Bridget Widmaier, formerly of Damariscotta, and her son, Kurt Widmaier both finished the New York City Marathon Nov. 1. This was the second time mother and son had run the marathon together, the first being when Bridget was two months pregnant with Kurt in 1996.
The Widmaiers ran the marathon as members of Fred’s Team, a group started in honor of Fred Lebow, who co-founded the New York City marathon in 1970. Lebow was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1990 and treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.
For Bridget Widmaier, raising the money for the cancer center was a way of giving back. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2014, she was also treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
The Widmaiers were joined in the marathon by Kurt’s friend Sal Tortora. All three were able to finish the marathon. Tortora finished with a time of 4:02:28, and Kurt Widmaier finished in 5:17:03.
Bridget Widmaier said she knew she was going to be able to finish the race when she was two miles in, however a calf strain during the eighth mile almost put that in jeopardy.
“I had hurt my calf two weeks before the race, so I had taken time off from training,” Bridget Widmaier said. “I started the race and felt great, but then it just hit me.”
Bridget was able to run a little bit further before switching to walking. Her other children, Connor Widmaier and Kirsten Widmaier, were able to join her to walk the last 11 miles while her husband went to watch Kurt Widmaier cross the finish line.
Bridget finished the marathon with a time of 6:40:54.
“My favorite part of the marathon is how supportive everyone is, no matter how far you are in the race,” she said. “When I was walking with Connor and Kirsten we had people yelling for us and cheering. It was just amazing.”
Kurt has already signed up to run the Los Angeles Marathon in February. Although Bridget is not sure if she will run the marathon again next year, she said she hopes to find ways to volunteer to give back to a community that provided her with so much when she received her diagnoses.
“I want to stay involved,” she said. “This was and still is a major part of my life, and to have the chance to help someone else through it would be amazing.”