The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
BOSTON BOUND
Middletown born and bred runner raising money to race his first marathon in April
When the starting gun fires and Mark Adamiak begins his 26.2-mile course in April, a goal the 24-year-old set for himself as the culmination of his nine years as a runner, it won’t be the first time he witnesses the race that draws 27,000 athletes every year to Boston on Patriot’s Day.
Adamiak was in the city with his brother on the day of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
“We were supposed to meet on Bolyston Street, a block from where the bomb went off. My brother, he immediately called me
and said, ‘I just heard an explosion ... go this way, don’t go this way.’ It was just scary. I was right at the point where they cut off all the runners and the cops came onto the course and started stopping runners,” recalled the Middletown native.
“No one knew what was going on. These people running the marathon were 25½ miles into the run and had no idea what was going on,” Adamiak explained. “They had to come to a complete standstill. People were just collapsing left and right. None of them had water, none of them had blankets. It was scary.”
Still, Adamiak said he’s not overly concerned about the danger of a repeat incident. “It’s kind of like doing anything on a regular day — getting into the car, taking public transportation, it’s something you really don’t think about,” he said.
The Middletown High School graduate who grew up in Westfield, attended Moody elementary and Keigwin and Woodrow Wilson middle schools, is part of the Playworks Boston 2017 team that is raising money for the nonprofit that improves school climates, reduces bullying and encourages engagement through the power of play.
To qualify for the Boston Marathon, Adamiak says, he’d have to run the race in just over three hours as a man in age group, something he calls “really fast” — and unattainable by this spring.
The next option is charity. The minimum the Boston Athletic Association requires each runner to raise is $5,000. Even then, Adamiak says, there are only a certain number of bibs and most go to Boston Children’s Hospital and other hospitals in the area.
“The application process is extremely competitive. It reminded me of applying to college again,” he said with a laugh.
Through his friend of 15 years, Trevor Perry, also a Middletown High School graduate whom he met at Keigwin and played frisbee with at the high school, he learned about Playworks of Dorchester, Massachusetts, where Perry now works.
Playworks had secured five bibs, Perry told him and encouraged him to apply for one. After an intense interview, Adamiak learned he’d qualified.
“Trevor runs activities and games for the children at his school, trains staff on how to implement inclusive activities and assists in classroom learning,” Adamiak said.
As a freshman at Middletown High, Adamiak, who now lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, two miles north of Boston, ran indoor track and cross country. “I wasn’t particularly good but I loved the sense of camaraderie that came with both the teams and it was difficult and put me outside of my comfort zone,” Adamiak said. “Being able to push myself in running distance and it’s this huge mental (challenge) for me but it was something I enjoyed at the same time ... going through the pain and misery with friends.”
Adamiak, who works in marketing at the environmental consulting firm Haley & Aldrich, said he hit his growth spurt late — going into his senior year of high school.
“Once I got taller and worked through that awkwardness and taught myself to run a little bit through college, I got a lot better at running, a lot more comfortable with it, and a lot more confident.”
Adamiak lived in Middletown his entire life until he moved to college. “My parents both emigrated from Poland, so I’m first-generation.” They met each other in New Britain and then bought a house off Country Club Road in
Middletown, a city Adamiak said is one like none other he’s found.
“I love the sense of community. It’s so diverse, too. You have people who are from all different walks of life that are in Middletown. It’s so close-knit and so tight. Everyone I know who lives here or moved away is proud to be from Middletown and loves talking about how different Middletown is,” Adamiak said.
“I’ve never been to a city that’s like it. You have the downtown area; when you go out near Xavier, you have farms; you have lowincome housing and mansions where I grew up. It’s crazy how diverse it is in terms of race, income level, occupation ... there’s such a sense of community despite how different everyone is,” Adamiak said.
During college at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, Adamiak joined a group of likeminded runners and was able to focus on training, do a little more mid-distance running and began racing.
“I got faster, I fixed my stride and through the competitiveness, started with a five-miler then did a 10K. I worked up to half-marathon and finished under 1:45 (which is faster than 8-minute splits), and began working on running further and as a result I’m able to run faster,” he said.
Adamiak said his training up until the time he committed to Boston was intense. “I ran twice a week, weight lifted once a week, cross training basketball, frisbee, biking, soccer. Now that I’ve signed up, I’m moving mostly toward running but I also hit the pool to take some strain off my joints and knees.”
That’s not to say he’s without doubts.
“My biggest fear in training for my first marathon is burning out and hurting myself so I’m only trying to run three to four times a week max. My biggest fear is to get injured and not be able to make it,” Adamiak said.
Already, Adamiak has raised $967 (13 percent of his $7,500 goal). Playworks, Adamiak said, drew him in as soon as he learned about the work Perry does there.
“Last week I went to a basketball league game in Roxbury for fourth- to fifthgrade girls. “It was crazy — 82 percent of the girls in the league were playing an organized sport for the first time,” Adamiak said. “In a low-income area, boys sports leagues take precedence over girls sports leagues. I thought that was profound.”
It’s not surprising that he chose $7,500 as his goal, which is $2,500 more than what he needed to raise through the BAA.
“I set the bar a little bit higher — everyone in the team did — it’s daunting but it also takes creativity. I’m hosting a slew of activities with my girlfriend: selling tees, hosting a bar night at a local brewery, standing outside grocery stores raffling stuff off. Every dollar helps,” Adamiak said.
Adamiak recently found out that Positive Tracks, an organization focused on charity efforts for those under age 23, will match everything he raises. Positive Tracks said its mission is “helping youth turn sweat into civic action. We combine getting active with giving back to help young people make the world awesome, starting with themselves,” according to its website.
For information, see Adamiak’s Playworks page at crowdrise.com/PlayworksBoston2017/fundraiser/ markadamiak, positive tracks. org and play works. org.