Masters Running

1234

Tuesday Boston Solidarity Day (Read 101 times)

Mariposai


    Landed at 1 pm, sat on tarmac till after 3 because AA shut down.  But my problems are minuscule. Here is my take on the marathon yesterday. It was all about Joe:

     

    http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/the-boston-marathon-lucky-to-be-slow-lucky-to-have-joe.html/

     

    Spareribs

     

    Thank you, Joe. All teary eyed right now.

    "Champions are everywhereall you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard


    Bushrat Runner

      Swam tonight. Ribs, thanks for the writeup.

      PBJ


      Marathon Iowa 2014

        Ribs and Joe - powerful fate.

        BeeRunB


          A very appropriate start to today's daily, Bill. Thank you.

           

          I will get in some miles at lunch today - remembering those affected.

          My co-worker Justin, who is still out there with family, but flying back today I believe, was contacted by local media yesterday. He wrote a statement to our local news stations, partly to satisfy their inquiry, but also therapeutic for him to write it out. Even though it's long, I'll share it here because someone may find his words helpful:  (feel free to skim to the bottom - it is quite lengthy)

           

          Today, I ran in the Boston Marathon. I trained and ran marathons for almost five years (if you count two years off) in order to qualify for this marathon and get to experience Patriot’s Day in Boston. My Mother flew in from Nashville and my Father flew in from Baltimore, my wife and I made the trip from Medford. I experienced joy like few other times in my life. Running is my sanctuary. Running is the sanctuary for almost everyone who participates in endurance races like the Boston Marathon. Our Rogue Valley is home to a running culture unlike few in the country and today was one of the most important moments of my running “career.” As I ran through the towns outside of Boston, I was amazed at what we can accomplish together, as a union, how much encouragement we can give each other, how much we can push each other through anything. I dedicated each mile to one of my friends and thought about the beauty of their triumphs over the various struggles in their lives. I was astounded by the amount of support from the communities. I was impressed by my fellow runners and the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood we shared on the course. As I’ve been in Boston, I’ve also hoped to take in as much as I could of the culture of Patriot’s Day.  As a Public Defender: liberty, freedom and justice are important values that I hope to protect through my work and I appreciate how much those are diminished when we do not work together to encourage our fellow man and protect society.

          As I finished the race, I limped to meet my family and feel their congratulations. I hugged them with a sense of fulfillment I can hardly explain. It was a moment similar to that of the other major memories in my life, it validated my efforts and brought us closer together. I gave my wife a medal made for supporters that said the best accomplishments in life are shared, not individual. My Mom and Dad cried tears of pride and we made our way towards our car to go and refuel with some food. The crowd was huge, something I could not really describe by comparing it to anywhere else I have ever been. We arrived in our car, paid our parking, and began our journey back to the comforts we hoped to share. As we drove, we all heard something we thought was a giant metal load or object being dropped. We approached the intersection of Newbury Street and Dartmouth Street as the first explosion occurred. My Dad, who is hard of hearing and uses hearing aids, has had to drop his hearing aids off for service. As he heard the first noise, he said something about how it didn’t sound like it was just a load being dropped to him. We thought little of it but 20-30 seconds later, the second noise came. With it, the car jerked to the right as I was driving. That noise was accompanied by a flash of sorts seemingly about 60 yards away. I said to my family, “something horrible is happening.” We saw debris fly out on Boylston and hundreds if not thousands of people running up Dartmouth. Several were injured, all of them in panic. One woman was bleeding profusely and crying. She seemed stuck in shock, her husband or boyfriend beside her and them running in panic. I wished I could have removed her shock, taken back her injuries, or helped her more than we did in calling out to her through the window.

          Emergency vehicles flooded the scene. We all began crying, wondering what had happened. It was clear it was not an accident. We drove away as fast as we could and were able to get away, albeit everything seemed slowed down. I felt everything you could imagine: fear that there would be more explosions, fear that a larger building might fall, grief that I had brought my family to this place, fear that I might lose what was important to me, and a sadness I cannot express for what I had seen and for those that were injured. The only comparison I have is a poor one, to the video of crowds running from the scenes at the World Trade Center in New York but I have never seen terror as I did in the faces of those fleeing.

          We are staying in a hotel well outside of the city. Our lives will never be the same as they were before this moment, our memories will always be with those that we saw that were injured, the other runners who were there with us, and those who were senselessly murdered in the tragedy. Distance running is a sacred community. Running is our sanctuary. The Boston Marathon represents one pinnacle of that community and care. We have been crying, grieving, praying, and caring for one another since the tragedy occurred. We long to be back in Southern Oregon. I was unable to eat much at all despite being exhausted, my post race beer was an act of desperation instead of one of joy. My wife has been shaking like a leaf. Someone recklessly careened into our sanctuary today and made it different – but they did not destroy it as our strength and community cannot be destroyed by cramps, fatigue or terror.

          We have all been robbed of quite a bit today – I don’t feel I should be breathing this air. I am scared to enjoy the rest of my trip to this amazing city. I feel ashamed , in a silly way, that the crowds we runners brought to Boston attracted such an attack, and feel like I owe something to the people here who supported me and to those who were harmed. I am devastated by what I have seen but am overwhelmed by the support I have received from friends. One of my running groups, Southern Oregon Running Enthusiasts, will dedicate our regular Sunday trail run to the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy. We will run around Lost Creek Lake (or an out and back for those not seeking to run the full distance) on Sunday at 10:30am, meeting at the day use area of Joseph Stewart State Park and departing from there. We ask people to carpool so that we do not overburden the facilities. Between now and then, we will seek to find the most reputable charity for the victims we can and will ask people to donate at least $1 for every mile they want to run to the victims.

          Justin

           

          So, Sunday I hope to be running with my running group (S.O.R.E.) around Lost Creek Lake, 18.6 miles, and raising money for the victims of the attack.

          Thanks for sharing this.

          BeeRunB


            Landed at 1 pm, sat on tarmac till after 3 because AA shut down.  But my problems are minuscule. Here is my take on the marathon yesterday. It was all about Joe:

             

            http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/the-boston-marathon-lucky-to-be-slow-lucky-to-have-joe.html/

             

            Spareribs

            Thanks. Well done.

            1234