It was all about family for Halfmoon Bay's Dave Lamb at this year's Boston Marathon.
Lamb ran his first Boston in April finishing in a time of 3:46. He qualified for the event in Edmonton at 3:23. But the finishing time was not a major concern for Lamb, rather it was the experience of being in Boston and running the marathon with the love and support of his family.
"Qualifying in Edmon-ton was the cool thing. That's when you're out there pushing yourself, running six-minute intervals and working hard," Lamb said. "To go from qualifying in August in Edmonton and waiting until April to do Boston was a hard thing. I had to keep in shape. It was a long stretch and that may have contributed to why my time wasn't as high in Boston as it was in Edmonton."
Lamb was joined by wife Sue and children Gary and Madison for the trip to Boston. Lamb was in Toronto for a trade show the week prior to the marathon and was joined by his family and they drove down the coast to Boston.
"That was the neat experience - being able to share it all with my family," Lamb said. "That's why I started running marathons. I did it for my kids to help set an example, so to have them all there cheering me on every step of the way was a real neat experience."
Lamb has run in seven marathons to date, two in Vancouver, three in Victoria, and in Edmonton and Boston.
Lamb and daughter Madison have run a few half marathons together, and one day Madison called her father wondering if he would like to try to run a full marathon together.
"We tried to run together in Edmonton, but it was hard," Lamb said. "We did run a few kilometres together. Maddy didn't qualify for Boston, but they still got to go and helped me celebrate my 50th birthday in Boston. Running Boston was cool. I'm not a life-time runner, so it was maybe not the same experience for me as it has been for others on the Coast who have done it. For me it was about my family and sharing the experience with them."
