A word of advice to the event-record 550 participants expected to run in the Bellingham Bay Marathon on Sunday, Sept. 25: if you meet Patrick Finney, don't throw down a challenge for him. Chances are he'll meet or beat anything you can dream up.
And no matter what you do, don't, don't, DON'T use the word "can't."
"That only makes me want it more," Finney said in a phone interview. "I love when someone challenges me, saying I can't do something. That lights a fire under me and makes me say, 'Why not?' 'Can't' is not in my vocabulary."
It's a lesson a number of people have learned over the past 15 years.
Such as the doctor who encouraged Finney to get up off the couch and start walking. A year later, that same doctor issued a second challenge, asking Finney to run a 5K every month to continue toward his weight-loss goals.
Then there was the neurologist that three years later diagnosed Finney with multiple sclerosis and told him he couldn't run any more and should instead just focus on "taking it easy."
Even one of his closest friends, Steve Burgos, now knows better. In January of 2010 he challenged Finney to complete a marathon runner's version of hitting for the cycle, encouraging him to run a marathon in each of the 50 states by the time he turned 50.
If all goes as planned on Sunday morning, Finney, who lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, will complete that journey when he crosses the finish line near the Boundary Bay Brewery in downtown Bellingham. He would become the first person with MS to finish 50 marathons in 50 states.
"This whole experience has been one of the best things I've done in my life, so far," Finney said after completing the Fox Cities Marathon on Sunday, Sept. 18, in Appleton, Wis. "I've gone to a number of different places I never thought I would go. I've met some of the nicest people you could ever want to meet. I've seen things from the ground in a number of different cities and communities all over the country. It's been a life-changing experience for me."
Running has probably changed his life in more ways than Finney could have possibly imagined 15 years ago.
That's when Finney said he weighed nearly 300 pounds and his doctor challenged him start walking to get some exercise.
"I said, 'You know, I can do that,'" Finney said. "So I started walking 3 to 5 miles, and I dropped 45 pounds. The next year I went in to see my doctor and he said, 'You look great. Have you ever thought about running?' At the time, I told him he couldn't pay me to run. So he challenged me to run a 5K once a month and see what happens with my weight and see how I feel."
With another challenge in front of him, Finney answered the call.
"When I finished that first 5K, I was hooked," Finney said. "I couldn't believe I had just accomplished that, and all I wanted to do was get back out there and do it again."
But that plan seemed to be derailed on New Year's Day of 1998, when Finney woke up and couldn't move his legs.
After a battery of tests, including a spinal tap and an MRI, Finney's neurologist confirmed that he had Multiple Sclerosis, an inflammatory, chronic, degenerative disorder that affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
"The neurologist told me I needed to take it easy," Finney said. "I was like, 'OK, but what about running.' And he said, 'Well, I think you can't do that anymore.' Well, I've told you already you better not tell me I can't do something, and he couldn't really give me an answer why I couldn't run anymore. I didn't buy it."
Six months later, Finney said he learned to walk and get his balance again, and before he knew it, he was running 5Ks again.
"I went in for my six-month follow up visit with the neurologist, and he said I looked great," Finney said. "He asked me what I was doing, and I told him running 5Ks, and he started to get mad, telling me, 'I told you not to over-exert yourself.' I told him he couldn't give me a good reason why I couldn't, so I did it. He looked at it again, and he said, 'You know, this could be a good thing.'"
Finney said doctors actually started a study of introducing exercise and mobility as treatment for MS patients because of the success he had.
He even upped his 5Ks to marathons, running the 2000 Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Texas, and a marathon in Dallas in 2001.
Finney said he has periodically had "episodes" where the M.S. has relapsed and he's had to retrain his body to do certain tasks, and he even had to shut his running down for a six-month period in 2004 when he was "having a lot of problems," but for the most part he said the disease hasn't kept him from what he wants to do.
Finney said he has been told his marathon times, which usually range from 4 hours, 50 minutes to 5 hours, are the fastest by a runner diagnosed with MS.
"I'm not going to let MS tell me I can't do something, either," he joked.
And he definitely wasn't going to let Burgos' challenge in 2010 go unanswered.
At the time the challenge was made, Finney, then 46, said he had run marathons in seven states and he had only 31/2 years until his 50th birthday.
"At first, I thought, 'No way,'" Finney said. "But then I sat down, and I started mapping it out. I did a lot of research. I built a big Excel spreadsheet with every marathon - when it was, the reviews - and I just mapped out everything for the next 31/2 years."
He set out on the journey in the spring of 2010, but by the fall rolled around, he saw a serious problem with his plan.
"By last fall, they had cancelled three of the marathons I had picked," Finney said. "In New Mexico, there were only five marathons, and they cancelled three of them. I started thinking about it, and realized I might have a serious problem if I took the full 31/2 years."
Rather than letting event schedules keep him from his goal, Finney decided to move up his timeline.
It's meant he's had to run a few marathons on back-to-back weekends, like he'll do this weekend after running in Wisconsin last week the day after he turned 48.
Not coincidentally, Finney had people tell him he couldn't run marathons on back-to-back weekends, but for the record, he's run marathons on as many as four straight weekends.
He's run the Boston and New York City marathons, as well as a tiny marathon in Roswell, N.M.
"Every one of them has been unique," Finney said. "There's something about each one of them I can look back on and say I liked. There was not a bad one in the bunch. Some I wouldn't recommend. But I hand selected all of them, and I think I did a pretty good job."
So, why did he select Washington state and the Bellingham Bay Marathon to be the last in his 50-in-50 journey?
"A lot of people have asked why I'm doing Washington last,' Finney said. "Actually, it's pretty easy - there are a lot of really good marathons in Washington. I did extensive research on people that have tried to run 50 marathons in 50 states, and most finish in either Alaska or Hawaii, but I was looking for something unique. I didn't want it to be a gigantic race. When you talk to people that have run in the Bellingham marathon, they're all real excited about it."
Though Sunday's 26.2-mile run from Lummi Nation School to downtown Bellingham will be Finney's 72nd marathon, 70 of which have come since 2006, he won't be the most veteran runner in the field.
Ravensdale's Mel Preedy, 78, will be running in his 413th marathon and is one of eight runners expected to be in the field who have run at least 100, according to Bellingham Bay Marathon event director David Penrose.
"We have more elite runners coming this year than we've ever had," Penrose said in a phone interview. "We've done a really good job of marketing the race this year. I expect every one of our course records will fall. We've got some really big guns coming to town."
The marathon, which is now in its fifth year, is expecting record fields for the marathon, half marathon and 5K - all told, more than 3,000 runners are expected to participate, which should make Bellingham the third largest marathon in the state.
"Our course, out of the 25 to 30 marathons in the Northwest, is fourth or fifth in elevation gain," Penrose said. "That means our course has very little elevation gain. Every year, we've tweaked the course a little, which is unheard of, but we keep trying to improve our course. This year we have only 27 turns on the whole course. These elite-level runners dissect the course and see if it has any category 5 hills and everything about it. They see what sort of elevation gains we have and figure out what type of times they can post, and I think we've got a very attractive race."
Penrose and the race committee have worked hard to make sure Sunday's race will appeal to runners that don't fall into that elite level, as well. Penrose said different types of music will be played along different portions of the course and local bands will play at the Finish Line Festival at the Depot Market Square on Railroad Avenue. The festival also will include a Boundary Bay Brewery beer garden, wines from Mount Baker Vineyards and food from a number of local vendors.
So far, Penrose said runners and walkers will range in age from 8 to 78 and will come to Bellingham from 36 states and four countries, including Canada, Singapore and France.
Finney said a number of his friends, including Burgos, and family members also will make the trip to Bellingham to either run with him or cheer him on to complete Burgos' challenge.
"These are people that have seen me at my worst after I was diagnosed with MS, and they've all been there for me," Finney said. "It means a lot that they're going to be there in Bellingham for me, again."
Though Finney is approaching his goal, he's not done running. He plans to run at least six or seven more marathons before the end of the year and said he hopes to continue to try inspiring people with MS.
"I hope they see you don't have to give up living," Finney said. "So many people I have met that have MS give up after they're told they can't do things. Again, can't is not in my vocabulary. I tell them try it - just don't put can't ahead of living. If you're not able to do something, you're not able. Try something else. Can't is such a negative word, and I don't want to live my life by it."
Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2271.
BELLINGHAM BAY MARATHON
Marathon start: 7:30 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 25
Half marathon start: 9:30 a.m. Sunday
5K start: 7:30 p.m., Sunday
Start line: Blackhawk Way at Lummi Nation School
Finish line: Railroad Avenue at Deport Market Square
Finish Line Festival: 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Depot Market Square
Awards: 12:30 p.m.
Health and Fitness Exposition and race packet pick-up: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. NOTE: Registration for 2012 Bellingham Bay Marathon will begin at the expo.
More information: bellinghambaymarathon.org
MARATHON ROAD CLOSURES
CITY OF BELLINGHAM
? Railroad Avenue (between East Maple Street and West Chestnut Street): Closed between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m.
? East Maple Street (between North State Street and Cornwall Avenue): Local traffic only between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. No crossing Railroad Avenue from either direction.
? Wharf Street (between State Street and BNSF tracks): Closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
? East Laurel Street (west of North State Street): Local traffic only from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
? Boulevard Street (between South State Street and Wharf Street): Closed from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
NOTE: There will be short closures along the race route of Railroad Avenue from Chestnut Street to Holly Street, Holly Street to Bay Street, Prospect Street to Dupont Street, Dupont Street to Broadway, Broadway to Madison Street, Madison Street to Henry Street, Henry Street to Eldridge Avenue. Eastbound traffic on Marine Drive/Eldridge Avenue will be closed from Alderwood Avenue to Henry Street from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. or until all runners have passed.
WHATCOM COUNTY
? Blackhawk Way: Closed from 7 to 7:45 a.m.
? Lummi View Drive (between Blackhawk Way and Lummi Shore Road): Southbound lane closed from 7:15 to 7:45 a.m.
? Lummi Shore Road (between Lummi View Drive and Smokehouse Road): Northbound lane closed from 7:25 to 8:15 a.m.
? Lummi Shore Road (between Smokehouse Road and Cagey Road): Northbound lane closed from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.
? Lummi Shore Road (between Cagey Road and Kwina Road): Northbound lane closed from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
? Kwina Road (between Lummi Shore Road and Haxton Way): Eastbound lane closed from 8 to 10 a.m.
? South River Road (between Haxton Way and Slater Road): Local traffic only from 8 to 10:30 a.m.
? Slater Road (between South River Road and Ferndale Road): Cones on eastbound shoulder, speed limit reduced to 25 mph from 8 to 10:30 a.m.
? Ferndale Road (between Slater Road and Marine Drive): Southbound lane closed from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Southbound traffic should watch for detours.
? Marine Drive (between Ferndale Road and Rural Avenue): Cones in the westbound shoulder from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Reduced speed limit to 25 mph.
? Marine Drive (between Wynn Road and Alderwood Avenue): Whatcom County Sheriff controlled from 8:30 a.m. to noon
? Marine Drive (between Bennett and Lindbergh Avenue): Eastbound lane closed from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
? Marine Drive (between Alderwood Avenue and McAlpine Road): Eastbound lane closed from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Local traffic only.
? Alderwood Avenue (between Marine Drive and Airport Drive): Southbound lane closed from 9 a.m. to noon. Northbound traffic moved to southbound lane.
? Airport Drive (between Williamson Way and Alderwood Avenue): Southbound lane closed from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Northbound traffic moved to southbound lane.
? Bennett Drive (at Alderwood Avenue): Expect up to 30-minute delays as runners cross intersection from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
SOURCE: BELLINGHAMBAYMARATHON.ORG
