Our Hero Skip Page

This is Skip Page our oldest son. His son was worried about his health. He is a truck driver who was over weight and needed to do something. He promised his son he would lose weight and become healthier. His son who is athletic was going to run in the Steam Town Marathon in Scranton Pennsylvania. It was 14 months away. So Skip started to train so he could run with his son. He went from 253 pounds to 188 pounds. he trained daily for 14 months to build his endurance so he could run a 26.2 mile marathon. He had 3 goals. One was to become healthier. two was to finish the 26.2 mile race, and three was to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

He started the race and was doing great the first 13 miles of the race. He was only 4 minutes off from qualifying for the Boston Marathon. That was when his luck changed. A little girl ran in front of him. He could have just knocked her down and possible have hurt her or jump awkwardly sideways. Of course, he did the latter and hurt himself hearing a ripping sound in his calf and immediate pain he had torn a hamstring that had been injured earlier in his training and had not healed. He tried everything ,stretches, massaging but the pain just kept getting worse.
He knew at that moment his goal of the Boston Marathon was over. He had to slow down so he could at least finish the race. He was in unbelievable pain but he kept going.

At mile 24 he came across a young girl crying and barely running. In front of them was a 3/4 mile hill. She was going to quit and she was so upset because her father was waiting on the other side of that hill and he would be so disappointed in her. Skip told her they would do the hill together breath by breath. So they made it up the hill together and her father was waiting and called out her name. There was only 1/4 mile to go and after Skip saw she would continue and make it he took off to try to make the best time he could. He burst into a sprint and raced as hard as he could. People on the side lines were all cheering for him. He finished the race although he was in so much pain and at the end of his endurance.

He is our hero. His motivation, his drive and his determination was something remarkable. How many people 45 years old who never ran before in their lives could make the sacrifices he did to meet this goal. Skip Page you are our hero, and we are so very proud of you. You have always been a special person but this was extraordinary.