Boston

Running is where I find solace. It is my form of meditation, prayer, or what have you. It is, even when shared with friends, a deeply personal experience. It is a stripped down sport, with only your body, your limits, and your own perception of pain and time to manage. People who are runners innately understand this; people who are not runners ask "don't you get bored?". Running is somewhere that I turn when I am lost or confused or scared. I always feel better when I have run alone, but I have also forged many friendships (and a marriage) through running. Again, there is something about the sport that strips everything down, that allows you to just "be" in another's company.

The marathon is where this thing that is very private becomes public. There are only a few in any given race that are there to win, the rest of us are merely there to prove something to ourselves or to be recognized for those early mornings or late evenings spent in pursuit of what we love. If you've ever watched a marathon, you can witness pain, struggle, and great joy all in the course of one short afternoon. People wear these emotions on their sleeves in ways that you rarely witness in public. People often cross the finish line and cry.

The Boston Marathon is the most public of all. Almost everyone, even those who don't know that a marathon is 26.2 miles, have heard of the famous Boston Marathon. They know that it is a BIG DEAL. It is a place where otherwise normal people can feel like Olympians for a day. It is where many of us who toil day in and day out to run and run well (but who will never win a race) will recognize our greatest athletic achievement. It is a club that you join (much like Ironman) that can never be taken away once you are in. It is a race that the whole city (as well as all the surrounding communities) rallies behind and helps make a day so special, such a celebration, for everyone involved.

I mourn above all for the loss of life and the tragedy that befell everyone who had a connection with what happened yesterday. I also feel, as a runner and as part of a community of runners (and someone in the Boston "club"), a connection to what happened yesterday despite being thousands of miles away. Lives were lost and something that was special and sacred to many of us, a public celebration of that private joy that we derive from running, was turned into a terrible tragedy. Despite running often being a solitary sport, we know that we runners form a strong community. So, together we will mourn. Together, we will help each other heal.
Together, we will run.