Boston 26.2

I was originally going to post something huge about what's been happening with the house, but then yesterday happened, and suddenly the house seems much less important for the moment. If I'm feeling super ambitious however, I will put up a bonus post tonight. The Boston Marathon is THE marathon. I think the only possible way to beat it would be with the original marathon from Athens to Crete. If you're not running down dusty Roman roads, however, run Boston. Every runner has it on their bucket list (even me, with no intention of doing it before I'm about 80- have you seen the qualifying times??). Always the 3rd Monday in April (Patriots Day), usually pretty and cool, thousands gather to run around the city of Boston, receive their jacket, and then go home to say "I ran Boston." It's a very important marker in a runner's life. What I love about races is the feeling you have when you get there. I remember the first race Matt came with me to, a triathlon, and how blown away he was by the fact that 1) there were thousands of people in the middle of nowhere before dawn and 2) they were so happy.I had never thought about it before, but it is true that most of the time, you are surrounded by happy people at races. They've worked really hard to get there. And, they'll burn more calories before 9 a.m. than the average American will burn during his or her entire day, thus justifying the huge plate of pancakes and eggs they will consume after. When I started racing I was so happy to become part of this community that brings together young and old, that encourages and inspires, and that leads you into other races. It's kind of amazing. Back to Boston. The Boston Marathon is the pinnacle of marathon racing. It was a casual start, with only a few runners, in non-supportive shoes, who got out there, ran 26.2, and then thought they should do it again the next year. Now it has been transformed into an international icon of a race, with people from all over the world who make that qualifying time. First run in 1897, it's one of the six major world marathons (the others are: Tokyo, NYC, London, Berlin, and Chicago, but that's a recent development). In 1897, 18 runners came to the start line. Now the average is around 20,000 (though 2011 pulled in 26,000), with about 500,000 spectators. It's a lot of people who come out regardless of weather to either run or spectate the sport. It pulls together amateur and professional athletes in a way rarely seen. Anyone can do a marathon. Not anyone can do the Boston marathon. With the strictest timing qualifications in the sport, you have to be a dedicated runner to even make it through round one. Of course, once you're there, you are there. There is no reason to believe that the face of racing will change after yesterday, but there is reason to believe that we once again have to be cautious with yet another event in our lives. I texted friends who were there to make sure they were okay, I tried to process the news footage showing steel beams falling on spectators and racers being literally blown away steps from the finish line. I heard the stories about the hospitals, set up to deal with dehydration, severe cramps and maybe a heart attack were suddenly put into disaster mode, nurses watching people wheeled away missing limbs, with shrapnel in their faces and chests, ruptured eardrums from being close to the explosion. And I was really angry. "What is WRONG with people?" I shouted from my elliptical, and the man next to me looked at me and said "Amen." It's a race. Sure, it's an important race, but didn't we agree as humans to leave sporting events out of terrorism? Wasn't the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics enough for us to realize that we need a break from violence once in a while? The 117th running of the Boston Marathon should really have only been important to those who follow marathons. There was nothing spectacular about it. Instead, it will become a pinnacle in our fight to retain normalcy in a world that is increasingly becoming abnormal. Instead, next year, people will approach it with apprehension. I don't know if the security measures will be increased, or if people will be more apprehensive about heading into the other major races- Berlin, Chicago, and, I don't even really want to type it, New York. Will we start viewing all the backpacks and cameras suspiciously? Will spectators no longer be allowed to crowd up to fencing but be pushed back? Will runners have to go through security checks? I hate that someone did this, because I can't see what the Boston Marathon was doing wrong. I can't understand attacking such an important event for so many that doesn't affect anyone else. Running becomes a private matter, between you and your feet. The only upside I could take away was that surely this wasn't a runner who did the bombing. I was reminded of Elle in Legally Blonde (Reese Witherspoon's character), who famously said when developing defense for a murder trial, "She teaches aerobics, right? Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands!" Or detonate IEDs at marathons. I think today I'll spend some time this afternoon building up my own endorphins and thinking of all the marathons that will go off without a hitch (or no abnormal ones)over the next few weeks.