David J. McGillivray

David J. McGillivray is the race director for the Boston Marathon. He first came to fame, as I learned from reading, info also located on the BAA website, for his cross-country run for the Jimmy Fund in 1978. He has run for 24 hours straight, biked 24 hours, run 122 marathons and generally impresses me in many ways. All of the charity runners had the pleasure of hearing from Mr. McGillivray on Thursday evening has he hosted a logistic meeting to calm our nerves and pump us all up. He's a hoot! His jokes were light and witty, and all well delivered in the company of scared, naive, excited charity runners.

This afternoon, as I recovered from my over eating at breakfast, I sped off to the bookstore in search of a running motivational book. I looked around, and within a moment of fret and dismay, I noticed, "The Last Pick" by David McGillivray. As mentioned in the forward by Joan Benoit Samuelson, "this book seems to belong everywhere. It's a management book, a self help book, a sports book, a biography, and even a history book." Perfect, it speaks to all my literary interests. I immediately start reading, and only put it down for driving, but continue reading as I pump iron at the gym. I had decided during the charity meeting on Thursday that I'd love to work in some way for the Boston Marathon. What better way to get there than to read about the path of the great David J. McGillivray? Even if I don't end up in the ranks of the Boston Marathon management team, I'll be further inspired for my April 20th run, and moving in the right direction.