Boston

The bombing at the Boston Marathon was a terrible and sensless tragedy.  It effected the lives of so many people.  I wanted to share how and why it effected me.

I have grown up watching my mom and my dad run races and compete in triathlons.  Still, to this day, you can hear me yelling at the finish line "GO MOM!" when I see her coming.  I did not appreciate it as much when I was younger, but as I got older I grew to appreciate all of it much more.  And now as a runner, I appreciate as both a spectator and an athlete.

When I heard and then saw what happened at the Boston Marathon, I immediately broke down in tears.  I know what those people who were waiting for their loved ones to finish were feeling.  They were excited, some probably emotional.  See, running in the Boston Marathon is a life long dream for so many people.  In order to achieve that, it takes years of extremely hard work.  You cannot just enter the Boston Marathon, you have to qualify for it.  You have to be really good.  So, the families were waiting to watch dreams come true and years of hard work and dedication pay off.  And the runners..... oh man.  To be able to run 26.2 miles is a feat all in its own.  But to be good enough to run 26.2 miles in Boston is amazing.

I watched all of these dreams turn into nightmares in seconds.  Children yelling "go mom" just as I did so many times are now scarred with the fear of another attack.  Husbands and wives so terrified for their loved ones that they might not have made it.  Mothers and fathers wondering where their child was and if they got hurt.

I know several of the runners that ran the race that day.  My first thought was of one of my mom's best friends.  He has a wife and 2 little boys.  I worried about him and his kids and if they made it out of there safely.  Then I thought of the rest of the people I knew.

The Tallahassee running community is amazing and within a couple of hours of the attacks, we heard that everyone was okay.  Everyone got to finish the race.  The last Tallahassee finisher, crossed the finish line minutes before the explosions and was still in the finish shute when it all happened.  But, they all made it and were okay. 

So, this weekend, myself, Allen and my mom all dedicated our weekend to Boston and the people who were killed or hurt during this senseless tragedy.

Saturday we ran the Palace Saloon 5K.  We wore race t-shirts and a blue and yellow ribbon to honor Boston.

thats me... this was the best they got!

Sunday we ran 5.2 at 5 for Boston.  A lot of the runners in the marathon were stopped at the 21 mile mark because of the bombings.  The runners in town organized a run to finish the race for those who could not.  Three out of the 12 Tallahassee runners who ran the marathon came to the event. 

Here are some pictures before the run:

This pic is for my brother.... its silly and sorry if it is offensive.... its sort of a "tradition"

I am so thankful that we were able to be apart of something that hopefully was helpful or meant something to those who were injured, or killed and their families.