Some says running the Boston Marathon is the top ten experience of your life. I agree 100%. What an experience! I am now hooked and have found my running passion again. I am currently training with the help of a coach, Greg McMillan, hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon in the future.

Yes, the Heartbreak Hill was bad and so are the other one hundred hills on the course including that last one around the turn to the finish line. Yes, I felt nauseated and threw up afterward. Yes, my quad ached more than ever. Yes, I felt worse than any other marathons including the one I did not finish. Yes, even my hair hurt. But yes, I loved every minutes I am in Boston for the Marathon even during the race. Soaking up the atmosphere of the weekend and the day after, I unexpectedly got a chance to meet my running hero, Bill Rodgers. Meeting him and Bart Yasso was the cherry on top. I still have stupid smile on my face that would not go away. I will go back to Boston. The question is how often. See you there!

Thank you for the experience.

Tom M Nguyen

Friends & Family,

The 2008 Boston Marathon is now history! The male winner beat me by
about 110 minutes and Lance Armstrong “edged” me out by about 68
minutes, but I completed the Boston Marathon in under 4 hours and had a
great time doing it!! The three runners representing the Foundation for
the Children of Vietnam (FCVN) started with about 1,200 other charity
runners and were in the last group to cross the starting line. Team
FCVN can proudly report that we finished handily beat nearly 6,000 of
the 22,000 + finishers!!!
Your collective support was/is greatly appreciated!

Here’s the lowdown on the race:

This was my 13th marathon and without doubt the 112th running of the
Boston Marathon was the best organized, best executed and certainly
the best supported race I have ever run. It was truly amazing!

There were over 22,000 runners supported by over 500,000 screaming
Boston-area residents, students, Red Sox fans (and a couple Yankee
fans)! It was totally cool!

You couldn’t help but be inspired and motivated by the young and the
not-so-young, the male and the female, the local and the international (72 countries), and the healthy and the visually and mobilityimpaired fellow runners! It was truly awesome!

While the legendary Heartbreak Hill would just barely be classified
as a hill in West Virginia, having it stare down at you at Mile 19.5 made
it plenty steep in my book! Luckily the crowds lining the hill and the view from the top made it worth the climb! But it was a PITB!

The 112th Boston was the 1st marathon that I’ve run to raise
donations for a charity. The chance to run 26.2 miles in Boston with some of
the fastest marathoners in the world and with “regular” people like you
and me raising money to help those less fortunate certainly gave the race
new meaning. And reading the close of Phuong Bui’s (FCVN director)
congratulatory email to Team FCVN — “your miles save lives” –made
the whole experience unforgettable!

Thanks,
Matt Nau

What began as an overly ambitious New Years Resolution turned out to be one the most fulfilling experiences of my life. When I revealed to my cross country and track superstar girlfriend that I was going to run a marathon she shook her head, giggled, and then laughed. And then laughed some more.

All of a sudden my ambition met the necessity of FCVN who needed runners to run the Boston Marathon. I had toyed with the idea of running less serious events around the country but I figured nothing would beat running my hometown marathon for an awesome cause.

Then the training happened. I ran on icy roads and lonely trails. I spent hours on endless treadmills and occasionally ran at night, mostly by myself. The training was different but very relaxing. It reminded me that I used to really like running. The support I was given from every imaginable angle was invaluable. Everybody from friends to family to friend’s family to complete strangers were extremely supportive. Many were more than happy to share some marathon advice! (Chaffing!)

Race day was a blurr. I woke up earlier than I had ever woken up. The line to get on the buses was amazingly long but there were so many eager faces. What struck me was that more than a handful of people thanked me for being a charity runner which really put things into perspective. The bus ride was funny. There was traffic and when the bus was stuck people would jump out and go to the bathroom on the side of the highway. Driving to Hopkinton made me a little uneasy because driving 26.2 miles takes a good amount of time. It is really far!

When the gun went off I ran slowly for a while. I felt great. I had an MP3 player but I did not use it once which I am glad about. The crowd was amazing. The first half of the race was real easy. The second half, eh…not so much. I started getting tired with about 12 miles to go but Wellesley and Boston College were the most fun parts of the race. I never allowed myself to consider the possibility of dropping out so I never doubted myself but it really took a lot out of me to keep running. Finishing was so exciting. I had not wanted to set a goal time for my first marathon but I am more than happy with my time.

The fact that I was able to help FCVN in their mission truly added a whole other level to the experience. I reminded myself multiple times when the going got tough that I was not just running for myself and I am sure that helped push me up the hills to the end. Thank you all at FCVN for granting me this opportunity, I will forever be grateful and would love to help out again in the future.

Sincerely,

Gaston Kelly

“God’s Gift to you is the Gift of Life. What you do with your Life is your Gift to God.” –Mother Teresa.
Our hearts and prayers go to the family of Tran Anh Phuong. Sam, Steven and Victoria Nguyen are friends and supporters of the Foundation. Her death is a great loss to the Vietnamese community. To continue her kindness and generosity, her family wishes that donations be made to the Foundation in her name. To donate online, please click “Contact/Donate” and include her name in your dedication. Or you can send a check payable to Foundation for Children of Vietnam, PO Box 2507, Rockville, MD 20852 and include “Tran Anh Phuong” in the Notes. All donations are tax-deductible. This is her bio as contributed by Sam Nguyen.

Our beloved Mother, Tran Anh Phuong, passed away on April 20, 2008 after a long illness. She was the eldest child of Reverend Te Ngoc Tran and Mrs. Tot Thi Nguyen. She resided in Arlington, VA for the past 33 years.

Our Mother attended Southeast Asia Union College in Singapore majoring in English. From 1968-1972, while raising a young family, she served as a Vietnamese instructor at Ft. Bliss, TX preparing military officers to serve in Viet Nam. After a 19 year career as Executive Assistant for the Commission on Engineering and Technical System at the National Academy of Sciences, she retired in 1992.

Our Mother was very devoted to her husband, Phuong Van Nguyen, children, Elisabeth Nguyen Pham, Catherine Nguyen, Sam Nguyen, Victoria Nguyen and her grandchildren, Alexandre Pham, Gabrielle Pham, Nathaniel Pham and Steven Nguyen. She actively volunteered her time and energy in the Vietnamese community especially working with refugees where she served as interpreter, advocate and solicitor for donations from the business community. She expressed random acts of kindness toward all and believed that the love of God flows through each act of kindness. Her strength was her unwavering belief in God and that all adversity can be overcome according to God’s will.

We sincerely appreciate your desire to make donations dedicated in memory and honor of our Mother, Tran Anh Phuong, who has always dedicated her life to help others.