A Great Moment For The Bonsey Family

Toughness can be exemplified in a variety of ways. It’s something that cannot be taught. We instinctively create this ability when we face adversity. Several times, I have seen members of my family battle through adversity with incredible tenacity. When my brother was a senior in high school, he severely sprained his ankle while warming up for 1600 run at the state meet. He was expected to challenge Ben True for the win, and perhaps set a state record. Due to the severity of his sprain, it would have made sense had Brandon not run. Instead, he toed the line and ran admirably running 4:26. Most runners would celebrate if they ran that fast, let alone on a sprained ankle. One of my favorite stories my father has ever told me was when he got drunk the night before a meet in Vermont when he was in college and raced the next morning. As he describes, his body should not have let him compete that day but his sheer will and determination (and talent) pushed him to a victory in the 880. I’ve seen my mother break her big toe several times, and continue to get back on her feet and run. I also remember her cleaning puke during a time where all of us kids were sick, and she never faulted. She continued to clean up despite all of us puking every couple of hours.

This past weekend, I was able to witness one of the great moments for the Bonsey family as we found ourselves in Lowell, Massachusetts supporting Kourtney run her first marathon. To understand this feat, you really need to understand my sister. When we were growing up, she was not always the easiest person to deal with. Every morning before school was a process. She would throw a fit stressing out everyone in the house trying to find the right socks to where (sometimes I would steal hers), or complain about sitting in the middle of our brothers beat up truck on the way to school. She ran on the cross country team at Falmouth and was a consistent performer, but even now she states that she didn’t enjoy running when she first started out. Occasionally, I would see my dad and Kourtney go out for a run only to see Kourtney come back bitching and moaning about the distance. Even now my dad talks about how annoying it was to deal with her back then. By her senior year of high school, Kourtney had started to improve as a runner and saw her two mile time drop. But still, there were times during a race where my dad (or Ethan Shaw’s father) would encourage Kourtney to fight through a race and she would frantically wave her arm at them as if to say “Shut up and let me run!” She finished high school with good enough times to run at the University of Maine.

 

Once she got into college, something clicked with Kourtney. As her mileage increased, her performances on the trails, and track, were improving. She faced a few injuries during her time there, but she would always come back from them stronger than before and have a great race. Her best race of her college career came at the America East Conference Championship which was held at UMaine. She was entered in the 10k and wasn’t expected to place very high. She was only focused on running a personal best. At mile four, Kourtney was with the lead pack and looked smooth. Running confident, she even took the lead and forced the pace. Her move sparked other runners to get into it, and Kourtney placed fourth running 37:48, a huge personal best. Her toughness was remarkable during that race. I still get chills thinking about that magnificent day.

For the past several months, Kourtney had dedicated herself towards competing in a marathon. She had been trained by Regis College coach Dan Flynn, and had gained the confidence to not only complete the marathon, but qualify for Boston. Her attitude on running has completely changed since her days of complaining during races, and moaning to our dad during runs. She has been incredibly meticulous about every single detail from getting the proper rest, to having to withdraw from coffee the week before her race. Her goal going into the race was to run 3:10, a time that my dad believed might have been a stretch for her first time. The morning of the race came and I could tell that Kourtney was a little on edge, which was natural. Our ride to the course was a typical Bonsey car ride before a race. One that’s filled with inappropriate jokes from our dad, and talking about our race strategies. The air was cool, the perfect temperature for a marathon, and Kourtney, while staying focused on her task, was loose and cracking jokes with my dad and I.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch most of Kourtney’s race as I was running the half marathon myself, but in my mind I believed that she was going to run an amazing race. She was prepared and eager to run. Once I crossed the finish line of my race, I met up with my mom and dad and they informed me that she was ahead of pace through the first half. My dad and I drove down to mile 24 to see Kourtney run by. As we were anxiously waiting for her to run by, we were doing calculations on my phone to see where she should be at mile 24 to break 3:10. 2:54 was where she would have to be. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, we finally saw Kourtney emerge from a distance. She didn’t look like the girl who would frantically wave her arm to make our dad stop yelling. She looked strong, and tough as hell. She had a strain on her face, but she was in complete control. I glanced over to the clock as she hit the mile mark at 2:52:30. She was a minute and a half ahead of schedule. We yelled and screamed encouragement as she ran by, and I could tell my dad was getting emotional (as he notoriously does). We quickly ran to the car to try and see her again, but the traffic was unbearable. As my dad described that day: “If you guys ran like shit, I would be in a terrible mood, but today has been amazing”. I could see the excitement in his face. I could hear it in his voice. It was one of the great days for the Bonsey family (sorry Brandon, wish you could have been there). On our way back, we received a call from Kourtney’s friend who was able to see her finish and we heard her time…3:07!!! She had crushed her goal of breaking 3:10. It was her tenacity and determination that let her run that fast. That day will be a day I remember for the rest of my life. It made me realize how much of a tough bitch my sister is. My sister is awesome.

Editor’s Note: My brother is awesome as well. He led the Georgetown Hoyas to the third place finish at the Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Ind. He has brought in several of the top middle-distance runners in the country, and has made Georgetown into one of the top programs in the country.