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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Proud to Be a Runner

I'm sitting here at the computer trying to find every way possible to procrastinate doing any homework, wearing a tee in a rather unfeminine shade of forest green with yellow screen printing on it, announcing to the world I ran Bear 100.  I had planned on writing about this past weekend's BoSho Marathon...but that will have to wait because now it's turning into a different sort of post.

And I'm reflecting.  Wearing a race shirt and reflecting on all that running is to me.

Yesterday's tragic events (that sounds so trite, but I'm not sure how else to properly say it right now) in Boston have launched me into hyper-reflection mode.  I feel like it was not just an attack on those who were physically present, but also an attack on me and my "family".  If you're a runner, you are family.  I felt/feel very personally attacked, and I was over 2,000 miles away.  I can hardly begin to imagine what it must have been like to be there.

I was at work when I first learned of the events via text message from Geof.  I immediately grabbed a computer, seeking out further information.  I felt hot with rage.  My face felt like it was boiling over, and my skin crawled.  Who would do such a thing?  And to runners?!  Really???

My heart completely pours out to all those affected by this.

And, as silly as this is going to sound, my heart pours out to all those who got completely robbed of a truly epic life event.  Something they trained their a**es off for, paid out the wazoo to be there for, and anticipated for months, years, perhaps even a lifetime.  Boston is a big deal to a lot of people.  And a lot of people just got robbed.  Robbed of the achievement, of the amazing memories, of the awesome exhaustion that follows such a fantastic journey; robbed of the chance to field questions and awe from those around them upon their return home...robbed of a whole bunch of comparatively little things that add up to a really big thing, and robbed of perhaps even more (life, family, friends, vision, hearing, the ability to ambulate, etc. if they were too close to ground zero).  Marathon Monday is forever marred by the senseless acts of some really horrible people.

It makes me sick.

And it makes me sick because now I'm scared.  Which is the whole idea behind terrorism.  I still want to qualify for Boston again, but now I don't really want to run it.  And that pisses me off.

As I saw posted somewhere online yesterday, karma's going to have a field day with those involved.  Watch out, karma's a b***h ya'll.

I'm not usually one to so openly post about these kinds of things, but this one hit a little too close to home.  BTW, how ridiculous is it that we live in an age where "these kinds of things" is becoming frequent enough that one can refer to them as "these kinds of things"??

So today, we run, as with any other day, but today with more love in our hearts and vigor in our legs than ever before.  We run because we can, because we love it, because it is everything that is right in the world, because those who run are some of the most incredible people I have ever known in my life. And because there is just no way that the individual(s) involved in these events is/are a runner(s).  Not that non-runners are bad people.  Just that runners are awesome people :)  And today we wear race shirts, proudly.  Hence, my ugly green Bear 100 shirt :)

I guess the only thing we can do in the wake of all of this is to be thankful for the gift we have as runners (of inherent amazingness, of high doses of endorphins that keep us happy and healthy); thankful for our loved ones, for our health, for everything wonderful that surrounds us.  And thankful for all the people in this world who do really amazing and wonderful things every single day.  There are a lot more good people in the world than there are bad.  It's just that the bad apples are the ones who really stand out and cloud our view at times.  So smile, say thank you, give a sincere hug, a friendly wave, a bigger tip, and for goodness sake, say hello to your fellow runners as you pass them on the road/trail/sidewalk/path instead of acting like you're in the zone and far too cool to acknowledge anyone else ;)

Paige, out.

3 comments:

Jill Homer said...

My aunt was at the Boston Marathon yesterday. She's been a runner as long as I can remember and was an accomplished marathoner. A few years back she fell into a dark period of alcoholism that she had finally climbed out of. This past year has been her big comeback to running, and she was so excited Boston. I'd been tracking her progress when I learned of the explosions and saw they took place mere minutes after her goal time. As in, she would have finished three or four minutes before and likely wandered over to the spectator area to find her friends that were waiting for her. I was sick inside.

After an hour of wondering, really wondering, I finally saw an update that she had finished ten minutes ahead of her projected time and had just cleared the area. She heard the explosions and saw panicked people running up the street. As the chaos streamed past, before she even knew what had happened, her first thought was, "Grateful for a PR."

It's given me something to think about, having not only friends but also a close family member so directly involved in "one of these things."

Alene Gone Bad said...

"These kinds of things" suck. But you're right, there is much much mroe good in the world, and runners exemplify so much of what is good. So we keep running, and overpower the bad things by not lettting them stop us.

Paige said...

@Jill - Ugh, how terrifying. I'm so glad your friend is okay.

@Alene - Amen!

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