Tragedy At Boston Marathon

Image from running.competitor.com

I was on the computer yesterday with the news channel on in the background when suddenly it was announced that explosions had gone off near the Boston Marathon finish line. I watched in horror as it was announced that at least three people were dead. I switched over to Facebook to find out if there were any news of our Alabama runners who were running the marathon. My cell phone started ringing from a couple running friends to ask me if I had heard anything about our Alabama runners.


Little by little we started getting information that they were all okay. It took three hours to find out about each individual person that was in Boston because several were still out on the course when the explosions went off. It was a stressful three hours.

I ran Boston Marathon in 2003. It was my third marathon and by far the most memorable. My friend L and I were talking about the upcoming marathon at the race last Saturday. She still hasn't qualified and that has been her goal for a long time. I would love to run it again one day since the first time I ran I was injured and it was a painful 26 miles. My time would have put me at coming in after the 4:09 time when the explosion went off. I can't help but think what if I was running it yesterday and still out on the course while my husband would have been waiting at the finish line. He would have been at the finish line when the explosions went off and I would have been on the course not knowing if he was okay or not.

This is such a sickening and horrible thing to happen during this memorable, historic marathon. It's well known not just in running communities, but by everyone around the world. I hope everything is done to find and punish the people who did this. My heart goes out to the parents of the eight year old boy who was killed yesterday and all those injured while waiting for loved ones to cross the finish line.

I read in the news that some of the marathoners went straight to the hospital after they crossed the finish line to give blood for those injured in the blast. My husband had never heard the term "running community" until he heard me use it. He thought I had just made it up until I was reading him a news article yesterday that had the term in it . There is a "running community" out there that is like a family. It is a strong and resilient community. This horrible act will not stop that "running community" from running marathons. This will not stop that "running community" from running period and will not keep them away from their dream of running the marathon of all marathons.

The Boston Marathon.

Image from Facebook