STONEHAM – Bill McCabe got a little emotional crossing the Boston Marathon finish line last month, knowing that he had just finished running 2,620.2 miles for Marc Fucarile, who had lost a leg there two years before.
"It was a little overwhelming," McCabe said.
McCabe, 62, was about a fifth of a mile short of the finish when the bombs went off in 2013, and he and his family escaped injury. Fucarile — who went to Stoneham High School with McCabe's three children — was not as lucky, and McCabe felt he needed to do something to help.
He chose to run for Fucarile, his friend and neighbor in the close-knit town, to raise money for medical expenses, which McCabe said far outweigh the compensation Fucarile has received.
And since McCabe likes to set goals — in 2012 he and a friend ran the Boston Marathon course for 26 consecutive weekends — he decided to run 2,620.2 miles: the equivalent of a marathon for every 100 days Fucarile initially spent in the hospital after the bombing.
Though he has already done the miles, McCabe decided he would run on seven continents to make the task even more challenging. He is scheduled to add South America in June when he runs the Inca Trail Marathon to Machu Picchu in Peru.
"It's supposed to be the toughest marathon in the world," McCabe said enthusiastically.
McCabe did not start running until about eight years ago when his doctor told him he had high blood pressure and high cholesterol and needed to go on medication. Instead, McCabe changed his diet and put on the first of what would become hundreds of pairs of running shoes.
Medical issues resolved, he has not looked back, he said.
He started his quest to run for Fucarile about 17 months ago, taking time off from his job as a heavy equipment operator for the town of Stoneham and dipping into his retirement account to pay for his travels. He ran the Great Wall of China Marathon, the Masaai Marathon in Kenya, the Antarctica Marathon, the Dublin and Athens marathons, and a marathon in Auckland, New Zealand.
Dublin was his fastest, at 3 hours, 46 minutes, and 57 seconds, and China the most grueling, taking almost seven hours in 85-degree heat with no shade, McCabe hastened to add. He stopped for 40 minutes at the Great Wall, he said, crediting a Coca-Cola from a vendor with getting him through the race.
For the Antarctica Marathon, runners went over in small groups on a Russian research vessel and had to disinfect their shoes and vacuum their backpacks and clothes so they would not contaminate the isolated continent.
"They treat the land with the ultimate respect,'' he said. "It was a wonderful race. We were running in a little snow, but a lot of mud. I came in in the middle of the pack. My main objective was to finish the race and to do another continent for Marc."
In all his races, McCabe has worn a blue T-shirt with "Run for Marc Fucarile 2620 miles" printed in yellow lettering. He was wearing that shirt in this year's Boston Marathon, and when he walked to meet Fucarile and his wife, Jennifer, and give them his participation medal.
"Marc inspires me," McCabe said. "When I get tired and become a baby at mile 20 and think I can't get through it, I think of him and what he endures every day."
McCabe inspires Fucarile, as well.
"He's an amazing man,'' Fucarile said.
Fucarile, 36, is being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, D.C. Last week, while testifying in the penalty phase of the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial, he said he has had more than 60 surgeries so far and may face having his remaining leg amputated because of ongoing nerve pain.
McCabe will keep on running, keep on raising money. He has raised $5,747 so far.
"There's nothing grand about it," he said. "When people need help we have a moral obligation to help them. This is what we are supposed to do.
"My only mission is to build awareness that some survivors are battling life every day and need help."
Actually, he said, he has one more goal. McCabe and a biking Fucarile have done a 5k race and a half-marathon together, and McCabe wants to finish a full marathon with the younger man.
Boston would be good.
To contribute, go to www.gofundme.com/fzeskc
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Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com .