Bill Iffrig gets back up and finishes the race. Photo by John Tlumaki
I was crushed yesterday when I heard the news about the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. As a runner I couldn’t not empathize with the people there, running the race. The Boston Marathon is the ultimate goal for people like me. People work their entire lives to get there and to have their dreams crushed (Or, more importantly, their life lost or limb lost) is horrifying and terrible. I cried when I heard about people losing limbs. Everytime I run I am so incredibly grateful for my legs. I thank my legs. I don’t know what I would do without them because running is that important to me. I know that every runner feels this this way. My heart breaks for those that were injured.
My husband is also a runner and we talked a lot about this tragedy yesterday. We wondered why a terrorist would choose a the Boston Marathon to terrorize people. In many ways it makes sense. The finish line of the Boston Marathon represents great personal accomplishment. The person who did this wants to say that our personal accomplishments don’t matter because, look! We have bombs and can kill you or blow your limbs off. Your great feat of running 26 miles means nothing because I have explosives.
However, this terrorist has it all wrong. Runners are a persistent group.Running is not easy. If you choose to run you are entering a path of self-discovery. You will find that you are not only being challenged physically, but you are also being challenged mentally. Those who can run 26 miles are tough, as well as persistent.
Terrorism is not going to cancel out the great achievement they have earned.
Personally, it doesn’t scare me. If anything it makes me want to run the Boston Marathon one day, if I can even qualify.
This photo represents this tenacity very well. This is a photo of Bill Iffrig who was yards away from the finish line when the bomb went off. The blast caused him to fall to the ground. You know what he did? He got back up and he made it to the finish line. He said, “I ended up second in my division. After you’ve run 26 miles you’re not going to stop there.”
Nope. You aren’t.
Blatherskite 
”I ended up second in my division. After you’ve run 26 miles you’re not going to stop there.”
Damn straight!!!!! You gotta always move forward. Never live in fear! The minute you become fearful, you’ve lost. They’ve won. All this does for me is reinforce the fact we’re all in this thing called life together. If someone wants to act horribly, that’s their prerogative. I won’t. Anytime I see someone who needs assistance, I offer. The other day, a woman in line in front of me at Walgreens was .58 cents short. I offered to pay for her purchases and let her give me her cash. She thanked me but decided to leave one item. She was extremely thankful. I told her it was no big deal. It’s just silly to ignore someone who’s having a hard time. Even a few words with someone having a bad day can be enough. Lets all try to be more selfless.
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Amen! I am always so heartened to see the kindness of humanity during these horrific tragedies. There are terrible people out there but there are also very, very good people too.
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Moni,
Jenna runs track and I’m going to share this with her. She’s not seen anything like this before. This post says what I couldn’t say to her because I’m not a runner.
Thanks, excellent post dearest!
Heather
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Heather, thank you so much! I am moved that you would share this with her. That means a lot.
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