Boston Marathon: Love and running
There has been talk of Jim Rosing going after his coveted sub-three-hour time at Monday’s Boston Marathon. But it seems more just like playful teasing between he and his wife, Mollie.
The actual general hope is that they run together, husband and wife, and cross the finish line together.
It would be another sign of their love. They have four children together. There is love there. There is love that is in their home at the port streets in Corona del Mar, where they moved in August.
There is love they share when they run.
That love can be traced back to Corona del Mar High, where the two met and began dating as seniors in 1993.
Mollie, the former Flint, caught Jim’s eye when they had math class together in the fall of 1992.
Jim began pursuing her later in the school year.
Mollie was a star athlete. She ran cross country in the fall. Basketball was her game in the winter. Track and field kept her busy in the spring.
Jim attended the basketball games. Mollie smiles as she tells the story of Jim driving to Santa Margarita High to watch her play. And that’s before they dated.
Later, Jim found out there might be some competition, as Mollie had an interest from another boy at Newport Harbor High.
But Mollie describes that as short-lived. Nothing serious.
“She ended up staying with me,” Jim said.
“We’ve been with each other over half our lives,” Mollie later added.
They went to the CdM prom together. There was love there too.
After high school, Mollie went to play basketball at St. Mary’s. Jim went on his pursuit to become a doctor at USC.
Jim played football his two years at CdM and then got into motorcycle racing his final two years in high school.
Jim has always seemed to be well-rounded. Even now, he enjoys cycling in addition to running. Since being back in the neighborhood, he’s been a part of the 605 cyclists, a group of friends who meet at 6:05 in the morning to ride.
He’s a plastic surgeon with his office near his home. He went to medical school at USC. He had an internship at UC Irvine, residency at Stanford and later worked in plastic and reconstructive surgery at UC Davis.
Jim and Mollie married in 1999.
For the past six years they lived in Sacramento. They loved it in Northern California, but there was always thoughts of returning to Newport Beach because they wanted to be back “home” and closer to family.
Now, Mollie lives down the street from her sister, Shannon. Their parents live in the same neighborhood. Jim’s parents also have a home nearby in Irvine.
Mollie and Jim knew their four children – Luke, 9, Ellie, 7, Mark James, 6, and Sarah Blake, 2 – would be well taken care of when they headed to run in the Boston Marathon.
They left on a red-eye flight out of Long Beach to Boston on Friday night.
Mollie qualified for Boston in her first marathon at the California International Marathon in Sacramento. Jim also qualified there, but that was in 2010. He never thought to go to Boston back then because he didn’t want to go alone.
When Mollie qualified, they thought it would be fun to go together. Jim finished the Napa Valley Marathon in 3 hours, 1 minute. And now they’re looking to add memories to their lives.
They said they’re happy to enjoy the same activity, running.
The Boston Marathon figures to be another event they’ll enjoy together.
Twitter: @SteveVirgen