Dave McGillivray

Dave McGillivray
Dave McGillivray

Dave McGillivray is a U.S.-based road race director, philanthropist, author, and athlete. In 1978, he ran across the U.S. to benefit the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.[1] He is currently the race director of the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) Boston Marathon and his team at DMSE Sports, Inc. have organized more than 1,000 mass-participatory endurance events since he founded the organization in 1981.

Athletic achievements

In 1978, McGillivray ran across the U.S. from Medford, Oregon, to his hometown of Medford, Massachusetts. Over the course of 80 days, he ran a distance of 3,452 miles, averaging 42 miles a day. He culminated his cross-America run by running into in Fenway Park in Boston. His effort raised funds for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.[2][3]

In 1980, McGillivray completed several athletic endeavors.

  • His Wrentham State School 24-Hour Run traversed 120 miles in 24 hours through 31 communities in southeastern Massachusetts, ending in Foxboro Stadium at halftime of a New England Patriots game. It was held to benefit the Wrentham State School for the Mentally Retarded, and the event raised more than $10,000 for the handicapped.
  • He ran the East Coast Run to once again benefit the Jimmy Fund. From Winter Haven, Florida, to Boston, Massachusetts, McGillivray ran 1,520 miles and was joined by Robert Hall, a pioneer of wheelchair marathoning. While in Washington, D.C., the duo met with President Jimmy Carter at the White House.
  • He entered his first Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. He finished 14th in the competition, and was the 30th person to have ever completed an Ironman, an individual endurance event consisting of three back-to-back distance events: a 2.4 mile rough, open ocean water swim, followed by a 112-mile bike race and finishing up with a 26.2-mile marathon run He would go on to complete eight more Hawaii Ironmans over his career.

During the following year, McGillivray:

  • Ran in the Empire State Building Run Up, an 86-story, 1,575-step run. He placed 10th overall with a time of 13 minutes, 27 seconds.
  • Ran the Boston Marathon in 3:14 while blindfolded and being escorted by two guides to raise $10,000 for the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts.[3]
  • He participated in the annual New England Run where he triathloned (ran, cycled, and swam) 1,522 miles throughout the six New England states raising $55,000 for the Jimmy Fund. The event required a run up and down Mount Washington and swimming two miles across Lake Winneapesaukee, both in New Hampshire, as well as swimming one mile from Woods Hole in Cape Cod toward Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, ending the course with running three miles alongside inmates within the Walpole State Prison. He raised $55,000 for the Jimmy Fund.[4] A year later he swam more than seven miles in the Martha's Vineyard Swim, from Martha's Vineyard to Falmouth, Massachusetts, raising funds for the Jimmy Fund and was greeted on the shore by runners such as Alberto Salazar.
  • He formed the first sanctioned running club inside a maximum security institution at Walpole State Prison in Massachusetts. He conducted and ran in numerous distance races inside the prison yard, including completing and winning a full 26.2 mile marathon against inmates.[5]

During the rest of the 1980s, he continued to combine his love of athletic endeavors and fundraising for charity.

  • In 1983, he participated in the Jimmy Fund 24-Hour Swim, swimming for 24 consecutive hours in the Olympic-size Medford High School pool, which totaled 1,884 lengths and covering 26.2 miles (distance of the Boston Marathon), again raising funds for the Jimmy Fund.
  • Also in 1983, McGillivray took part in the Merrimack College New England Bike Ride where he cycled more than 1,000 miles throughout six New England states in 14 days to raise money for a scholarship fund for his alma mater, Merrimack College.
  • In 1986, McGillivray biked again for 24 consecutive hours around a five-mile loop course in Medford, Massachusetts while simultaneously directing the annual Bay State Triathlon being held on the course at the same time. He covered a total of 385 miles, again raising money for the Jimmy Fund.[2]
  • In 1989, he founded the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, an event that has raised more than $5 million a year for the Jimmy Fund of Boston. Each year, nearly 10,000 walkers walk along the famous Boston Marathon course.

In 2004, McGillivray and other marathon runners ran across the U.S. following the same path he took in 1978, raising $300,000 for five charities benefiting children. Each year McGillivray runs his birthday age in miles, a tradition he started when he was 12 and realized that running was his passion. McGillivray has also run the Boston Marathon each year since 1973; the first 16 years as an entrant and since working with the race as its director, has run the course after his duties are completed.[6]

Dave McGillivray runs in the Feaster Five Thanksgiving Day Road Race
Dave McGillivray runs in the Feaster Five Thanksgiving Day Road Race

Most recently, in February 2018, he completed the World Marathon Challenge, which consists of seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

Dave McGillivray holds his illustrated children's book, Dream Big
Dave McGillivray holds a copy of his illustrated children's book, Dream Big

In 2006, McGillivray wrote “The Last Pick”[1] with writer Linda Glass Fechter, chronicling his childhood as the last pick for team sports because of his small stature, telling readers never to underestimate their own ability to set and achieve goals. The book also covers his life as an athlete and race director. In 2018 the first of his illustrated children's books was published. "Dream Big: A True Story of Courage and Determination " is the nonfiction story about reaching deep and showing extreme determination in the face of doubt, disappointment, and loss.

Professional life

McGillivray created DMSE Sports, Inc. in 1981, a firm that manages mass participatory road race events such as marathons, half marathons, 10Ks, 5-milers, 5Ks, and charity walks. He has served as the race director of the Boston Marathon since 1988. In 1998, Olympic Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson tapped him to become the first race director of the TD Beach To Beacon 10K Road Race in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.[7] Other races McGillivray and his team manage include the Bellin 10K Run in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the B.A.A. Half Marathon/10K/5K; Across the Bay 10K; the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk; the Runner's World Festival & Half; the Mount Washington Road Race; the Feaster Five Thanksgiving Day Road Race; and as of 2012, the New Balance Falmouth Road Race. DMSE has also created several races, including the Fenway Park Marathon (the first marathon to be run entirely within a ballpark since the 1923 race inside the newly constructed Yankees Stadium that had 38 participants running 115 laps [8]), Run to Home Base (Fenway Park; Boston),[4] Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the Fifty (Gillette Stadium; Foxboro, Massachusetts). In 2003, McGillivray created the DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation to support non-profit organizations that use running to promote physical fitness in children.[9]

Awards

  • 1972 Valedictorian — Medford High School (Massachusetts)
  • 1976 Valedictorian — Merrimack College (Massachusetts)
  • 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award — Competitor Magazine
  • 2000 Director of the Year, Running Times Magagine — Road Race Management and Running Times Magazine[10]
  • 2005 Inducted into the Running USA Hall of Champions [11]
  • 2006 Christ the Servant Award — Lazarus House, for continuous dedication to the unloved and forgotten who are served by the Lazarus House Ministries
  • 2007 Runner’s World Heroes of Running Award, honoring outstanding individuals from the running community whose achievements and contributions are nothing short of extraordinary[12]
  • 2007 Proclaimed Honorary Citizen — Town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts
  • 2009 Jimmy Award — Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute [2]
  • 2010 Fleet Feet Lifetime Commitment to Running Award[13]
  • 2010 Ron Burton Community Service Award — Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association[14]
  • 2011 Inducted into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame[15]
  • 2011 "One Hundred" list honoring outstanding contributions in the fight against cancer – Massachusetts General Hospital
  • 2011 marked “30 Years Running” with public event; Boston Mayor proclaimed March 12 DMSE Sports Day in Boston
  • 2012 Honorary Doctor of Public Service degree – Merrimack College (Massachusetts)
  • 2013 Spirit of Giving Award – Ironstone Farms (Andover, Massachusetts)
  • 2013 Dreamfar Breakfast of Champions Award – Dreamfar High School Marathon
  • 2014 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree – Newbury College (Massachusetts)
  • 2014 Back on My Feet Endurance Spirit Award
  • 2015 MarathonFoto/Road Race Management Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2017 Road Runners Club of America Distance Running Hall of Fame Inductee
  • 2018 Piggys Award — Flying Pig Marathon; Cincinnati, Ohio[16]

References

  1. 1 2 McGillivray, Dave (2006). The Last Pick. Rodale Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-59486-422-3.
  2. 1 2 3 Dana, Farber. "Jimmy Fund". Cancer Fund, non-profit. Dana-Farber Institute. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 Laffey, Kelly (16 June 2011). "The Man You Didn't Know to Thank: Dave McGillivray". Faster Than Forty. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 McGillivray, Dave. "President, CEO". Race Director. DMSE, Inc. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  5. ↑ McGillivray, Dave (2006). The Last Pick. Rodale Press. pp. 183–189. ISBN 1-59486-422-5.
  6. ↑ Abel, David. "Running Last but not Lease". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  7. ↑ McGillivray, Dave (February 16, 2012). "Joanie's Interview". Beach2Beacon.
  8. ↑ Kennedy, Patrick L. and Kennedy, Lawrence W. Bricklayer Bill. University of Massachusetts Press, 2017. http://www.umass.edu/umpress/title/bricklayer-bill
  9. ↑ McGillivray, Dave. "Founder". Non-profit for children. Billy Sheehan. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Dave McGillivray Named Race Director of the Year, DMSE Sports, retrieved 13 November 2010
  11. ↑ "Dave McGillivray Named to USA Triathlon Hall of Fame". Running USA. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  12. ↑ Burfoot, Amby (12 July 2007). "Heroes of Running". Runner's World Magazine. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  13. ↑ "McGillivray Receives Lifetime Commitment to Running Award". DMSE Sports. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  14. ↑ Wolfe, Jason. "Dave McGillivray Receives Ron Burton Award at Gillette Stadium Ceremony". Wolfe News Wire. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "McGillivray to be in Triathlon Hall of Fame". Boston Globe. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Flying Pig Marathon". flyingpigmarathon.com. Retrieved 2018-08-10.

Sources

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