Bartoletti pens book on journey after stroke

Not even a massive stroke could keep Marie Bartoletti from running the world.

Boston. Tokyo. Dublin. Berlin. Rome. Jerusalem. Chicago. New York City.

In all, she’s completed more than 420 marathons, over 100 of which she has run since suffering a massive stroke on Thanksgiving Day in 2015.

“It’s her passion. She’s good at it. She’s a motivator,” said her friend Joanne Buffo of Pleasant Hills, who got to know Bartoletti when she served as a parent volunteer at McClellan Elementary where Bartoletti taught.

More than four years since that fateful day, Bartoletti, 62, of Bethel Park, is sharing her journey of comeback and determination through her recently released book, “Perseverance.”

Friends and former students of the longtime West Jefferson Hills School District physical education teacher gathered in January at Jefferson Hills Public Library for a book signing with Bartoletti. The event was sponsored in coordination with Pleasant Hills Public Library.

The evening was filled with laughs, hugs and memories from Bartoletti’s 26 years of teaching.

“Oh, I miss her so much,” said Elizabeth Snyder, 16, a sophomore at TJ, who credits Bartoletti with getting her and her sister interested in running when they were in elementary school at McClellan.

“She was fantastic. She always knew what she was doing. She helped everybody. She was just so loving,” said Elizabeth, who has run 11 marathons. Her sister, Belle, at age 14, has run 15 marathons.

The two often run into Bartoletti on the racecourse. Seeing her face brightens up their day and helps them push forward, they said.

Bartoletti’s love for running came a little later in life.

She laughs that she didn’t like to run in high school. But when she started teaching physical education, it was a less expensive sport than tennis that she could participate in to stay fit.

Before her stroke, Bartoletti had completed 397 marathons and 10 Ironman Triathlons.

Over the years, she fell in love with pacing, where a runner helps keep the pace or time on the course for others around them.

Bartoletti was visiting family in Kalamazoo, Mich., when she suffered the stroke. She was unable to speak, but her feet still moved.

While in the hospital, she already wanted to get back to running.

“She wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was trying to tell the doctor, ‘It was my brain, not my feet,’” Buffo said, as Bartoletti let out a laugh.

Bartoletti did everything she could to recover. She saw a speech therapist and was making headway. Unfortunately, she was never cleared to return to the classroom and was forced to retire.

To this day, she misses the kids, she said.

Two months after suffering the stroke, Bartoletti was cleared to run a marathon. And she’s been running ever since.

She completed her first marathon back in 5 hours and 30 minutes.

“That’s too slow,” she said with a chuckle.

Her fastest marathon time is 3 hours and 40 minutes. Today, she paces races across the globe for runners looking to complete their marathon in 4 and a half to five hours.

“Perseverance” chronicles each of Bartoletti’s runs and her journey to come back.

She flips through the book and laughs at the memories, like when she paced the Barcelona Marathon and rocked out in a colorful wig with friends.

Her favorite race of all was the 2004 Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in San Diego because it was her son David’s first marathon.

Bartoletti, who once appeared on a Wheaties box, started the Kids of Steel program where tudents run the majority of a 26.2-mile marathon in increments, completing the final mile of their race by completing in the one-mile Kids Marathon held during the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend.

Shelley Territ, a second-grade teacher at Chartiers Valley Primary, who runs the school’s Kids of Steel program said kids are motivated by Bartoletti. She encourages them, no matter how fast or slow they are.

Bartoletti now serves as the mentor for the Chartiers Valley Primary program, attending pep rallies at the school, and running alongside the kids on race day.

At McClellan Elementary, Bartoletti always organized Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart fundraisers for the American Heart Association.

When Bartoletti suffered her stroke, Ella Buffo, now 14, who was in fifth grade at the time, made a poster similar to those students would create for the fundraisers. Except, this one was for a different hero: Bartoletti.

The poster ultimately ended up being used as a cover for Bartoletti’s book.

Laci Schmotzer, 12, and her mom, Jackie, of Pleasant Hills, stopped by the book signing to see Bartoletti.

When Laci was in first grade at McClellan, she was diagnosed with epilepsy. Bartoletti reached out every single day to make sure Laci was OK.

“It meant a lot,” Jackie said. “She was the only teacher that did that.”

Bartoletti is known for showing up at students’ dance recitals or traveling to their races just to show them support. That’s the kind of teacher and person she is, parents and students alike said.

Watching Bartoletti’s determination to come back wasn’t a surprise to anyone.

“That’s Marie. That’s her character. That’s who she is,” said Paula Sullivan, of Pleasant Hills, whose 20-year-old daughter Tara was inspired to run many years ago thanks to Bartoletti.

“She’s amazing that way,” Ella said. “She inspires me so much.”