For John Pawloski, who is set to start at 10 a.m. in the Wave Start 2, the reason is simple: His daughter Mary Louise asked him to. The New York marathon will be the eighth of his life, but the story behind his venture to New York City is a new one.
Every year for the last seven years I have run a different marathon," Pawlowski said from his desk at Plainsman Park. "Last year I did Chicago and this year I wanted to do another major marathon. I didn't know where or which one and I obviously have to do it in the fall and not the spring when we are in season."
Listed on a sheet of paper in the date book that always accompanies the new Auburn baseball coach is all of the marathons he has run in the past along with their times: Kiawah Island in Charleston, South Carolina (three times); West Palm Beach, Florida; the Marine Corps marathon in Arlington, Virginia; Baltimore; Chicago, and after Sunday New York City will be added to the list, thanks to the urging of Mary Louise, the middle daughter of his three.
Mary Louise was diagnosed with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor just over a year ago at the age of 13. A rare malignancy seen in just two percent of children with cancer, she receives her cancer treatments at the Children's Oncology Group at the Medical College of Georgia's Children's Medical Center.
"With everything that has happened with my daughter, she said, `Hey, I want to give back. I want to try and raise some money and donate it back to the Children's Hospital.' When I asked her what she wanted to do, she said `How about you run a marathon?'"Pawlowski said with a laugh.
And with that, the plan was set in motion for Pawlowski to pound the pavement from Staten Island, through Brooklyn and Queens and into Manhattan, finishing with a run through Central Park.
"Last year I actually raised money for our baseball program at the College of Charleston so this kind of went in line with what I had done before. Now we just changed some of the dynamics of it and decided that the funds would go back to the hospital that has helped her."
Unfortunately for the former big leaguer, that is where is daughter will be this weekend when he takes on some cool temperatures in the northeastern city as she checked into the hospital this past Wednesday for five days of chemotherapy, something that has unfortunately become a part of her everyday life now.
"She was very disappointed that she couldn't go but the treatments can't wait. They have to be on-time and on-schedule. She is obviously disappointed but she will be tracking my progress throughout."
As for Pawlowski's goal, it's simple: Finish. With temperatures dipping into the 20s and 30s this past week, dropping up to 13-and-a-half inches of snow across parts of central New York, his training regime will still have him prepared for the unusual conditions.
"I haven't trained in any snow here in Auburn so this may be a little difficult but I will be ready to go at 10 a.m. and just move from there."
And of course he has a time in mind.
"I ran a 3:30 and change for my best time but last year in the heat at the Chicago Marathon, it was 90-plus degrees out. That was a tough marathon and probably my worst time at around 3:50. People say it's a race but it's not a race for me, it's an event and it's something that I really want to do a good job with. Depending on the conditions, I always try and shoot for 3:45 and if I can be in that range I will feel good about it. In the first five miles, once you start running your body will tell you what kind of day it will be, you will know early. If you are struggling early it is going to be very difficult."
Fans wanting to track Pawlowski's race can log onto www.ingnycmarathon.org and sign up for the Fan Alert Information, which sends email tracking for runners on the course. Splits will be reported at every 5K mark along the course as well as at the start, half-marathon mark (13.1 miles/21.1 K), miles 16 through 26 and the finish.
Those wishing to help John and Mary Louise raise money for the Children's Hospital may log onto www.RunCoachRun.org or www.MLPFoundation.org. There is also a fundraiser set for Saturday, Nov. 8 at Moores Mill Golf Pavilion in Auburn. More information on that event can be found at www.AU4MLP.com.
