For most marathon runners, the race begins with a horn, but for one Red Deer runner, the race began with flight delays, a road trip with strangers, and one common goal.
Willa Wanke, 52, was set to run the Boston Marathon on Monday for the third time.
“For me it was probably the best Boston experience I’ve had,” she said Thursday.
It all started when Wanke’s early morning flight from Toronto to Boston was delayed, after she flew from Calgary on the red eye Saturday. The Red Deer resident was supposed to reach Boston Sunday morning to take part in the pre-race festivities.
The 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. flights were cancelled, so Wanke, a teacher at Jessie Duncan Elementary School in Penhold, had to wait at the airport all day Sunday.
Stuck in the airport. Another delay.... Will I make it to Boston this year or not....
— Mom2One (Willa) (@runningmomto1) April 15, 2018
At the Toronto airport she met Lisa Dinh, who was running the Boston Marathon for the first time.
“As I was walking to the gate, this lady came up to me and she was wearing a (Boston Marathon) coat and said to me ‘are you going to Boston?’ I said ‘yes I am’ and she said ‘I could tell by your running shoes.’”
Wanke also met two Bostonians, and marathon volunteers, Jimmy Wang and Jennifer Zhang, heading to Boston for the marathon.
The clock was ticking, but the flights weren’t moving due to bad weather.
Wanke said Dinh was upset about the flight delays because her family was already in Boston waiting for her.
“She had already missed the pre-activities, which is the fun part of Boston, and the screen flashed ‘cancelled’ and she burst into tears,” said Wanke.
That’s when the group found a new goal: to get Dinh to her first Boston Marathon. Around 8 p.m. the foursome rented a car and headed to Boston, with a stop in Buffalo.
The eight and a-half hour drive took the group close to 12 hours because of snow and rain. They arrived around 8:15 a.m. Monday. The two runners had different start times but they made it in the nick of time.
Wanke said the trip was filled with one hurdle after another and it was an adventure that she will remember for life.
She said around 2 a.m. the group stopped to get burgers and fries while on the road. The night before dinner is considered an “important meal” for runners, she said with a chuckle.
The local runner, who has been running for 32 years, was initially hesitant to attend the marathon due to a recent knee procedure. The teacher said she now understands why she was meant to go: to get her new friend to experience Boston.
Wanke said she thought this would be her last Boston Marathon, but now she has changed her mind, so she can see her new friend, Dinh, again next year.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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