Man to run 39th Boston Marathon in a row
Not even a torn ACL deterred Winter Park native from finishing
Already frayed, the ACL in Jim Musante’s right knee could snap at any moment.
The ligament finally did while Musante ran on the beach in New Smyrna Beach. A mere 11 days before the 2008 Boston Marathon, the timing was especially unfortunate and, in some ways, cruel.
Musante had run Boston on the third Monday in April every year since 1981. The race would go on.
Could he?
“I saw two
Musante said. or three doctors,’’ “They all said the same thing: ‘You severed it. You couldn’t do any more damage.’’’
The decision rested with Musante.
It was an easy one. He received a cortisone shot a couple of days before the 26.2-mile endeavor, slipped a brace over his knee and took ibuprofen on the course.
Musante survived, delaying his surgery two or three weeks. So did his streak.
He is due to run the Boston Marathon for the 39th consecutive year on Monday. NBC Sports Network will televise the 123rd annual race, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
“Anybody wants to be at the best event in the world for their sport,’’ said Musante, 61. “I couldn’t play in the basketball finals. I couldn’t play in the World Series. This is running, and I’m a very normal runner.
“[It’s] the tradition. The history. It can’t be matched. No way.’’
While Musante’s streak is impressive, it even isn’t among the top 10 longest active ones associated with America’s oldest marathon. Eleven runners rank ahead of him, led by Bennett Beach of Bethesda, Md.
Beach is registered to run Boston for the 52nd time in a row.
“Running is very central to his perception to who he is as a person and what he does,’’ said Musante’s friend, Gary Cohen.
Runners with a stretch of at least 25 straight Boston Marathons are in what is known as the Quarter Century Club. The club was founded in 2001 by Ronald Kmiec, who said 85 of this year’s Jim Musante is due to run the Boston Marathon for the 39th consecutive year Monday.
to it.
“The obsessive-compulsive gene is what affects most of us,’’ said Kmiec, whose streak of 45 consecutive Boston Marathons (soon to be 46) is No. 4 on the list. “Once you realize that you’ve been running that many years, you don’t want to stop it unless something physically stops you.’’
A retired restaurant manager, Musante grew up on Lake Maitland in Winter Park, allowing him and his three older siblings easy access to the water. Going for a swim or hopping on their water skis was too convenient, and they took advantage.
They eventually gravitated to other sports, too.
Besides running, Musante has biked across the country. His only sister, Linda, has completed Ironman-distance triathlons. Carl Musante cycles, skis while spending part of marathoners belong the year in Utah and kayaks.
The eldest, Alan, has done all 42 OUC Orlando Half Marathons.
“We just got used to being very active,’’ Alan said.
Lured by its proximity to the revered Pinehurst Resort course, Jim Musante attended St. Andrews University in North Carolina on a golf scholarship. He joined the cross country and track teams after being inspired by a runner who transferred to the school.
“I found out I liked running as much as golf, and then I found out I liked running even more than golf,’’ Musante said. “Kind of the same mindset — by yourself, out there with the environment, the smell and the scenery, you’re on your own and you’re responsible for your own results.’’
Musante qualified for Boston for the first time at a race in Savannah, Ga., shortly after graduation.
He returns each year to experience a feeling unlike anything else.
“Just the funnest thing I’ve ever done,’’ Musante 51: 49: 46: 45: 44: 43: 43: 41: 40: 39: 39: said.
Said Musante’s wife, Kitty: “It’s like a reunion every year. We make our reservations the year before for the next year.’’
Musante enjoys the atmosphere, most of all. He has heard the support of the crowd, some calling out to acknowledge him when he would wear a Florida Gators or Rollins College shirt.
He used to slap hands frequently with spectators, sometimes too much.
“The first couple of years, my upper body — because I was high-fiving so many people — hurt more than my lower body,’’ Musante said.
Musante has run through the “scream tunnel’’ formed by the students of Wellesley College, an small liberal arts school with an all-female enrollment. He enjoys going past Boston College and Boston University. He remembers the tragedy sur3,000-plus
The facts
What: 123rd Boston Marathon
When: Monday (elite women, 9:32 a.m.; elite men, 10 a.m.)
Where: Begins in Hopkinton and ends at Copley Square
Field: 30,000-plus
TV: 8:30 a.m., NBC Sports Network
Forecast: Rain likely, strong winds, high in the mid-60s, low in the mid-40s
2018 winners: Men — Yuki Kawauchi, 2:15:58; women — Desiree Linden, 2:39:54 rounding the bombing in 2013 and how the runners and community, fortified in grief and resolute in moving forward, inspired each other the following year.
He can’t forget Hill.
“Your quads and your hamstrings are singing,’’ Musante said. “That’s where your body will normally break down.’’
Musante’s wife knows the feeling. Heartbreak
Kitty Musante has done 11 Boston Marathons. She was asked what personality traits her husband possesses that allow him to run Boston every year for nearly four decades.
“Determined, hard worker and a creature of habit,’’ she said.
Musante actually was born in Boston before his family moved when he was about 6 months old.
He comes back year.
It’s expected, and given his streak, Musante has a good reason to keep going. Torn ACL? Puh-lease. “I like the legacy [the streak] will leave for my kids and their kids,’’ Musante said. “I probably ran 15 Bostons, and no one ever knew I ran one. The last couple of years, I’ve embraced what it is and what it means.
“Just the duration, being there every day, on that day and finishing that marathon gives me a great amount of pride and joy.’’ every