My Thoughts On Boston

It is hard to put into words what I am feeling right now.  The past 48 hours have been a shock to the world of marathon running because of the fatal bombings at the premiere marathon in the world, Boston.  The Boston marathon is the ultimate achievement in marathon racing for mortals like me.  The history of the race is what runners drool over, it starts in a town called Hopkinton, exactly 26.2 miles outside of downtown Boston.  That’s right, it is a point to point race, but the crowd support is unbelievable from start to finish.  For example, even on the two lane highway of route 135 from Hopkinton to through the town of Framingham the streets are ten people deep, no joke!   However, the mile or so stretch that gave me goose bumps, and frankly turned me on, was the thunderous, roar of the coeds at Wellesley College around mile 13.  The girls call out like Sirens, screaming with pride and enthusiasm that is euphoric, and makes you feel like a Super hero, which honestly all of us runners are on “Marathon Monday”. 

I ran the Boston marathon on April 18^th, 2005.  I will go into great detail about what I went through in order to make it to the starting line, but a little hint is that it was my 8th marathon, so stay tuned for those future posts:) That said, I wanted to share a few of the wonderful memories I experienced in Boston for marathon weekend.  The most important part of the weekend was that I had a HUGE crowd of supporters who flew in from near and far to cheer me on, and we all know that the strength and success of runners is directly linked to their support team.  My then boyfriend, now husband Marion was with me, my brother Peter and his newly fianceed fiancé Alexa shared a hotel room with us, four of my best  girlfriends from college came out from Denver, including thee Hillary Jackson, my Dad and step mother Sally made the jaunt from lovely Los Angeles, and my friend Jonathan made a special trip from Chicago to cheer me on.  I was still stunned and amazed to have qualified for the marathon, and beyond thrilled that so many dear people in my life took time out of their lives to share this special day with me.

After hearing about the bombings on Monday I could not help but remember my race in Boston. I finished in 4:11, and the bombs went off at 4:09, and none of my family and friends made it to the finish line because they were stuck in the train from their last spectating spot on “Heartbreak Hill,” missing my finish completely. I remember straining my exhausted eyeballs looking for them when I made the left turn from Beacon St. to Boylston, and waiting for what felt like an eternity in the “Family Meeting” area to be reunited with my motely crew, but that frustration would have been a miracle for us all this year.  I can not wrap my head around the fear, confusion, pain, and sadness that the victims experienced after the bombings.  The finish line is already a nucleus of emotions, and the epicenter of both mental and physical limits, that to add on the horror of the bombings must have been a nightmare.  It has been difficult to watch the never-ending coverage on the news, because us runners are a peaceful people, and our family and friends sacrifice so much for our passion/obsession through out the training process for the marathon that the race itself is the cherry on top of the Sunday for all involved, and to have such a joyous occasion be destroyed by such an ignorant, and gruesome act makes me sick.  I pray every moment for all involved, the victims, the first responders, the runners, the spectators, they are true heroes. 

I have already qualified for the 118^th  Boston marathon, and will be running it on April 21st, 2014.   I am excited and honored to once again be able to run the race, but even more so I am looking forward to running it in solidarity with my fellow runners and celebrating that magnificent spirit of the Bostonians who welcome us to their city for “Marathon Monday”.