Toronto man gifts Boston Marathon medal to first-time marathoner | 24CA News
Kevin Curnock spent months making ready for the Boston Marathon; it might be his second time operating the race however the seasoned marathon had accomplished 12 since 2003.
“It’s Boston…. There’s something like one to two million people who line the course,” he mentioned.
“So there is this excitement and it’s electric. The air is electric…. You feel really nervous and you do all the training and then hope that on race day it all comes together.”
On the day of the race, nonetheless, Curnock mentioned he was disenchanted in his outcomes. The Toronto man mentioned regardless of all of the coaching, he didn’t meet his purpose.
“It was a lot slower than I wanted. About 35 minutes slower than my goal pace,” Curnock mentioned.
He had accomplished the race in three and a half hours and was given a medal to mark his achievement of finishing the race.
He and his associate Kate Brown then headed again to the resort to clean up for dinner.
“I slowly made my way back to the hotel and showered, got changed and then it was time to get a couple drinks and go have dinner,” he mentioned.
The couple had completed dinner and headed again throughout the race course to go to the resort, however somebody had caught Curnock’s eye: a marathoner steadily made her strategy to the end line.
“The finish line is being brought down and we see this one runner cruising up the street,” he mentioned.
Brown mentioned she recalled studying the print on the again of the runner’s uniform.
“On the again of her jersey mentioned, ‘Tayla… this is my first marathon,’” she said.
Tayla Savage said she was inspired to run the marathon about a year ago.
“It was this time last year…. My husband and I were at breakfast and I said to him, ‘I really want to run the Boston marathon,’ however I don’t assume I may and in the mean time one thing triggered in my mind that I used to be going to make that occur,” Savage mentioned.
She spent the 12 months coaching and as a first-timer, she was capable of qualify after elevating over $10,000 for a charity referred to as Cradles to Crayons.
Her purpose for race day was to achieve the end line.
“I made it my mission to finish,” Savage mentioned.
“My measurement of success had nothing to do with the time and had nothing to do with anything other than crossing the finish line.”
Seven and a half hours after the beginning of the race, Savage mentioned she reached the end line and she or he was met by cheering household and onlookers.
“It just felt surreal. I can’t describe it other than it just didn’t feel real,” she mentioned.
After crossing the end line, Savage approached a volunteer to ask in regards to the medal she could be awarded for ending the race, however the volunteer knowledgeable her that that they had run out.
“Of course, that was a little disappointing because when I had envisioned running for the past year, that was a moment I envisioned as well,” she mentioned.
At that time, Curnock — who had been cheering Savage on — jumped in and supplied the medal round his neck.
“I said you deserve this and I took the medal from around my neck and gave it to her,” he mentioned.
“It felt very special. She was very gracious and said, ‘No you can’t give me this’ … and I said, ‘Absolutely, you deserve this.’ This was her first marathon and she worked really hard.”
Both Curnock and Savage mentioned the 2023 Boston Marathon is a day they’ll each cherish, fondly.
“It was more than just giving me a medal,” mentioned Savage.
“That medal was a demonstration of me not giving up on myself and me achieving my dream to run Boston and also the demonstration of the goodness and kindness in the world.”
For Curnock, whereas he didn’t obtain the time he needed, he mentioned it’s probably the most memorable marathons he’s ever run.
“Kindness wins and it’s not always the time on the clock that matters,” he mentioned.
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