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Imagine Teaching a Full Day of School and THEN Running the Boston Marathon
Well this is just what Jim Hansen, Teacher and Runner Did!
Story by Jim Hansen, Finish Line Photos by Maurice Eastwick
Jim Hansen and Amby Burfoot at the Hynes Convention Center
Photo by Carol Goodrow
 Click graphic to read Jim's original interview. Visit Mr. Hansen's Class Web Site
Jim ran Boston on April 17, 2000. Here is his story:
My third grade class completed many activities to help them to enjoy,
understand, and embrace the The Boston Marathon. We had a lot of fun together
and spending marathon day in class, although frustrating for me, was put to a
good use.
On Friday, my class prepared for the race by watching the movie
"Endurance" and were impressed with the abilities of the great runner, Haile
Gebresallasie, and the conditions he grew up in in his poor country of
Ethiopia as well as his drive and determination to become an Olympic champion
someday.
In school on Marathon Monday, my class did running related activities. We
had a mile relay race. The class completed the course in just under 9
minutes. We projected that time to be a 3:55:58 marathon. When I finished the
race later in the day I stopped my watch at 3:56:06. Their projected time
beat my actual marathon time by 8 seconds! We also practiced drinking water
from a cup while running. This was a favorite! Every student was given an
elite runner to "be" for the day. They learned information about their
runner; such as the country they came from and past successes that the runner
had achieved. The kids then each made a race number that included the number
of "their" runner, the country, and the athlete's name. They tried to make
them look like my official number (which I was wearing). We all proudly wore
our numbers throughout the school day. I wore my number in school after
having it signed over the weekend by Frank Shorter, Joseph Chebet (last years
champion), Moses Tanui (the champion before that), and eventual winner Elijah
Lagat. Each student also predicted winning times for both the men's and
women's races. We got a call from WNDS TV in New Hampshire and they filmed an
interview in the class which was shown on TV later that night.
We watched the crowded start of the race at noontime and the dramatic
finish on TV later in the day. With close finishes in both the men's and
women's races there was a lot of cheering going on for favorite runners as
well as frustrated groans when a student's runner would get outkicked at the
finish. The winners were given prizes. I even had an autographed photo of
surprise men's winner, Elijah Lagat, to give to the student who "won." Prizes
were also given out to the students who predicted the winning men's and
women's race times. The closest predictions came within 30 seconds of the
winning times.
At the end of the school day, two carloads of teachers from Mt. Pleasant
School escorted me to the start in Hopkinton. There was a woman from Derry,
New Hampshire there that had seen the interview on WMUR TV in New Hampshire
with me on Saturday night. She drove down and came out to the late start just
to make sure that someone was there to see me off. That was nice! Within 5
minutes of arriving, I was off running with race director Dave McGillivray
and two of his friends. We started at 4:00. A police cruiser rode behind us
the entire way and also went ahead to block traffic at all intersections. We
kept an even pace, we were not racing, so the run was very comfortable for
me. It ended up being the slowest marathon I ever ran. The air was quite
chilly and a headwind was in our face the whole way. We had a car that
supplied us with water, gatorade, or food if we wanted it all along the
course.
The course was pretty much cleaned up, at least of official race debris.
The roads were quiet at first, except for some traffic, but there were small
pockets of people that cheered, honked, or waved their encouragement along
the way. Others laughed, joked, or just stared at a bunch of guys so far
behind in the race. At one point a car with an older couple in it drove up
and the woman asked if I was that teacher from Nashua. Then she yelled, "That
is stupid what they did to you!" and drove off. We passed Wellesley and there
was one college girl walking on the sidewalk and she politely clapped as we
went by. That was it for Wellesley! Usually that is the loudest place on the
course.
We were pretty much talking the whole way as we ran. There weren't many
quiet moments except near the end. The other guys were great company and I
felt honored that the race director was gracious enough to let me run with
him. At 25 miles into the run, at the big Citgo sign, it started raining and
sleeting a bit. There we got the loudest cheer of the day, except for at the
finish, when we passed the Gate City Striders (my running club) outside their
hotel, packing for the bus ride back to Nashua. That was fantastic! I high-fiv
ed as many Striders as I could.
Nearing the finish a bunch of police motorcycles joined our procession.
We took the turns at Hereford Street like we were the winners of the race,
enveloped with police protection. It was now dark and getting a bit soggy. As
we turned onto Boylston St. we couldn't see the finish line as they had
already taken it down, but fantastic cheers were echoing up and down the
road. People were still lining the streets, emptying out of restaurants and
stores, and cheering like crazy. It was loud! My wife said that it was
awesome watching the police lights turn the corner, and then seeing 4 runners
emerge from the wet and chilly darkness and run side by side towards the
finish. There were lights and cameras at the finish and quite a celebration.
My wife and 3 children, in-laws, and many teachers from my school were there
to celebrate. What a wonderful show of support they gave me. Teachers had
been wearing signs with my race number on it all day and then many made a
giant effort to come out to see the finish. I can't appluad their enthusiasm
enough.  Surprisingly, after the finish the TV cameras turned on me and I was interviewed by channels 5 and 7 in Boston, and then was highlighted in their newscasts later that night. Overall, despite the disappointment of not being allowed to run the race with all the other runners, I felt that I had not given up on my goals and dreams and was able to turn a negative situation into something quite joyous and certainly memorable. I am still in disbelief that my school district would not give me the day off to run, but I certainly received a unique and once-in-a lifetime (I hope) perspective of this race. Not many runners can say that they were a last place finisher at the Boston Marathon! I also made many new friends through the process. I received e-mail messages from all over the country and even from over in Europe offering their support, disbelief at the situation, encouragement, and applause for getting out there and running anyhow. I was introduced to Runner's World editor and former winner of the Boston Marathon, Amby Burfoot. Amby won the race in 1968, which was the year I first became entranced with the Boston Marathon. I was in third grade then and it is quite ironic that I am teaching third grade this year. I wonder what some of my third graders will be doing some day far in the future. Maybe some have developed their own dreams and goals this year. They might even be dreaming of running a marathon someday. I hope that they realize that through persistence and hard work, they too can overcome the obstacles that stand in their way of achievement. I even had one of the teachers that came down to the finish line remark to me after the race that maybe she would like to run the Boston Marathon herself someday! My finisher's medal has made the rounds at my Mt. Pleasant Elementary School. I encourage the kids to try in on and see what it feels like (and maybe to dream some dreams of their own). Many kids keep stopping me in the hall and asking about the race. Quite a few ask if I won. I laugh and tell them that I really finished in last place, but somehow I think that "yes, in the end I did win!"  |
Read this response to Jim's Situation. Dear Administrators
