Coach's Blog

The Boston Marathon is rich with unique traditions that help make it an extremely popular and prestigious event. As a member of the 7th Annual PMC team you will join a rare breed of individuals willing to endure all the emotional highs and lows that are required of a marathoner. This common bond ties our runners together in a very special way.

President Bacow said it best in his matriculation address to the Tufts class of 2012: 'If you really want to test yourself - if you really want to learn the true meaning of mental discipline, preparation, determination, and teamwork - join our team.'

Since retiring from my duties as the men's swimming coach at Tufts from 1971 through 2004, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to direct the President's Marathon Challenge (PMC). My association with the runners has been pure joy!!!! All the lessons I learned from training our successful swimmers have been applied to the runners. The entire Tufts community has embraced the PMC making everyone feel that they belong to something very special.

Personal testimonials from former PMC team members:

“I had worked so hard and then I felt like my ability to finish was slipping away...it then became a mental fight to keep going and I just relied on all of the mental toughness that you inspired in me - everything that you taught us during training runs, the indoor pacing work, the lecture on mental preparation, and just the wisdom that you emitted throughout the training process - THAT is what got me through it...so it was just so perfectly fitting to see you just as I crossed the finish line...''

“Along the way, I felt like I had something to prove to myself... that I am bigger than any problems I am dealing with, and that I DO have it in me to make myself better. Julia and I wrote on the tips of our toes two words that made all the difference along the course "Dig Deep". I feel as if I dug some place that I didn't even know existed within me, and I know you helped me find it.”

“Even though I don't live in Boston and wasn't able to do the training runs with the team, I really felt a part of it, thanks mostly to Don's emails. I knew that if needed, I could call on anyone there for anything.”