The Boston Marathon Tragedy: From a runner’s perspective
I had previously written a guest post to be published on an online fitness site, but in the wake of the Boston Marathon Tragedy I have decided on a new post. I am posting here because there is a larger audience than on my blog, and this is information that people outside the running community needs to know.
Running is hard, in fact it often sucks. But people who run have found solace in a quiet run, delight in pushing hard for a PR (personal record) accomplishment, in pushing through when your legs feel too tired, joy in the runners high and overall peace in being a runner. We even have our own language. We identify as “I am a runner.” We talk about split times, tempo runs, PR’s logs, which races are best. We find that cute races such as the color run and mud run are a way for us to convince our non running friends and family to step into our world for a bit. But until you start “training” for a 10k, half or full marathon you might not fully appreciate who “we” are. At heart every runner is a purist, because while we like our gadgets its the only sport in the world where the only thing that really changes your performance is the hard work you put into your training. No matter how new, techie or polished your shoes are your legs still need to have the mileage behind them to get you to your goal.
The Boston Marathon is a mecca for runners. It is a race you have to qualify to run in. What that means is that you have to run a full marathon in a certain amount of time within 14 months before the race to even be invited to run Boston. It is extremely challenging to train for a marathon, it takes a tremendous amount of time and energy, and you need to have an unbelievable support system. There are long runs on the weekend which can take 3-4 hours followed by a long nap. There is yoga, cross training, icing, massage. There are no more Taco Tuesdays or Friday night trips to the bar. For 14-20 long weeks you train, all in preparation for a race. Now remember, if you are running Boston then you have already ran a full marathon to qualify just 14months before, which means the training you had for the first race and for Boston equals over a year of your time devoted to training. Often this means time away from other activities in your life such as work, school, family and/or friends. But we do it for personal accomplishment, we do it because we love it, we do it because we have to. It’s hard to say exactly “why” we do it.
I have been hooking people on running for 10 years. I have always believed that running teaches you so much about yourself and who you are, what you are made of, and who you can be if you are willing to work hard enough. I usually take a non-runner and get them into casual walk/running, casually sliding the idea of a 5k in their head and after the thrill of that accomplishment, we move up to 10k and then a half. I think everyone should run at least 1 full marathon in their life. It teaches you so much about how far you can push, and you can always conquer what feels like the impossible.
I am so angry about what happened at the Boston Marathon. The fact that such an act of hatred and terror ripped through one of the most sought after races in our industry is seriously disgusting. The fact that you see those runners after 4 hours of running just 50 feet from the finish line are knocked down by an explosion, which also maimed and killed other runners and spectators, is devastating. I cried watching an older runner, confused as to what had happened try to crawl to the line. He worked so hard, he wasn’t sure what was happening around him, his brain was on that last mile. The one thing we all talk ourselves through during a race is “Don’t walk, finish strong, you are at the end you can do this!” and then Bam! That beautiful moment full of accomplishment is changed in an instant. What it means, what it stands for is all changed in an instance.
The entire city of Boston has always used marathon day as a giant celebration. It is also Patriots Day and so it is a holiday. Traditionally there is a Red Socks game a few hours after the marathon. It is a wonderful celebratory day of all things Bostonian and athletic, it is a wonderful way to usher in spring. This October I will be running the Long Beach Marathon in an attempt to qualify for Boston, this has been planned for several months on my training calendar. But it will never be the same. The Boston Marathon will still go on and we will always remember this senseless act of violence. In 3 weeks I will be running the OC half marathon. It will be interesting to see what they change and how they honor Boston.
It is so sad to think about the 8 year old little spectator just cheering on his mom or dad, or the other victims. But today as I head out for my 8 mile run and lace up just like hundreds of thousands of runners all over the world, we run for solace. We will run for peace of mind. We run to find answers and we run in solidarity.
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I never knew the amount of running and training a runner had to do before entering the Boston Marathon. That was very interesting and yes, it was a huge tragedy.
Our prayers still go out to the runners and their families.