I love the Boston Marathon. I love everything about it. I’ve never run it (or any other marathon) — but truly, it takes a mediocre runner who could barely go 7 miles to appreciate the concept of running another 19 after that. On a hilly course.
I love the history of it. I love the Hopkinton-to-Boston course. The quaint New England look of the Hopkinton starting line. The cheering students in Wellesley. The cheering spectators on Heartbreak Hill. Heck, the cheering spectators everywhere. The runners who say the want to come to Boston to hear us cheering spectators.
The 26.2-mile-long party.
The excitement of the world-class runners coming through.
The fact that almost no one leaves after the world-class runners come through, instead satying to cheer on all the regular folks.
The runners who write their names on their shirts so spectators can cheer them on by name.
All the spectators who yell out encouragement by name to total strangers.
I wasn’t watching at the finish line today because I can’t deal with the crowds and the logistics of trying to get there. So I was elsewhere on the course today, spending a couple of hours cheering on a bunch of runners I don’t know. And feeling guilty when I left while runners were still going through.
Deep sympathy to those who lost loved ones and those who are injured, as well as to those who witnessed the horror of today’s attack. Deepest thanks to the brave public safety and medical personnel who helped the wounded. And deep, bottom-of-my-soul fury over what happened at my beloved Marathon today.
Thats the only way to respond to this. Understandably there is heavy military and police presence on the scene right now, and we need to give them space to do their jobs and conduct their investigation. But next year it is my sincere hope that we run the exact same race, on the exact same route, with the same amount of openness and fan support to the runners that we’ve had the past 117 years. No better way to show those responsible that they lost and Boston and its marathon go on undefeated and undeterred.