Lynner Derby focused on running his 23rd consecutive Boston Marathon

One week from today, Mike Derby of Lynn will step to the starting line in Hopkinton for the 117th Boston Marathon. Should Derby complete it, as he has done for over two decades, it would represent his 23rd consecutive Marathon. If he can complete 25 in a row, he will qualify for Hall of Fame status.”Three more – it’s a lot,” Derby, who is 58, said. “It’s not an easy thing to do. We’re getting there.”The challenges have increased. Last year, Derby and his fellow marathoners struggled with 89-degree temperatures.”(People) had ice buckets, hoses going, anything to try to keep runners cool,” Derby said of the scene around miles 16 and 17. “It seemed like everybody was walking.”Now, heading into Patriots Day, Derby said he is “battling a back problem.”He said it does not bother him while running, but takes its toll later. A visit to North Shore Sports Medicine this past summer resulted in a tough recommendation, which Derby recalled as follows: “You know what? If you want it to go away, stop running.”Of that statement, Derby said, “It may be, but it’s not in the cards right now.”He is scheduled to see another back specialist on April 22, a week after the marathon.What drives Derby to compete in the Marathon each year is to honor the memory of his sister Linda, who died of liver cancer in 1988.”I think of her as I’m rounding the corner (to the finish line),” Derby said. “I think of Linda. It’s the same feeling of accomplishment. It’s wonderful, gratifying. It never dwindles.”I never take it for granted. I always, always appreciate doing it, the feeling of having it done.”Derby and his running partner, Terry O’Brien of Wakefield, both run the Marathon to benefit the American Liver Foundation. This year marks their sixth Marathon running together. Their fundraising has surpassed $140,000. O’Brien’s reasons for running are also tinged with personal tragedy. In April of 2011, her mother-in-law died of liver cancer.”We’re trying to get this liver foundation to see if we can get a cure,” Derby said.He has certainly given much to his Marathon endeavors.”So many things happened over the years,” he said. “The year I had knee surgery. Especially as it gets more years, the body takes more of a beating.”However, he said, “I’ll get to the end.”This confidence is shaped by his experience not only running the Marathon, but training for it, starting in mid-October. He begins with 4-to-6-mile runs, then increases the mileage to seven.Then, he said, “a lot of 13, 14, 15-mile runs. It’s a good base to get a bunch of those. Sixteen, 17, 18. I may even do a 19. I really believe that developing your base will get you to the finish line.”The day of the Marathon is like a final exam. You’re working up to the day with the miles you do. Marathon day itself is not fun, but exciting. The challenge is the brutal winter, the snow, ice, cold. The true test is getting those runs in, all your studying and preparation.”Another reward is the presence of Derby’s family on Patriots Day: his wife Lisa (whom he calls “my bride”) and their sons Michael Jr., a sophomore at UMass-Dartmouth, and Matthew, a sophomore at Malden Catholic.”Every year since they were 2 or 3, my bride takes them to the finish line (to accompany Derby on the final leg),” Mike Derby said. “It’s always my emotional spot. Hereford to Boylston (Street), they’re always there.”Derby has a tradition of shaving his head for the Marathon so his hair resembles an arrow, “so I don’t get lost,” he quipped. “It points straight ahead.” Last year, his sons honored him by shaving their heads in the same way. Michael Jr. also wrote his father a pre-Marathon message noting that they were “only three Marathons away from me running with you” and calling him “the best role model me and Matt could ever ask for.”As for his wife, Derby said, “She’s never been anything other than supportive. It’s a blessing to have someone like her. She’s the one pushing me to keep doing this. She truly supports me. She truly is in my cour