WASHINGTON — Dan O鈥橬eil was pretty athletic as a kid. He ran indoor track and cross-country in high school. Then, like so many high school athletes, 鈥渁fter I got out of high school, I just stopped running.鈥�
Over the next couple of decades, the Boston-area man could probably find lots of reasons why his weight ballooned. But it鈥檚 just as accurate to say 鈥渓ife sort of happened; I had gotten really heavy.鈥� By the time O鈥橬eil was ready to start running again, he weighed over 300 pounds.
鈥淚t was slow, but I was out there doing it,鈥� he said of his return to the pavement.
Eventually O鈥橬eil joined a new gym and after getting involved with their running club, he got prepped enough to do a half-marathon. Still weighing more than he would prefer, O鈥橬eil was nonetheless inspired to keep going.
鈥淚 decided when I got to the finish line, 鈥榃ell wow! I was able to do this, why couldn鈥檛 I do a full one?鈥欌�� O’Neil said.
So he approached his running coach at the gym about running in the Boston Marathon. Her answer was pretty blunt: 鈥淪he more or less said 鈥楧an you鈥檝e gotta change a lot of stuff and fast.鈥�”
So O’Neil said he overhauled his diet, adding in protein shakes and cutting out sugar.
O鈥橬eil was able to enter the Boston Marathon by joining a charity team to raise funds for the Perkins School for the Blind, where his nephews attended. Eating better and running harder, 鈥渨e ended up losing 64 pounds in four months,鈥� dropping to 228 pounds by race day, he said.
Despite the weight loss, he was in pretty rough shape after finishing the Boston Marathon. Yet, before long he was pondering his next one.
Last year he took his first ever trip to D.C. to run in the Marine Corps Marathon. It was such a great experience, he decided he had to return this year too.
鈥淚 love the fact that you can see a lot of stuff. Seeing the whole National Mall, getting to run by the museums and some of the landmarks, it鈥檚 so cool … I was taking a lot of pictures while I was running,鈥� O’Neil said. 鈥淭hen you get to finish at the Iwo Jima monument and having that soldier put that medal on you, there鈥檚 just nothing like that. That was an amazing experience, to do the race, so I was really excited that I was able to get in a second time.鈥�
How “Big Dan Runs the Marathon” came to be
O鈥橬eil says all the running and weight loss have given him greater confidence.
鈥淚 always liked writing,鈥� said O鈥橬eil. 鈥淚 try to do thought-provoking things, and I never had the courage to write a book.鈥�
He found the courage from a friend who owns a book store.
“He said ‘You got something here. You should try to self-publish this.’鈥�
And he did. And he titled it “Big Dan Runs the Marathon.鈥�
鈥淚 wanted to give the message that if you work hard and give your very best, anything is possible,” O’Neil said. “Children should want to achieve something more, and I think sometimes just achieving something without always being the best at it and always having to win can be its own reward. That was the main reason I actually wrote it.鈥�
And that鈥檚 sort of where O鈥橬eil is with running. He鈥檚 been able to lower his blood pressure and improve his sleep apnea. And even though he鈥檚 in his mid-40s, he鈥檚 not going to stop running now.
鈥淚鈥檓 never going to win a race, I鈥檓 never going to be the fastest person,” O鈥橬eil said. 鈥淏ut when I can go out there and do a marathon鈥攅specially at my age鈥攁nd I can still complete one, I think it鈥檚 an accomplishment. And sometimes an accomplishment is a victory in itself.鈥�
Here鈥檚 how 鈥淏ig Dan Runs the Marathon鈥� ends:
So he took the left on Boylston Street, and then he was feeling fine
He mustered up a slow jog and he crossed the finish line
Big Dan鈥檚 body was smaller, and somehow he ended up with a bigger heart
Even though the race for him was finished, this was the best journey he ever got to start
