04-15-2014

Boston Strong

boston-strong

I can’t believe it’s been one year since the tragic events that unfolded at the Boston Marathon last year.

I remember exactly what I was doing when I found out. 

I was walking out of where I had just gotten my taxes done (yeah I waited until the very last day…) when my phone started getting texts from friends asking if I had seen the news. They know I love running and have ran marathons myself. I turned on the radio in the car, and initially didn’t think it was as big as it ended up being. I thought, “Wow I hope runners are still able to cross the finish line.”

Once I got home I realized how serious the situation was.

I’ve written about why I love the running community, and it was never more apparent than in the days after the Boston Marathon. So many stories of heroes and people helping others emerged. It showed that you can still have faith in humanity, even after the most tragic events.

My mom and I are going to watch the marathon this year. I can’t wait to see if live and cheer on the runners. It will be an amazing day, filled with what makes the running community (runners and spectators alike) amazing. 

If you will be running, let me know! I’d love to look out for you. Once I make my posters, I’ll post a picture in case anyone wants to keep an eye out for us.

I’ll leave you with this quote, which is just so true:

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04-17-2013

Why I Love The Running Community

…and I think most of what I will say about the running community is also true of the general fitness community. (PS-This may be a longer post)

After everything that has happened the past few days, I have been reflecting, and began thinking about the running community as a whole.

I knew no one who was running Boston, or up there for the marathon.Yet, I still felt as if I did. I felt sad  and heartbroken hearing the news pour in. I saw this quote on Tumblr, and it made me realize why:

As a fellow runner, I feel as though someone just attacked my brothers and sisters. Praying for you, Boston.

The running and fitness community is amazing. We are strangers, yet I have created relationships with other bloggers and readers. We support each other despite not knowing each other. This was first evident to me when I started my blog on Tumblr. And it is even more apparent now as I read the stories of runners, and the acts of kindness they experienced. Here are a few examples I read from Kate’s blog at SoCal Runner Gal.

She was running at Boston…and the “runner love” started at the starting line. She realized her pants had a hole in the butt (!!), so her and her friend walked around the athlete’s village seeing if anyone had an extra pair of pants or shorts. This is what happened:

We found a woman who gladly gave me the tights right off of her body.  The very tights that were keeping her warm while we sat for hours in the cold.  That is typical of a runner.  Runners support one another even if they’ve never met.  I was incredibly grateful for this woman’s generosity but not at all surprised that I found someone in a crowd of marathoners willing to help out a stranger.  Runners are supportive, kind and generous human beings.

She also said:

I can’t tell you how many times I thought to myself, “Man! People are awesome!” as I smiled and ran.

Which is so true. I got emotional just watching the marathon on TV because I remember what it’s like to be running a marathon and having the spectators cheer you on and believe in you. When I was struggling in the New York City Marathon, a man hopped in the race and said he’d run alongside me for the next block, and said “You can do this!!!” He gave me the little extra push I needed…and I had no idea who he was…

Thankfully Kate finished the race before everything occurred. But I have read so many other stories of people who were stopped at mile 24-25, and the acts of kindness they experienced from strangers.

I saw this posted on Facebook by a woman, who is asking people to share the photo so she can find the man who did this…it is an incredible gesture. She was stopped around mile 25, and was emotional after hearing her family was okay. Then this happened:

The woman took the space tent off her husband, who had finished the marathon, and wrapped it around me. She asked me if I was okay, if I knew where my family was. I reassured her I knew where they were and I would be ok. The man then asked me if I finished to which I nodded “no.” He then proceeded to take the medal off from around his neck and placed it around mine. He told me “you are a finisher in my eyes.” I was barely able to choke out a “thank you” between my tears.

That literally brought tears to my eyes when I read it!

I’m not really sure where I am going with this post. But I just have been so touched by the things I am reading regarding acts of kindness and helping. We are all part of the running/health/fitness community, and we support each other without knowing one another. And that is what I love.

I will leave you with this quote that I found yesterday that is so true in my opinion:

Feel free to comment with your own thoughts, I’d love to read them.

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04-15-2013

Thoughts and Prayers for Boston

I seriously am in shock. I have been watching this on the news non-stop. I was out when a friend texted me asking me if I heard there were explosions at the finish. I was like, WHAT??? I immediately started googling on my phone and could not believe what I was reading, and later on seeing on the TV.

As a runner, I just feel for these people. They were just out there running a marathon…maybe their first marathon? The Boston Marathon. Marathons are days filled with joy, excitement, nerves…not this. Spectators are there to cheer on their loved ones, and see them accomplish a goal they have trained months for. Even I was super excited to watch the marathon on an internet live-feed today.

I really don’t know what else to say. It brought tears to my eyes.

I really hope they find the person who did this. This is absolutely disgusting. I just cannot imagine what those people went through, and are going through…whether they were there when it happened, further away but heard it, or runners who were way back but had to be diverted and told what just occurred to their fellow runners and spectators miles down the road.

I don’t know…I just can’t believe it.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those in Boston.

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