Five hours, 18 minutes and 46 seconds.
It represents the most gruelling, yet rewarding, time Blake Crossley has punched in his life.
The 43-year-old Corner Brook native, who now lives in Fort McMurray, posted that final clocking Monday at the 2018 Boston Marathon with a young girl fighting a rare disorder clearly on his mind.
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A man who knows a thing or two about the struggles with rare disorders, nine heart issues of his own and a pacemaker inserted in 2011, Crossley was accepted into the race as a charity entry where he was required to raise a minimum of $5,000 before he took his place on the start line.
He was focused on raising money for Tessa Booth, three-year-old daughter of his Fort McMurray friend Dawn Booth, through the not-for-profit National Organization for Rare Disorders. The young girl was diagnosed with Pleuropulmonary Blastoma
back in August of 2016.
A dream of most competitive runners, running Boston wasn’t possible for Crossley to qualify for his age group because of his weak heart so he took a friend up on the offer when it was suggested he check out the charity route.
It was considered by the marathon world as one of the worst races ever when it came to crazy weather in the history of Boston, but Crossley wasn’t worried about impressing anybody and just wanted to push his body across the finish line.
His purpose was much more than where he was on the leaderboard. His heart was in the right place with a desire to make life a little easier for a good friend and her young daughter.
It was a test of mettle for anybody on the race route with terrible conditions and there were 24 elite runners who pulled out of the race, according to Crossley, so that makes him a pretty happy guy despite his body hurting pretty bad right now.
“I hit rain, hail, sleet, snow and sun all at once. It was a Newfoundland summer day,” he said with a hearty chuckle.
“I’m pretty proud,” he added as he shared his story before boarding a flight out of Boston Wednesday afternoon. “It was an excellent opportunity to raise awareness for what Tessa is going through and the organization itself so the race had a higher purpose than it was.”
Being a Newfoundlander probably helped him get across the finish line, he figures, again his happiness shining through with a laugh.
“It was the worst weather in the marathon’s history. I brought the Canadian weather down with me,” he said.
He will remember the sights and sounds for a long time. The crowd was simply amazing and supportive. It was an incredible journey that probably has him thinking about the next thing he wants to tackle, with charity in mind.
“This was absolutely insane. The energy was something,” he said.
Boston was no match for the guy with the big heart.
