Boston Marathon

It’s the most famous race in the world and the highlight of any runner’s bucket list.  The Boston Marathon is an event that I remember watching as a kid, throughout college, and even one year in Paris during spring vacation with my family.  I achieved my qualifying time last February in Birmingham and I knew that I had to register, despite the constant uncertainty of my work schedule.  Fortunately, my office allowed me to plan the start date of my new job around the race.  My dream of running in my home city was finally coming true. 

The day before the marathon, my #1 running friend joined me to pick up my number and explore the expo.  She is the one who convinced me to sign up for my first marathon in Barcelona and then proceeded to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to run it with me.  Whenever I finish a big race, she’s the first person I call to discuss how insane we are for regularly subjecting ourselves to such pain. 

Here's where it all began: Barcelona Marathon 2010

Race expos don’t usually overwhelm me, but this was truly something special.  People everywhere were wearing their iconic Boston Marathon jackets and thousands of people were filling the entire convention center.  As Kristen and I walked through the endless rows of vendors, she shared stories from the year that she had run the race, which really got me pumped up for the experience I would have the next day.  I was so excited to know that I would soon be part of an elite group who can say that they have completed the Boston Marathon. 

Here's the scene at the finish line on the day before the marathon

The next time I see this point, I will be hardly able to walk!

Race morning was surprisingly relaxed.  My parents dropped me off at the athlete’s village in Hopkington, where I just relaxed on the grass and enjoyed the camaraderie.  From seasoned veterans to first-time marathoners running for their favorite charity, the sense of anticipation was palpable. 

For some reason, my strongest pre-race memory is of portable toilets.  Every race gives me a small amount of anxiety, as I wonder whether I will be able to plan my last toilet stop perfectly enough to avoid stopping during the race.  This calculation is never easy because, at most races, the lines get prohibitively long within 20 minutes of the start.  In Boston, this is definitely not a problem.  As I approached the starting line (which is about 1 km from the athlete village), there was an entire parking lot filled with portable toilets.  The sight actually made me laugh because it was like the mecca of toilets.  They even had portable urinals, which I have never seen before.  On that note, I’m done discussing toilets.

From the very first steps of the race, I felt such an incredible sense of excitement, as spectators literally filled the hill alongside the road.  Hopkington truly is the perfect start to this race because it feels distinctively “New England”, with the small church anchoring the town center and American flags proudly displayed everywhere.

Here's the scene at the start of the race

Usually, the crowds (and the fellow participants) thin out as the miles progress but not in Boston.  This is definitely due to the strict qualification standards and the precision of seeding.  My starting wave of 9,000 people contained only runners who had finished a previous marathon with a time of 3:19 or better.  I am definitely no superstar in this field!  On the flip side, every runner can’t help but feel like a superstar when there are 500,000 spectators lining the course and cheering for you. 

Is this a superstar pose? 

I look for mile markers in most races, but in Boston, I looked for landmarks.  There are the famous girls of Wellesley College (mile 13), my parents (mile 15), the old Bread & Circus I used to shop at (mile 17), the mansions on Commonwealth Ave that I drove past countless times on the way to school (miles 18-20), Kristen’s medical tent (mile 20.5), my alma mater (mile 21), and my first post-college apartment (mile 24).  Basically, the last 5 miles were just filled with memories and I probably would have enjoyed the sights even more if I didn’t feel like my legs were about to fall off.  

My favorite mile of the race: home of Boston College

I can barely describe the excitement of the last mile.  By this point, the crowds were 5-10 deep and the cheering was relentless.  The various country flags stationed just before the finish line serve as a reminder of the truly global nature of the event.  As I finished the race, I have never simultaneously felt so much pain and happiness together. 

Embracing the pain at mile 26

After completing a race, I normally return to the finish line to cheer on the slower runners but this time was different.  I felt unusually fatigued, so my parents took me straight home to relax.  I took a long shower and when I came back downstairs, my father announced that two bombs had just exploded at the finish line of the race.  As I watched the footage on tv, I was speechless.  The very location that had just provided me with the most exciting race finish of my life was now an active crime scene.  Immediately, our phones and all social media pages lit up with messages from everyone who knew I was running that day.  

Throughout the rest of the night, I remained glued to the tv.  I was so grateful that I decided to go home instead of returning to the finish line but sadness filled my heart, as I thought about all the innocent victims whose single motivation was to cheer for amateur athletes in some of the proudest moments of their lives. 

The search effort over the next two days was nothing short of amazing.  Only in Boston will the entire city shut down to search for a single person.  I can’t say I am surprised.  Bostonians are uniquely proud of their city and they possess a toughness that is impossible to break.

If the Tsarnaev brothers were hoping to crush the spirit of the Boston Marathon, they could not have failed more miserably. The sport of running doesn't have winning teams and losing teams.  There are no politics involved.  Marathons will allow anyone to participate without regard to age, gender, race, religion, or other superficial factors.  For this reason, an attack on the Boston Marathon is an attack on all runners.  In the days following the bombing, support from the global running community was overwhelming.  The Boston Marathon will not only continue next year, but I predict that it will be stronger than ever.