The Boston Marathon and What I Expect in My Next Marathon

I believe it is no secret to my readers that I am a runner. Because I am a runner, I can't help but feel that I was personally attacked on Monday. Sure enough, all of us were attacked, but the running family is a tightknit group of folks who will stand by each other, even if we've never met and never will. Running is a sacred thing and it is undertaken by some of the strongest and most amazing people that the world has ever known. Running is pure. There's no equipment, really. There's no magical methodologies. Just a butt-load of miles stacked up to get you to where you are. Your only adversary is time. The vast majority of us aren't competing against anyone other than ourselves. We cross finish lines and get every inch of our bodies packed with ice, looking like we can pass out at any second and say things like "I couldn't be happier with how I did today." Knowing full well that we won't walk normally again for at
least three or four days, if we're lucky.  We're the ones that will be on a road trip and say something like "Hey, we're one marathon away from _____." and grin while everyone else in the car seems to visibly wither. In some ways, we're all probably a couple of degrees off of right, but you know what else?
Runners are some of the bravest, most determined, most tenacious, steel-spined, reach-my-goal-or-die-trying sons of guns there are. We train in the mud, snow, rain, thunder, lightning, heat and cold and beat the living crap out of ourselves doing it just so we can go out and kick a little harder next time. We get up before the sun and eat hills for breakfast. We burn off a full "recommended daily allowance" of calories before most people's days have even started. Our souls are fed by destroying mud, dirt, rocks, hills, valleys, and asphalt. We are the ones who feel BETTER after running 10 miles.

You know who else is strong? Our friends and our families who put up with all of our ramblings, moans and groans and then yell at us at the top of our lungs when they see us at mile 3, 7, 12, 16, and 20. They hug us at the finish lines even though we smell worse than any human should ever smell. They get up with us and make oatmeal or pancakes. They rub out our sore muscles and go to innumerable lengths to make our dreams possible.

The starting line of the Rock 'n Roll
Country Music Marathon in Nashville

In other words, runners and their families are the worst terrorism target ever.  We don't get afraid. We don't back down. People learned a long time ago not to tell us we can't do something, because we love nothing more than to prove you wrong.  We will mourn for our friends who have been hurt and weep with those who lost friends and brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters... but we won't be gone long. By definition, runners move on...and we come back stronger than ever. Defiance of intimidation is in our blood and we've got the scars to show it.

I know these are all big words and tall talk, but I'm going to prove it to you...WE will prove it to the world. Just watch...watch what happens at races in the weeks to come. You know what you'll see? More runners than ever... family members, friends, and even just random local people will come out in greater numbers than ever before to cheer on all of us runners as we move toward another goal.  They'll have signs that they spend their own time and money on... getting as creative as possible to give us encouragement and motivation, and effectually proving to the world that whatever fear or terror may have been there for those first seconds, minutes, hours after those bombs went off has already been turned into fuel that pushes us harder. That's what we do with pain.

My next race will be the Rock 'n Roll Series' Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee on April the 27 and I couldn't be more excited about it.  The national anthem before the race will be the best the world has ever seen. 35,000+ of us will be there to run our butts off and say to the world "How do you like me now?" The crowds will be HUGE and the running family will be at its best. See you there!