stronger, her trainer asked her what's next. Mary said she wanted to feel free in her body, she wanted to dance (she loved ballet which ended when she was stricken with polio) and she wanted to be able to walk outside and enjoy nature. As her trainer was about to leave for the day (she does in home training), Mary said she had one more goal. She wanted to run the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehab as a charity runner.
Her trainer could have told her she was patently insane for Mary had never run in her life nor participate nevertheless compete in any athletic endeavors. But her trainer came back in the house and said to her that she needed to get some running shoes for Mary was still wearing her 'polio' shoes which would support her short leg brace. Mary went to Marathon Sports and was fitted with her first pair of Nike's. When Mary's husband and daughter heard Mary's crazy idea, they didn't believe she was serious but decided to 'get on board.' Their trainer took on the post polio survivor, the self proclaimed couch potato of a daughter and an out of shape, overweight, husband who had been diagnosed with diabetes and high cholesterol to train them for not just any marathon - the Boston Marathon.
On April 20, 2009, Team McManus crossed the finish line of the 113th Boston Marathon 7 hours and 49 minutes after taking their start with the mobility impaired runners in Hopkinton. In October 2009, Mary hit the proverbial wall and symptoms of post polio and cervical spine disease flared. She was told she should not nor would she ever be able to run again. But shortly after that, Mary was waiting for her daughter to cross the finish line of the Tufts 10K when the announcer said, "Don't you let anyone tell you you can't do something. Look at all these women as they cross the finish line of the Tufts 10K" and Mary vowed she would be back in 2010 to run the Tufts 10K.
Mary spent the winter of 2009 using her recumbent bike for cardiovascular training and the strength training program revamped by her physical therapist to build upper body and core strength. On June 27, 2010 Mary ran her first race in a year. There she met Eric Derrico of Boston Massage Associates who volunteered to do pre and post race stretching and massage. He is her partner on this phase of her journey to health and wellness. He is helping her to heal mind, body and spirit on a deeper level than she ever dreamed was possible. He uses a unique blend of Thai body work, deep tissue and assisted table stretching techniques along with myofascial release and craniosacral work. She has been running a road race a month and set a PR for her 5K at the SuperHero 5K run on Halloween. Her time was over 9 minutes better than the first 5K she ever ran in 2008 and she bested her previous PR from September by almost 3 minutes. Mary is not stopping! She plans to run a race a month and will be returning to train in the cold New England winter. She is going to run the Hyannis 10K in February. In January 2012 she will be running the Bermuda Half Marathon and in January 2013, the full Bermuda Marathon - the year she turns 60.
So don't let anyone ever tell you you can't do something or that you are too old to start. Mary's favorite quote is from Christopher Reeve who played Superman and then suffered a spinal cord injury:"We can either watch life from the sidelines, or actively participate. Either we let self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy prevent us from realizing our potential, or embrace the fact that when we turn our attention away from ourselves, our potential is limitless." Christopher Reeve
