Beloved Boston

I’ve been feeling pretty shaken and speechless all week, and I know I am not alone in that. It’s hard to find the “right” words and I went back and forth between writing something or not, but I feel the need to share some words.

The terrorist attacks and violent crimes which have become all too frequent are horrifying and disgusting even when we have no personal connection to the target or the victims. This attack at the Boston Marathon hits close to home for us, as runners. We take it personally. We are hurt, angry, offended and we want to fight back in the best way we know how. The power of resiliency and community among runners is so strong that this will only drive our passion further.

On a personal level, my drive to return to Boston is stronger than ever. Some of my friends who ran on Monday and re-qualified have vowed to return next year to take Boston back. Many others in my running group have vowed to work harder than ever to qualify so they can run Boston and stand up against this disgrace – a disgrace not only against those who attended the Marathon this year (or any year) as runners/spectators/volunteers, but against all runners people. Trust me, if I believed I had a remote chance at qualifying again this year, I would pour my heart and soul into that goal. When the time comes, I will return and we will take back our finish line.

On Monday my running family came together like never before – my phone and email went totally berserk with emails and messages as we all tried to find out the status of our peeps who were at the scene. Thankfully, we managed to track everybody down after a few hours. And tonight, I couldn’t have been happier to get together for our weekly run club and see them in the flesh.

It has been so inspiring to read and hear stories of the outpouring of support in Boston that day, and every day since. I take comfort in seeing that the good, by far, over-shadows evil.

Keep running. It’s the right only thing to do.