Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The Boston Marathon

One Boston Day: A New Tradition | NBC Connecticut


I wish I could say "Happy" One Boston Day but considering the reason that today is #OneBostonDay is because of the Boston Marathon bombing two years ago on this date, it doesn't seem fitting to say "happy".I can't believe the bombing was two years ago. It seems like it just happened yesterday. I remember it perfectly. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I was out on the course with my friend Jan and her two kids, my son, our dog and my friend Sue. We were hanging out around the mile 21 marker cheering on the runners. When I saw my friend Dee run by, we left to go find a late lunch. A police car zoomed past us, sirens blasting but I didn't pay it any heed. I assumed some poor soul had fallen and needed medical attention. If only. My heart still goes out to all the victims affected by the events of that day, as well as their families.

Two years later and all our bad memories from the day have been resurrected with the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial and related media attention. I'm glad he was convicted but I cannot believe that there are actually conspiracy theorists out there that think this is all a great big hoax. Talk about crazy people.

The thing is, life does go on and our spirits are resilient. We can't let the terrorists win! As both a former runner of and volunteer for the Boston Marathon myself, I will continue to support this special race any way that I can.

This past winter, Christopher and I supported the race by volunteering our time to the Melrose Running Club Sunday Long Run program. Every Sunday we were out there handing out water to the runners as they trained for Boston. This past winter was brutal and we had to stand out there in sub-zero temperatures, surrounded by six feet of snow...but we did it!

Here is a photo of the runners on the day that they ran the 22-miler from Hopkinton to Boston College. They are a totally awesome crew!


We had fun helping out but man....it was cold! In case you forgot, this is the winter we had this year:

We tried to have fun with it.....


....but man, it was cold!


Thankfully my kiddo had fun with it too. Here he is making snow angels.

So here we are, just a few days away from the 2015 Boston Marathon and I'm choosing (as you can see) to have positive thoughts about the day and what it means to me. There is a special quote that has inspired me regarding this experience and I would like to end my post with that quote:
Who is Standing Up for Women? An Exercise in Looking for the Helpers.

I would like to believe that I am one of those people who helps. I am #BostonStrong.