One month ago today I ran the Boston marathon for the fourth time. Every marathon I’ve ever run is special, each leaving a unique imprint on my mind and muscles, I can practically recall every step of all sixty-two of them, but this race in Boston was more than a marathon.

The moments I spent with my brother Tim, and his family, (Shannon, Blake, Jenna, Kate), my sister, Mary, my friends Kat and Mark, and the thousands of fellow runners who joined us along twenty-six point two mile course from Hopkinton to downtown were magical, and will live on in my memory, (and these pages), as some of my favorites of all time.

"Kelly Charge" on our way to Boston via train on Sunday night. From Screen left: Tim, Kate, Mary (in the BG), Blake, Jenna, and Shannon.

First up, talking and walking with Mary and Shannon for hours on Friday afternoon. It was so wonderful to be reminded how invigorating deep long talk with girlfriends/sisters can be.

Watching my niece and Goddaughter, Kate, play fiercely in her soccer game Saturday morning,

and playing games with Jenna and Kate the entire weekend.

Kate schooling her Aunt T at one of the *many* games played over the weekend. Photo credit: Mary Heim.

Observing my niece Jenna in the zone designing Kate’s outfit for the upcoming Taylor Swift concert during her shift at a fabric store.

Jenna expertly cutting fabric for Kate's Eras Tour outfit.

Being flooded with emotions while walking along Boylston Street toward the finish line on Sunday evening, solely aware (among our family) of how special and powerful running on the same stretch towards the finish line on Monday would feel.

Listening to the stories of Cancer patients and survivors at the Dana Farber dinner on Sunday evening feeling humbled, yet excited to be actively doing something to help their cause.

Then looking across the table, suddenly dumbstruck, that my big brother was one of them.

Tim finding his name on the wall of participants at the EXPO on Friday.

Giddy to see three (and meet two) winners of the Boston Marathon: Jackie Hanson, 1978, (on my flight) Jack Fultz, 1976, (one of the coaches for Dana Farber), and Joan Benoit Samuelson, (although in close proximity, we didn’t chat, but technically we did meet at the EXPO in 2015).

Stealing a selfie attempt with Joan before she addressed the Dana Farber racers on Monday morning.

Sitting on the curb in Boston Common with Tim sharing financial insights while being rained on waiting for our turn to board the school buses headed toward the starting line near Hopkinton high School.

Enjoying the early miles.

Feeling the surge of energy from Tim running between miles eleven and fourteen as we ran into Wellesley to hug and high five our amazing family, soaked from the rain, cheering for us.

Being inspired by Tim's determination every single step of the race.

Finding Finn, our second cousin (technically?), and Boston College student, at the bottom of mile twenty-one on the other side of Heartbreak Hill, and smiling while staring at his kind “Kelly” eyes that channeled my cousin Erin, and Uncle Pat.

Proof of our Irish roots, TWO redheads in ONE photo!!!!!!

Watching Tim turn the corner from Hereford onto Boylston,

that magnificent last push toward the finish line,

and feeling the rush of his relief, like it was the physical manifestation of him turning the corner from his cancer into remission.

Oh hey, we made it on TV!! Clutch photo from Mary and Shannon!!

Arriving back in Wellesley surprised by the best Welcome squad of all time yelling from the front porch.

The BEST support team EVER! Photo credit: Shannon Kelly

If I were able to encapsulate my entire experience in Boston in one word, it would be… swift. It was fun, went by too fast, but the experience was everlasting.

Extremely rare and precious quality three out of four "Kelly Kids" sibling time on Monday night. You were missed, Pete.

As fate would have it, I popped up “Positive” with Covid a couple days after landing back in LA, and have been dealing with fits and starts of easing back into running (and training of any kind) over the last month. Since I had some slightly decent fitness leading up to Boston, I had planned to race the Orange Country Marathon on May 6th, but I still didn’t feel well enough to chance it, so marathon #63 is still dangling in my sights.

However, the upside to feeling so upside down after returning home from Boston was realizing there is nothing quite like an amazing marathon experience juxtaposed with being grounded to a halt by sickness to really rev up my creative and endurance juices. Therefore, I am motivated and determined to still scrap together a decent season of racing that will include:

The Shoreline Marathon, July 16th
Dwight Crum Pier To Pier Swim, August 6th
The Santa Barbara Triathlon, August, 26th
The Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI, October, 14th
Phil’s Cookie Fondo, a cool local cycling event, October, 28th
The California International Marathon (CIM), December, 3rd

Also, I have some BIG, HAIRY and SCARY long-term goals in the pipeline that I will share about soon…

In the meantime, I want to remind everyone that you can still DONATE to Tim’s charity campaign for the Dana Farber Marathon Project, HERE.

He delivered on his end of the deal to both defy cancer and finish the Boston marathon.

It is difficult to sum up how much it meant to me to be a part of Tim’s first Boston Marathon, and my fourth. I am beyond proud of him for making it to the start and finish line safe and sound, and of course thrilled for the opportunity to share my favorite activity on earth with him, training for and running marathons (that he inspired me to do decades ago), but most of all, I am grateful that we were able to spend so much time together; it was swift, but awesome.

The song and video choice this week is one of my favorite songs from our girl Taylor, and I believe the theme echoes Tim's health journey the last couple of years. Enjoy.:)