Ultra-Marathoner To Make PMC History
BOSTON (CBS) -- When 39 year-old Adam Scully-Power takes off running from Babson College in Wellesley, he'll be making Pan-Mass Challenge history.
No one has ever RUN the Wellesley-to-Provincetown course which is, traditionally, covered by thousands of cyclists.
"I've been told I'm crazy more times than I'd like to admit in the past few weeks since people found out what I'm doing, " Adam told WBZ's Lisa Hughes, who's riding the PMC again this year.
"I tell people, 'Crazy for a good cause.' The PMC is a great cause."
A year ago, Scully-Power says he couldn't run two miles without stopping. He was 50-pounds heavier.
The father of four (who works for Boston-based Columbia Management) knew he wanted to get in shape.
He changed his diet and started running.
In December, he met up with a friend who suggested they run an ultra-marathon together. In the span of two months, Scully-Power got in shape to run 110-miles! Since then, he's run a second 100-mile race. The 163-mile run from Wellesley to Provincetown will be his longest run ever.
Scully-Power plans to start at sunrise on Friday morning (August 2) and run to Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne. His longest break will be about ten minutes.
He will run straight through the night into Saturday and hopes to arrive in Provincetown "sometime before midnight on Saturday." He says he will sleep for a few hours and then head to the Provincetown Inn to cheer on the cyclists who are crossing the finish line on Sunday morning.
So why RUN the PMC?
Scully-Power says he was inspired to run as a tribute to the victims and survivors of the marathon bombings. The friend who turned him onto ultra-marathons ran Boston this year and was on Boylston Street when the bombs went off.
Scully-Power couldn't reach him by phone. So he sent the friend a text asking, "Are you okay?" The friend replied with a message and a photograph that showed the aftermath of the explosion.
"He texted me back and said—yeah, I'm okay. The blast happened right in front of me."
Days later, the FBI released the photos of the bombing suspects. Scully-Power and his friend suddenly realized that they recognized Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the photograph his friend near The Forum.
The friend sent the photo to the FBI.
By then, Scully-Power had already contacted PMC Founder and CEO, Billy Starr to express his interest in running the PMC.
Starr was impressed.
As a Boston boy, he grew up watching the marathon. He was a runner before he became a cyclist. And he, too, was deeply affected by the bombings.
"There weren't any of us who weren't touched by the marathon, " Starr says. "I'm particularly humbled by the way corporations and individuals stepped up, alike. Made me proud to be Boston. I consider the PMC to be part of that fabric. We're wearing the logo (Boston Strong) on our ride jerseys this year…These are major events that are culturally and institutionally Boston. People stepped up everywhere. And Adam is just one more case of that."
Scully-Power says he has no doubt he'll finish. But, given the national attention his run is receiving, he is feeling the pressure. He's also feeling great support.
The other day, out of the blue, three-time Boston Marathon champion, Uta Pippig called to wish him good luck. He says the people he's made through running have changed his life.
"The journey's what's successful. It's been a tremendous experience thus far."
His wife, brother, father and father-in-law will be his support crew during the run--driving the course to provide him with water, food and support. And finishing the PMC course isn't Scully-Power's only goal. He's set out to raise $25,000 for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
To learn more about Adam Scully-Power or to support his PMC run, go towww.whywerun.com.
