Ramonan, 66, completes stormy Boston Marathon

Susan Carr kept her late father’s memory alive and her seven children close at hand while running in the prestigious Boston Marathon on April 16.

Carr, 66, could hear her children cheering her on as she was just finishing the 26.2-mile course in 5 hours and 3 minutes. By comparison, the lead woman winner, American Desiree Linden, finished in 2 hours, 39 minutes.

Finishing the marathon was a victory for Carr, who pushed through torrential rain and gusty 32 mph headwinds in temperatures that ranged from the high 30s to the low 40s. Carr said she heard comments from Meb Keflezighi, a former Boston Marathon winner and Olympic silver medalist, that he considered it the worst racing conditions he had ever experienced. Even elite runners were dropping out of the event.

“When he was saying it was one of the worst conditions going on, that tells you something,” Carr said. “This one was so hard with the conditions I’m just grateful to have finished. It was a dream come true, and then relief, and then I was shivering and, of course, extremely emotional.”

The Ramona resident of 34 years said she was encouraged to become a runner by her father, Walt McPhie. He had been an avid runner and was setting records for marathons in Utah.

Even though the Scottish McPhie died in 2009, Carr believes he was with her in spirit during the race and felt uplifted when she passed a bagpipe player at the top of one of the marathon’s hills.

“I heard it first,” Carr said. “It was like my dad was saying, ‘I’m with you,’ and I blew the bagpiper a kiss. He (McPhie) was with me on this one, no doubt. I talked to him along the way.”

Carr began running 38 years ago while she still lived in Utah. She was inspired at a young age by an Ethiopian runner while she was living in Africa for three years as a teenager. Her father was a visiting professor at the time when she heard about runner Abebe Bikila. He won the marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot and defended the Olympic marathon title at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

“He was a big hero to the country,” Carr said. “Ethiopians and Kenyans win most of the marathons.”

Although Carr said she runs mostly for fun, she has participated in three other marathons – one in 1989, one in 1993 and another in 2017 that qualified her to run in the Boston Marathon. She ran the qualifier event, the Utah Valley Marathon, in 4 hours, 29 minutes, which was just under the 4 hour, 40 minutes time limit. Although she qualified for the Boston Marathon in both the 1989 and 1993 marathons, she said she chose not to run because her seven young children were a priority.

During training for the 2018 Boston Marathon, Carr said she put her best effort into staying in shape and would make regular runs five or six days each week. Most of her running has been on Mussey Grade Road, but for the intense Boston Marathon training she generally ran from her Mussey Grade residence to Dye Road and then head to San Vicente Road and Ramona High School before turning back.

“Friends would keep water bottles outside by their mailboxes so I could get a drink without a problem,” said Carr, who was especially appreciative of one regular contributor who would nestle water bottles in the grass at the corner of Dye Road and state Route 67.

Now retired, Susan and her husband Ken had worked at schools for a number of years - Susan as a special education aide at Mt. Woodson Elementary School in the Ramona Unified School District for 14 years and Ken as a Meadowbrook Middle School teacher in the Poway Unified School District for 34 years. In addition to their seven adult children who live independently, they have 16 grandchildren, many of whom were sending Susan videos and text messages during the Boston Marathon.

“They were a big part of the party,” said Carr, who intends to continue running but won’t be participating in marathons anymore. “All seven of my children were there to get me to the finish line. I wouldn’t have made it if they hadn’t been yelling and cheering me on like crazy people. It was a miracle and a wonderful highlight of my life for sure.”