Scott Fruscio could use a little help.
The Watervliet native is again raising funds for the Children’s Hospital in Boston. The Watervliet High grad will run the Boston Marathon for a third time in April. He needs sponsors to reach his goal of accumulating $5,000 in revenue, which every penny will be given to the Children’s Hospital.
“The Children’s Hospital does incredible work for kids,” said Fruscio, an All-City basketball and football player, who now makes a living as a paralegal in Boston. “Some of the friends I grew up with in Watervliet have had their children come to the Children’s Hospital for medical care. I’m running run for the children, and the bombing victims from 2013, because it is for a real good cause.
The Boston’s Children’s Hospital, for the past 25 years, has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best pediatric facilities in the country. The hospital specializes in heart & heart surgery, neurology & neurosurgery, urology, nephrology and orthopedics.
To contribute to Scott Fruscio’s fundraising efforts for the Children’s Hospital, click here: http://fundraise.childrenshospital.org/site/TR/Events/BostonMarathon?px=1002392&pg=personal&fr_id=1040
Fruscio will do all the training and will run the 26.5 miles through the streets of Boston on April 21, Patriot’s Day. He is in search of donations to reach his $5,000 goal. Fruscio has commitments for more than $1,000 two months before the race. He has raised almost $15,000 while running in past marathons.
“Most of the money I raise comes from my friends with who I grew up with in Watervliet,” said Fruscio a starting receiver and guard for the Watervliet football and basketball teams that won the Class C state titles during the 1990-91 school year.
Fruscio ran the Boston Marathon in 2009 and 2010, after initially taking up running to stay in shape. He had run several half-marathons before moving up to his first 26.5 mile-race, the Marine Corps Marathon.
“Everyone at that race was telling me I had to run the Boston Marathon because it is so special,” Fruscio said. “They were right. Most marathons, there are a lot of people at the start cheering you on, but then, you don’t see anyone again to the finish line. In Boston, the people line the streets, cheering you on from start to finish. The spectators definitely help motivate you to finish the race. It is a first-class event.”
The Boston Marathon is world renowned, drawing the best distance runners from across the globe. Qualifying for the event, unless you are world-class, or competing for a charity, is nearly impossible. Runners have to post certain times, based on his or her age, in certain qualifying marathons throughout the year to be guaranteed a spot in the Boston Marathon.
“To be honest, for me, running for a charity was the way to go,” said Fruscio, who will turn 42 several weeks after the marathon. “I don’t think I could post a qualifying time.”
The Children’s Hospital holds clinics and several races to get its runners in shape for Patriot’s Day. Fruscio’s training schedule includes running four-to-five miles and lifting weights on day early in the week. He follows that with another four-to-five mile run midweek and then has a day where he runs 10-to-17 miles later in the week.
He recently competed in a half-marathon to get ready for the 26.2-mile race on Patriot’s Day.
“The Children’s Hospital took real good care of us,” Fruscio said. “They bused us to and from the event. There were water stops along the way. They do things the right way, real professional.”
Fruscio’s best Boston Marathon finish in the event is 4 fours and 25 minutes. His goal this year is to cut five minutes off his previous best, but he is also honest.
“I’m just one of the guys who finishes the race. That’s my main goal,” Fruscio said.
That will also be the goal for the more than 25,000 runners expected to run in April. Last year’s marathon was cut short because of the terrorist acts of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The duo detonated two pressure-cooker bombs, which killed three and injured and maimed 264 others, near the finish line on Boylston Street. The bombs exploded two hours after the winners crossed the finish line and almost 6,000 runners remained on the course.
“I was at Fenway Park for the Red Sox game and was heading down to the finish line,” Fruscio said. “One of my friends sent me a text, telling me not to come because bombs had just exploded.”
Fruscio works for Liberty Mutual Insurance; his office located on a side street off Boylston. The day after the marathon he witnessed agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Boston police work the crime scene in an effort to track down the bombers.
Several days after the race, and one day after police killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a shootout, the Boston PD went house-to-house in Newtown in an effort to track down Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was injured, but managed to escape the previous night’s shootout.
“The night the police had shut down Newtown, I met some friends in a sports bar south of Boston,” Fruscio said. “The Bruins had a big game that night, and it was on most of the TVs. But one of the TVs showed the police search. When it came across they had caught they guy, the place went wild. It sounded as if Larry Bird buried a 3-pointer to beat the Lakers.”
Last year’s tragedy won’t deter Fruscio from running in April. He will make the start on Hopkington, run through eight Massachusetts cities and towns – Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brighton, Brookline – force himself to climb the half-mile ascent in Newtown – better known as Heartbreak Hill – to finish in Copley Square.
“Everyone knows about Heartbreak Hill, and it is real tough,” Fruscio said. “What they don’t realize is how difficult the start can be. It’s mostly down hill and at a distance, which really takes a toll because of all that pressure on your quads.”
Twenty miles later, when quite a few runners start to hit the wall, comes Heatrbreak Hill.
“It is difficult. I don’t know the angle or the slope, but it is about a mile long and all uphill,” Fruscio said. “But when you get pass the hill, you run into all the Boston College kids, who are drinking, hooting and hollering and really cheering you on to finish. Once I see that, I know I can finish.”
