April 18, 2005 - Boston Marathon

The day dawned sunny, with the potential to be beautiful and warm.
It was not just any day...it was April 18th, 2005. This day had been circled on my Dad,  Willy Gerber's calendar for many months, and in his mind for much longer than that. Dad arrived in Boston with a few days to spare, in preparation for this monumental occasion. His anxiety levels began to rise as the marathon approached, but his desire and commitment to this race were much stronger. Dad was not only running a marathon, he was not only running the most prestigious of all marathons, but Dad had a purpose that made him press on to not only qualify for this marathon, but to run strong and steady for 26 miles. His purpose was a little grandson who was born still in 1988. This little life had been cut short before it got a fair start. This little one had never seen the sunshine, never felt the wind, never taken a step. This little one was Kyle Ritchey, who was the first born son of Landon and Karen. Dad had grieved over this baby, as had all of us. He had never gotten to see Kyle, and had felt a deep sadness over these 16 years that could not be shaken by time.  He began to run some years ago, not to win a marathon, but to survive anxiety. As his training and exercising continued, he began to feel a love for this sport, as it not only kept him fit physically, but gave him peace mentally, and perhaps even spiritually.
As his family, it was hard for us to understand the importance of his habitual running...but we knew that he loved it, made great friends, and was so very physically fit because of it. Who could argue with that?  One day last year, Dad called me and said that he had just qualified for the Boston Marathon, and that he wanted to run the marathon for Kyle. He had been thinking as he ran, that he wanted to wear a shirt in Kyle's honor with something on the back that would let people know his purpose.  I thought this was wonderful, and hoped at the time, that perhaps I would be able to attend the marathon as a spectator.  So, here we were, April 18th, 2005, my girlfriend Kim from Ontario, and myself, trying to make our way to the finish line, to watch for and hopefully see Dad cross the finish line. Being that Kim and I are both from 'two light' towns, we didn't realize that there would be about 50,000 or more spectators at this marathon, and where do you think they all wanted to be? Yup! At the finish line! We finally found a foot or so of space at the front of a crowd and then with our hawk eyes, tried to pick Dad out of the 20,000 runners!  Finally, we saw him, and started to scream his name, over and over, and with tears in our eyes saw this dedicated man, finish the Boston Marathon... wearing the shirt that said:

BOSTON 2005
THIS RUN IS FOR MY GRANDSON KYLE
YOU NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO TAKE YOUR FIRST STEP.

Talk about a powerful moment for all of us. It was incredible.
We hurried to find him around the finish line, and embraced with tearful hugs.
His time was 4 Hours 32 minutes 25 seconds. Amazing!

He had conquered this marathon. Healing had taken place in his heart. He had done something for Kyle that nobody else could do. Kim and  I and our family at home were and are SO proud of Dad. My brothers and their families and my Mom are all proud of Dad. One day soon, I know that Kyle will say thank you too.
What a day that will be...

Written by Karen Ritchey