Ronald Kmiec
Last Sunday, as part of the MetroWest Symphony Orchestra's Boston Marathon Kickoff Concert, Ronald Kmiec performed Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 at Hopkinton Middle School.
Kmiec, 65, describes the piece as "one of the major warhorses of major literature," but playing it is nothing new. The concert pianist and private piano teacher has his bachelor of music degree and artist diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, and has run his fingers through the concerto's dramatic melodies hundreds of times.
Monday, Kmiec will return to Hopkinton to tackle a different kind of "major warhorse," one he's intimately familiar with nonetheless: the 112th Boston Marathon, where he'll wear bib No. 20577.
An avid runner, Kmiec has made it a point to run a mile every day since Nov. 28, 1975. He appreciates consistency: The Carlisle resident and Salem, N.H., native is proud to run his 35th consecutive Boston, a streak he almost had to give up.
On Nov. 22, 2007, Kmiec finished the Feaster Five, a 5-mile race in Andover, experiencing intense chest pain. The pain persisted and he finally saw a doctor Nov. 26. After a trip to the Emerson Hospital Emergency Room, Kmiec was amazed to learn he had suffered a heart attack.
"[I was in] disbelief, shock," he said. "How can that be happening to me? I've been running for 37 years and I thought I was immune to it. But I guess I was wrong, and I found out it could hit anybody."
The next day, he underwent a coronary angioplasty, wherein doctors inserted a stent into one of his arteries to supply blood to his heart. He didn't run a mile, ending his streak at 11,687 days - one day short of 32 years but still the 14th longest consecutive-day running streak in the United States. During that time he ran 44,438 miles, an average of 3.8 miles per day.
Kmiec didn't run for a month, but he never forgot about the upcoming Boston Marathon. While he said his wife thinks he's "foolish" to run it, he's just happy to get back on the road.
"Once I started a streak like I had, I won't let that go very easily," he said.
