The Road to the Finish Line

At 9AM on April 20^th, 2009, Mike McBride lined up for the start of the prestigious Boston Athletic Association (BAA) Marathon—the world's oldest annual marathon. He was the first athlete with COPD to gain entry, competing in the mobility-impaired group of athletes. The road ahead of him, 26 miles of the marathon course, wound through eight cities and towns, and features obstacles like Heartbreak Hill, positioned at a point late into the race.

Changes

The real road to that finish line started many years earlier. McBride has always been an active person, working and playing hard. As he says, he was one of those strange animals who would work out three or four times a week, and then smoke a cigarette on the way home. In the early 1990's, his workout ethics were already well established, which would be needed in the years to come.

In late February 2005, an unknown lung ailment put McBride in the hospital. Hospital staff members were skeptical if McBride were to even make it till the next morning. Over a week later, he was finally diagnosed with emphysema and COPD combined with severe bacterial pneumonia. They treated the pneumonia with antibiotics. He then developed BOOP: Bronchiolitis Obliterans with Organizing Pneumonia. The BOOP did considerable lung damage before the correct diagnosis was made and treatment with steroids began.

Convinced he needed to make a change, McBride started looking for a way to develop an exercise routine. His insurance would not cover his pulmonary rehab but with the help of Internet research, he learned that he could go to his neighborhood YMCA and work with their trainers to help create and maintain an exercise plan.

On Your Mark . . .

Time and training gave McBride the ability to participate in his first competitive event at the Bolder Boulder, an annual 10k event in Colorado that attracts over 55,000 spectators. He completed the 10k in 1 hour 42 minutes and 2 seconds (the winner completed it in 28 minutes).

He uses supplemental liquid oxygen 24/7. When doing stair-climbing events, he uses a LOX portable in a backpack. And when he participates in marathons, he uses a custom-made cart. Then in December of 2008, he had a SCOPE transtracheal oxygen (TTO) catheter installed to reduce the high flow of oxygen that he needs when exercising.

Since 2005, he has walked two full marathons, about 22-10K and half marathons, and several 5k walks and stair-climbing events. In 2007, he participated in the “Hustle Up the Hancock” in Chicago, climbing 94 flights of the building. He also participated twice in the “Run the Republic” event in Denver where he climbed 53 stories.

Get Set . . .

In his most recent endeavor, McBride faced several obstacles. Ot first began when his registration for the BAA Boston Marathon event was rejected. The COPD community rallied behind him, sending hundreds of requests for reconsideration to the Boston Marathon and showing their disagreement with the decision in online chat rooms and message boards. Soon after, the BAA reversed their decision.

Working the logistics for getting his equipment there was another challenge. Arrangements for high flow strollers were cancelled just six days before the event, but luckily last-minute arrangements came through with Caire. Also, when McBride was preparing to travel, his flight was cancelled and rebooked with another airline that did not allow POCs on board. With some effort, he was able to work with the airline to fly with his oxygen.

There was much preplanning done, and on the day of the race, his support team would be “hop-scotching” along the 26miles, replacing empty LOX portables with fresh filled ones. A spotter, provided by the BAA, would ensure the exchange of tanks went smoothly.

Go!

Though McBride wasn’t starting off at full-speed as some of his competitors, he received kudos from them as they passed by. “I cannot tell you the number of racers that passed me and encouraged me along all the way to the end,” said McBride. It was truly amazing, and it kept my spirits high. The route is pretty and seems more like a trip through the countryside rather than a heavily traveled road.”

McBride carried two full liquid oxygen tanks weighing at about 80 pounds. “It works great on level ground and downhill because of the special suspension, but it is like pulling a trailer with 80 pounds of weight uphill,” says McBride. “It would be an understatement to say I was tired after that but that was the only point I even entertained the idea that I would stop. Then I got my second wind, spurred on by the spectators and my fellow racers.”

Recollecting his experience at the Boston Marathon, McBride is proud of his accomplishment. “It was worth every single frustration, setback and hassle along the way to getting to the Marathon,” he says. “I walked away at the end feeling like I had accomplished something significant, but even today I am not totally sure what that is.”

The road to the finish line ended 7 hours 31 minutes and 36 seconds after crossing the start line—well within the times for his class of athletes allotted by the BAA. The challenges to reach that finish line and that point in his life had been overcome. His determination led him to be the first COPD patient to complete this prestigious marathon. With it, it is his hope that others will be inspired to get out, exercise and stay active. n

This article was contributed by Chip Gatchell, COPD-International.

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More of Mike McBride’s story can be accessed at: www.copd-international.com/Library/Boston.htm.