Boston Marathon 2013
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I am coming off an inspiring weekend of training. I conquered the weather gods to ensure I got the training in I needed. Having an accomplished feeling I was truly looking forward to watching the Boston Marathon unfold while at work Monday morning. We all have our stories related to this event, just like we have our 9/11, Pearl Harbor or JFK stories. Sadly to say a tribute in such a situation is not my strong suit when it comes to writing or speaking, all I ever want to do is hug people. So, starting off with a massive Marathon driven and Sprint powered HUG here is a condensed version of my Boston 2013 story and an attempt at honoring all racers, runners, Marathon workers, volunteers and Bostonians.
Sitting at my computer excited Americans took 4 on both sides I continued to watch and wait for others I know to finish. Everybody I was close with had finished and I was ready to be done constantly refreshing my screen and get back to some serious work, knowing I could check the final results later. Then some strange statements started to arrive on my search engine, and then, "Bomb?" What? Bomb? I searched and read that two explosions had gone off at the finish line. Some may take this the wrong way and be angry when I say this, but for me this feeling and experience is my personal truth and reality - my heart dropped and my mind remained confused and unable to function properly, it felt just like Freshman year of college sitting in my dorm room trying to comprehend 9/11. When my mind started to function again it instantly went to my friend who works timing the race, knowing he would have been at the finish line fear started to burn inside me. Fortunately I received word quite quickly he was safe.
Beyond thinking of my individual friends and acquaintances, as well as all of the dedicated runners and fans out there, my International Relations training and knowledge started to get the wheels spinning in my head. I started to think of the ripple effect this incident is going to cause. Maybe I started thinking of this too early, but this is what I have been trained to do - prepare and expect the worst but hope for the best. The thoughts that crossed my mind and I began to ponder RAN the gamut. All of these thoughts stemmed from all of my experiences in life from racing, managing races, volunteering, working in international development, being a Christian and the list goes on. I thought, this is going to change the face of running and endurance sports, race fees are going to go up (was this really the time to be thinking that NO, I know that), race directors are going to have a lot more work and expenses involved (therefore race fees will rise), the desire to help Americans become healthier and be involved in such activities has been tarnished, diabetes might start to increase at a faster rate again (really Megan I ask myself, where is your mind), visas are going to be more difficult for foreigners to get to visit the US (my good friends already struggle or can't get visas to come to the US), more lives will be lost at war, more money will need to be spent at the city, state and federal level, this is TSA and the induction of Homeland Security all over again, how far will it go this time, taxes will go up, what is going to happen to Ironman, will my family even be able to come near the finish line to watch me finish...and the list goes on and on and remains a mixture of complete illogical thoughts alongside the unfortunate realities.
I would like to end before my rant and heartache spurs too out of control. I am proud to be a Christian and a believer in Christ, I am proud to be a Global Citizen, I am proud to be an American, I am proud to be an athlete and most of all I AM PROUD TO BE A RUNNER! This time it is not, don't run in fear, no, this is about RUNNING IN COURAGE, SUPPORT AND STRENGTH. So, I ask everybody to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and stand up and start running. If you have never run this is your chance to run and make a difference for you and for our community. Start with a walk, then do intervals run/walking, then run, do what you can and be proud for you and and for the world. Run and be motivated, run and motivate, RUN and REMEMBER.
Sitting at my computer excited Americans took 4 on both sides I continued to watch and wait for others I know to finish. Everybody I was close with had finished and I was ready to be done constantly refreshing my screen and get back to some serious work, knowing I could check the final results later. Then some strange statements started to arrive on my search engine, and then, "Bomb?" What? Bomb? I searched and read that two explosions had gone off at the finish line. Some may take this the wrong way and be angry when I say this, but for me this feeling and experience is my personal truth and reality - my heart dropped and my mind remained confused and unable to function properly, it felt just like Freshman year of college sitting in my dorm room trying to comprehend 9/11. When my mind started to function again it instantly went to my friend who works timing the race, knowing he would have been at the finish line fear started to burn inside me. Fortunately I received word quite quickly he was safe.
Beyond thinking of my individual friends and acquaintances, as well as all of the dedicated runners and fans out there, my International Relations training and knowledge started to get the wheels spinning in my head. I started to think of the ripple effect this incident is going to cause. Maybe I started thinking of this too early, but this is what I have been trained to do - prepare and expect the worst but hope for the best. The thoughts that crossed my mind and I began to ponder RAN the gamut. All of these thoughts stemmed from all of my experiences in life from racing, managing races, volunteering, working in international development, being a Christian and the list goes on. I thought, this is going to change the face of running and endurance sports, race fees are going to go up (was this really the time to be thinking that NO, I know that), race directors are going to have a lot more work and expenses involved (therefore race fees will rise), the desire to help Americans become healthier and be involved in such activities has been tarnished, diabetes might start to increase at a faster rate again (really Megan I ask myself, where is your mind), visas are going to be more difficult for foreigners to get to visit the US (my good friends already struggle or can't get visas to come to the US), more lives will be lost at war, more money will need to be spent at the city, state and federal level, this is TSA and the induction of Homeland Security all over again, how far will it go this time, taxes will go up, what is going to happen to Ironman, will my family even be able to come near the finish line to watch me finish...and the list goes on and on and remains a mixture of complete illogical thoughts alongside the unfortunate realities.
I would like to end before my rant and heartache spurs too out of control. I am proud to be a Christian and a believer in Christ, I am proud to be a Global Citizen, I am proud to be an American, I am proud to be an athlete and most of all I AM PROUD TO BE A RUNNER! This time it is not, don't run in fear, no, this is about RUNNING IN COURAGE, SUPPORT AND STRENGTH. So, I ask everybody to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and stand up and start running. If you have never run this is your chance to run and make a difference for you and for our community. Start with a walk, then do intervals run/walking, then run, do what you can and be proud for you and and for the world. Run and be motivated, run and motivate, RUN and REMEMBER.
Great post. I love all your thoughts and ideas because I had a lot of the same ones. Definitely plan to run and remember. And I will be running in next years Boston marathon (for charity obviously- since qualifying would be impossible) hopefully with thousands of others inspired to run through this tragedy. Thanks Megan!
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