Well written!  And, I whole-heartedly agree!   Thanks for writing this!!

Agreed, I'm very glad that everyone that has posted a RR from Boston decided to do so.  It was also great to get to talk to some friends this week who were there.  It's tough seeing the conflicted emotions in their faces, but completely understandable.

Thanks B&B champs 

I wanted to publically thank all of the Boston Marathon runners for your race reports over the past week or so.  I hope I can speak for the masses who lurk and post on this board, you all are almost royalty amongst us, given the opportunity to run in what is considered the supreme road race in the World.

 

I read with reverence your individual posts throught the year given the experience, talent and energy you bring to the sport we are all enamoured with.  You take the time to impart your wisdom; challenge us to approach our running problems differently; and generally strive to make us better.  Many of us wish to be where you all just trod, few will.

 

Your reports let us inside the event in a way that we can only someday dream about.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, do not be humbled but rather proud of what you accomplished, and walking the masses (us) through your journey is both a joy and honor to be held in high esteem.

 

So thank you Goo, LTH, Lilly, Fuzzy, Shirfan, T.O. and anyone else who I might have missed.

+1,000,000

No, thank *you*.

 

Without infinite support from the excellent people who make up this online community, I would not have dared such an undertaking.  There is no royalty here, just a village of equals, of runners.

WORD

I remember being a relatively new runner and stumbling into the RWOL forums.  At that time, I had no desire to run a marathon and couldn't even contemplate running 20+ miles.  It was only after reading lots of race reports from folks who had run marathons that I begin to think that I might just be able to run one.  The advice I received from others and the things I learned from their race reports were invaluable to me in preparing for and racing my first marathon.  As I continued my involvement in the online community, I learned that not every race necessarily needs to be an all out, pull out your guts and hope you die suffer fest.  You can actually go to a race and just enjoy being there.  That was a fairly radical concept given my competitive nature.  I continue to learn from those whose perspective differs from mine.

An online community is a collaborative environment.  While we may not always reach consensus, the posting of different perspectives is valuable even if it is sometimes confusing.  Human beings are infinitely variable and what works well for one person may or may not work well for another.  Without those multiple perspectives, people can get caught in the trap of trying over and over things that work great for someone else but may not work so great for them.  While I always advocate from my own perspective, I also appreciate the perspective offered by others even when, or maybe especially when, it differs from mine.

So, I'll say thanks to everyone who posts their experiences.  That is how we learn.  Or at least that's how I learn.