Competing in her third marathon ever and her first Boston Marathon two days ago, Chaska's Michelle Love rolled toward the start line on her hand cycle and received a stunning bit of information: the race she had signed up for months ago, which at the time was just a demonstration event with no winners and losers, had suddenly become a competition thanks to the efforts of fellow hand cyclists.
Love said she was told, literally minutes before starting the race, "Oh, by the way, this just became a competition. … And you're the only female racing."
Imagine competing in one of the most revered races in the world with hopes of just managing to finish. And then imagine that if you finish, you will be a champion.
It's a lot to take in, even in retrospect. Love, 49, is back in the Twin Cities now and chatted about the experience Wednesday by phone — often using words like "surreal" to describe what it's like to be a Boston Marathon winner.
Love was 13 when she lost the use of her left leg and was told she would never walk again. She does walk now thanks to the help of arm crutches, but until seven years ago she hadn't done much by the way of strenuous competitive activity. Her husband, Daniel Kessler, competed in triathlons and marathons and suggested to her that she take up hand cycling — a form of cycling that, as the name suggests, is powered by the arms and not the legs.
That led to some initial races and ultimately two marathons in which she attempted to qualify for Boston. On her first try, she came up a few minutes short of the 2 hour, 45 minute standard. But competing at the Med City Marathon in Rochester — which allows hand cycles, unlike Twin Cities and Grandma's — she made it with 20 minutes to spare.
"My goal was just to qualify for Boston," Love said. "I wasn't even really sure I wanted to go to Boston. I just wanted to qualify."
But she decided to race — and in the process, she had an unforgettable experience.
Some of her fellow competitors lost limbs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Others had equally dramatic stories.
"All the men were so supportive, cheering me on before we got started," Love said. "They were helping me with tips and telling me it was so good to have a woman racing."
During the race, spectators helped encourage Love through the most daunting parts of the course — including the infamous "Heartbreak Hill," where one race fan walked with her to keep her going.
There were 27 competitors who finished the hand cycle portion of the Boston Marathon on Monday. She finished in 2:39, the only woman among 26 men.
"It was incredible, beyond words," Love said. "I was just hoping to cross the finish line and say, 'I, as a disabled athlete, crossed the finish line at Boston.' … I feel like I was just picked up out of my suburban mom life and dropped in among war heroes and the survivors of the 2013 bombing."
The same race official who told her minutes before the race that she was competing to win found Love after the race to guide her toward an awards ceremony.
"I didn't know what to expect, and then I walked over and they played the national anthem in my honor. I was sobbing," Love said. "It was like I had won an Olympic medal. It was a fairy tale experience. I'm just a mom trying to stay in shape."
Or at least she used to be. Now she's also a woman who made history — and it sounds like Love wouldn't mind doing it again.
"I thought Boston was a one-and-done, but I absolutely want to do it again," Love said. "The hand cyclists were so amazing, and it was unbelievable meeting some of the survivors of the bombing. They all know each other and come back every year. I feel like they brought me into their fold and were so wiling to accept me. I have no war hero or bombing story. But I will be back."
