On Wednesday, October 28, Kelsey McCabe strolled into work at AGM, unaware of an ironically long wall of hand-written well wishes for her ambitious weekend ahead.
Kelsey is a 4th-5th grade AIS teacher at AGM, and she's been training for the NYC marathon for over 20 weeks. Kelsey has always been a runner, but distance is a newer challenge she's willing to face. The NYC marathon will only be her 2nd full marathon, and it takes place on Saturday, October 31.
During the week of October 26, multiple staff members at AGM including Elaine Taylor, Amanda Hunter, and Jennifer Florance organized a surprise for Kelsey before her big race. Teachers and students were all given paper sneakers and were encouraged to color and write words of encouragement on them for Kelsey. The paper sneaker cutouts were then taped to a long bulletin board with "26.2 feet of Well Wishes for Mrs. McCabe!" painted in large font. For context, a marathon is a 26.2-mile-long race.
"I walked by it in the morning and completely didn't notice it." Kelsey said, "But Jen brought me out into the hall to show me, and I just burst into tears. It was really, really sweet"
Kelsey noted that the support and well wishes are nothing new. She's felt the support since the very beginning of her training, and the sneakers acted as a perfect final sendoff. In fact, the sneakers are heading to NYC with her.
"I took pictures of the sneakers, so I can read them in the morning before the race to calm myself and ease my nerves."
Kelsey would like to thank everyone at AGM for the incredible support and encouragement throughout the last few months.