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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDear Boston~
When I was younger and could afford to travel, if asked where I was from I said Boston. I have always lived in the burbs, never Boston. Yet it identified my roots, because Boston is Massachusetts. As a life long resident my belief is we are all Boston. That does not diminish the other cities and towns we are a proud state and our roots run deep.
The marathon hosts runners from all over the world. People come to compete in an event that spotlights grueling stamina and excellence in their field. This will be the 118th running of the marathon. There will be 36K at the starting line ready to make that run.
BU grads who made Boston Marathon history
he first Americans to compete in the modern Olympics were mostly members of the Boston Athletic Association, including BU student Tom Burke (LAW 1897) (standing, left). They brought back from Athens the idea of staging a Marathon race in Boston.
http://www.bu.edu/today/2014/in-the-running-1897-to-2014/
On the eve of the Boston Marathon, some would like to dis Boston. I know the term Boston Strong has been commercialized, so has Christmas. However that will not stop me or others from the pride and celebration of the event. Nor will it stop us from honoring the dead and all those traumatic injuries of that day a year ago. It's about spirit. It is a celebration of life. Boston Strong is a slogan that has been used to heal so many wounds. It brought a community a state and many around the world a sense of peace.
I have friends that are returning to the site tomorrow, they worked two doors down from one of the blasts. They helped hundreds move to safety through their back door and saw things on that day back in April 2013 that still haunt them. A relative of mine is friends with six of the RN's that worked the hospital tent last year. Five are returning, one is unable, the horror was to great. They went to treat blisters, heart attacks and exhaustion. Instead they set up a triage center to treat those that had severed limbs and severe concussions. They set up a make shift morgue.
It was never about Boston, it was about all of us everywhere that suffered a loss and as a community came together to heal. It is about our spirit.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)I have never run it and never will. I rode the route once in a bike.
I started running in 1980 and people like Bill Rogers, Greg Meyer, Alberto Salazar, Ibrahim Hussein, Joan Benoit, Allison Roe, Jacqui Gareau were my heros and heroines. I once was running (if that is the correct description) along the Charles with my girlfriend and Greg Meyer ran past going in the opposite direction. It was stunning--absolutely silent.. no effort; no sound. He was in the distance and then he was gone.
I have no problem with Boston Strong. I have never actually lived there, but I love Boston
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)I plan to be there tomorrow, it is an amazing sight.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)I wish I could be there.
I would be in tears.. for the people of Boston and for the feat of running 26 consecutive under-5-minute miles... or 15 minute miles, or whatever it takes.. They are all heros.
Enjoy...
Cha
(297,655 posts)The stories are all compelling but this is the personal story that got me the most.. Talk about being "Strong"..
"Team Hoyt was ready to retire in 2013. But after being stopped a mile from the finish line when the bombs went off in Boston last year, they decided to run the race one last time, next Monday. We will get across this year, 73-year-old Dick told Runners World. Its going to be very emotional"
Thank you she.. sorry if "BostonStrong is too commercial" for some people but I wonder if it is for those who were the victims and loved ones of those whose lives were forever changed.. but, will not let it keep them down?
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Dick is 73 years old! OMG. That is 25 miles.
Thank you Cha, it will be very emotional.
Will 2014 Be The Year An American Wins The Boston Marathon?
Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/04/boston-marathon/will-2014-year-american-wins-boston-marathon_100252#t7VA03g5bQr6PsFV.99
An American win would be beyond words, says Meb Keflezighi.
Is this the year an American will win the Boston Marathon?
Since the mid-1980s, the annual answer to that inquiry has been an emphatic no, but with an overabundance of emotionally charged patriotism on what happens to be Patriots Day in Massachusetts, theres a good chance that question may once again be answered in the affirmative on Monday, April 21.
After the finish line bombings took away much of the attention from last years elite race, many top Americans have made breaking the tape in front of an inspired crowd on Boylston Street their top priority in 2014.
On the mens side, 38-year-old Meb Keflezighi, who has shown no signs of slowing down in recent years, leads the U.S. charge and hopes to become the first American to win in Boston since Greg Meyer in 1983. Keflezighi, who is racing here for the first time since finishing fifth in 2010, watched last years race as a spectator at the finish lineleaving the scene just minutes before the first bomb exploded in front of Marathon Sports. He is coming off a solid winter of training and racing that saw him capture the U.S. half-marathon title in 1:01:23 this past January in Houston.
Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/04/boston-marathon/will-2014-year-american-wins-boston-marathon_100252#t7VA03g5bQr6PsFV.99
Cha
(297,655 posts)Boston Marathon this year, she..
Amazing stamina and forbearance these runners have.. I can't even imagine being able to run for 2 hours and some change!
Have an inspiring poignant experience tomorrow when you're there in person, she~ Looking forward to hearing all about it from someone who is there for us!
We'll be there in Spirit~
TOD
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)I can't imagine running that far either, Cha.
Thank you for that beautiful memorial picture
mathematic
(1,440 posts)It'd be nice if an american had a shot but this year's field is really, really deep.
On the men's side, you have perhaps the best two marathoners in the world (the other candidate for that title ran last week in London), Dennis Kimetto of Kenya and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia. Those guys are truly outstanding runners. While any runner can have a bad day and fall apart in a marathon, it would take at least 5 top guys faltering as well as a career performance out of Ryan Hall (the only American with a shot) for Hall to come away with the win. Hall hasn't finished a marathon in years due to injury, which doesn't inspire confidence in his chances.
On the women's side, Rita Jeptoo of Kenya is a reliable favorite. Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia is a great young runner to keep an eye on. American (and Bostonian) Shalane Flannigan is a great runner but I don't think she's got enough at the marathon distance to compete for the win. I'd give her the best shot out of any american to win. Personally, I'll be rooting for Bezunesh Deba of Ethiopia (but a resident of the US, living in the Bronx) because she ran a really awesome race in last years NYC marathon.
Anyway, enjoy the races, I'll be watching them online.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Meb Keflezighi Becomes First American Boston Marathon Champion since 1983
http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/2014/04/21/meb-keflezighi-becomes-first-american-boston-marathon-champion-since/wszlhky4RA1O8WG7G0DjGL/story.html
mathematic
(1,440 posts)My analysis of the victory blueprint was correct though. 7 of the top 10 fastest runners dropped out and Meb, not Hall (who was one of the 10 fastest that stayed in), had the career day. Asking a nearly 39 year old to run about a minute faster than his career best is asking far too much. Longshots like this aren't realistic expectations. But hey, that's why the marathon is an interesting race.
My analysis of the women's race was spot on. Jeptoo won it in a course record, Deba fought it out with Dibaba for 2nd, and Shalane led through most of the race but didn't have enough to hang on for the win. I also read today that Deba's husband and coach is becoming an American citizen later this year and that she plans on getting citizenship in the coming years. So that's good news for American running.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)It was a thrill to see them pass by from the burbs. Several ran with prosthetic legs!
Thanks mathematic.
Logical
(22,457 posts)did great, just like any other city.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Communities everywhere draw together in a crisis. Many in the world follow in kind.
Logical
(22,457 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Inspiring video at the link~
Photographer hopes for healing in 2014 Boston Marathon
BOSTON For the most important Boston Marathon in history, Boston Globe photographer John Tlumacki will be posted at his usual spot, working the finish line, waiting for the runners to find their way to him. It's a job he loves.
This year, it's also a job he needs.
The 2014 Boston Marathon means so much to so many. For Tlumacki, it's a search for catharsis, the chance to start over, to wipe the slate clean, to, as he says, "hopefully make some photos that will be beautiful and wipe out all the memories of the bad photos that I took last year."
Tlumacki stood at the finish line last April 15, taking some of the 2,000 images that he made that day, when the first of two explosions went off 40 feet away from him, so loud and strong that Tlumacki could only describe it as if he had been standing too close to a cannon as it went off.
Instinctively, he ran onto the course, to a runner who had been blown off his feet on Boylston Street, with three police officers, sprinting into action,
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/04/20/christine-brennan-boston-marathon-boston-globe-john-tlumacki/7942873/
VScott
(774 posts)and I've attended the marathon once... around 71-72 IIRC.
I guess it's like a native born NYC'er that's never been to the top of Empire State Building, or visited the Statue of Liberty.
This year, it's reached the pinnacle of insufferable media saturation, high fiveing, and commercialization
Enough already.
Just let it go and forget about it.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)This year? It's the one year anniversary of the event! High effing five's, your soul is cold if that's your take of tomorrows race. That is pretty damn sad!
Forget about it? Gee okay, scr*w them! So they lost a limb or two get over yourself, man up. It's only a limb. Wow lost your brother Martin, your sister lost a leg and your mother lost her eye, let it go...get over it.
What amazing compassion you have.
Let's all do a high five here!
Cha
(297,655 posts)obtuse insensitivity.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)I just found this, a team is running for Martin.
Team MR8 ready to run for Martin Richard, Boston Marathon bombing's youngest victim
It's been a tough winter to train for a marathon. In Boston, and across the northeast, the snow covered roads and ice coated sidewalks. The wind, unrelenting, bit through layers of running gear, and seemed to always blow from the least helpful direction.
But for the members of Team MR8, as with many running this year's Boston Marathon, the tragic events of last year spurred a new sense of purpose, and power, to keep moving.
"I have unfinished business on that course," said Pat Brophy, a runner stopped with less than a mile to go last year when the two blasts turned the event deadly. This year, Brophy will run as a member of Team MR8, honoring eight-year-old Martin Richard who was killed in the terrorist attack while cheering at the finish line with his family.
For Brophy, and other runners on the team, the Richard family has become a symbol of strength.
"The fact that they get up and take a breath every morning, the fact that they get up and put their feet on the ground, the fact that they take a step every day, the fact that they live their lives with as much dignity and strength and courage as they do right now, running 26 miles seems like not that big a deal," said Brophy, who works at Harvard and lives in Dorchester, the same Boston neighborhood as the Richard family.
Martin
His sister Jane
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/team-mr8-ready-to-run-for-martin-richard-boston-marathon-bombings-youngest-victim/
Cha
(297,655 posts)an excellent way to put it. It's so heartbreakingly inspiring it makes ya want to cry..
Pat Brophy: "The fact that they get up and take a breath every morning, the fact that they get up and put their feet on the ground, the fact that they take a step every day, the fact that they live their lives with as much dignity and strength and courage as they do right now, running 26 miles seems like not that big a deal," said Brophy, who works at Harvard and lives in Dorchester, the same Boston neighborhood as the Richard family."
Mahalo, she.. I loved the article~ Running for Martin~
Tracer
(2,769 posts)I'm so sick of the wallowing in the bombing, the exploitation of the injured, and the manipulation of people's emotions.
Call me cynical if you must, but the truth is that the whole public aftermath has been waaaay overdone. Yes, I'm very sorry for the injured -- they have a long road ahead of them. But do I need to hear about it every damn day?
And that dangerous, careless shootout in Watertown, while attempting to capture the bombers? The police were shooting at each other, and stray bullets were impacting nearby homes -- nearly killing the occupants (and almost killing one of their own cops).