Reflections on Boston 2013

What do you say about a day that started out with great race conditions? Upper 40s, little wind, going up into the 50s.  Then, some time over 4 hours into the race, two horrific blasts near the finish line mar that wonderful experience.

In my next note, I'll describe my experience at the finish (about 2 blocks or so away).  But for now, I wanted to share the words of Amby Burfoot.  Amby is one of the editors of Runner's World and he won the Boston Marathon in the late 60s.  The day before, Jordana and I attended a seminar at the expo entitled Legends of Boston: Amby and several other Boston greats (including Katherine Switzer and Bill Rogers) talked about Boston in the "good old days."  He was out there on the course with me yesterday, and was one of the thousands of runners who did not finish because the race was closed after the explosions.

Amby writes:

This wasn’t just an attack against the Boston Marathon. It was an attack against the American public and our democratic use of the streets. We have used our public roadways for annual parades, protest marches, presidential inaugurations, marathons, and all manner of other events. The roads belong to us, and their use represents an important part of our free and democratic tradition.

I trust and believe that will not change in the future--not in Boston, not at the Boston Marathon, and not at other important public events. Yes, we must be ever-vigilant. We can not cover our eyes and ears, and pretend violent acts don’t threaten our great institutions.

But our institutions did not become great by following a path of timidity and cowardice. And we can only hope that, when pummeled, as the Boston Marathon was today, they will rise again, stronger than ever.

Burfoot's words just resonated with me.  Running is the sport of the everyman.  You don't need special talent to participate.  Just drive, willingness, endurance, stamina, and mental toughness.  Running crosses the color line, gender line, nationalities, religion.  There is no black or white, Christian or Jew or Muslim, male or female, American or British or East African or Japanese.  Just fellow runners.  Sure we engage in healthy competition -- but we are all friends on the race course.  When you pass a fellow runner who is hurting, you invariably call out "hang in there!" or "looking in strong!"  We all want each other to succeed. To get that PR to qualify for Boston.  Because your success in no way diminishes mine.  Everyone toeing the start line of a race -- be it the marathon or triathlon or 10K or 5K -- truly is a winner already.  The medal or the t-shirt is just an afterthought, icing on the cake.

The coward or cowards who perpetrated this attack mean less than nothing to me.  Flies I bat away and ignore.  They will not stop me from running, from racing.  My body may break down or I may get more injuries keeping me from competing in the sport I love.  But no person or crackpot ideology is going to prevent me from toeing the start line of my next race.

And don't let them stop you either, sports fans.  The roads and trails and paths belong to us.