“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Message)
I was brought to tears many times on Monday. At first, when it happened and pictures from the scene started showing up. The chaos, the destruction, the panic. And then when the accounts started pouring in. Of runners running to the hospital to give blood. Of the volunteers stepping up and going above and beyond what they ever imagined they had to do. Of people opening their homes to displaced runners. Of there being no shortage of blood supply, thanks to people giving. Of the police and the EMTs and first responders – who just did their job and did it well.
I’ve participated in many races and I’ve spectated at even more. I love the running community. It’s supportive and inspiring. While I don’t ever see myself running a marathon, or even a half-marathon, I love being at races and the atmosphere that envelopes you. It’s intoxicating. Runners are incredible people with these fascinating drives to get out there and run for hours and hours at a time.
It took my mom over 7 hours to complete her two marathons. I know it’s not an impressive time (and sometimes she feels like she’s not really a marathoner because it took her so long) but just imagine being on your feet, running and walking and limping and hobbling, for seven straight hours. Heck, I can barely handle an hour of it before the monotony is too much. Checking off mile after mile after mile. All to say you ran a marathon and to get that coveted medal.
On Sunday, I participated in my fourth Iron Girl race. I walked the 5K with my mom and her coworker and it was hard. It was the first race I’ve done in a while where I haven’t listened to music and I have to say, you miss out on a lot when you’re listening to music. I felt such camaraderie with the people around me. We cheered each other on. We cheered when the front runners in the race passed us. We laughed at the signs people had made specifically to motivate us. There was such support from everyone. We all wanted to succeed and see the people around us succeed. A race is a place of celebration, of pride, of encouragement. It is not a place of chaos and destruction.
What happened on Monday was truly awful. I have never felt unsafe at a race, not when I’m participating or spectating. To take something so triumphant and inspiring and turn it into a tragedy like this, breaks my heart. It frightens me that something like this could happen – that someone could hate so much to bring darkness on such a celebratory day. My heart hurts for Boston, this place where my grandfather grew up and a city that doesn’t hide its passion. I know a lot of people from Boston and I love them all. They are good people.
When the tragedy of Newtown happened, I couldn’t put into words how I felt. I couldn’t listen to the news reports, couldn’t look at the faces of those children, without feeling so sickened and scared of the fate of our country. Thinking about the terror those kids and teachers must have faced is heart-wrenching.
I was eleven was Columbine happened and thirteen when 9/11 happened. I was young. I was clueless. I heard about it, shrugged my shoulders, and went about my day. I didn’t have the emotional capacity to understand how devastating these events were and would be for the rest of my life. They were sad events, but they didn’t affect my day-to-day life or anyone I knew so I couldn’t grasp what it meant for our country.
I was 19 and a freshman in college, living on a college campus when Virginia Tech happened. Thirty-two people killed.
Then, just last year, there was a shooting in a random theater in Colorado. 12 deaths, 58 injuries. What? How could this happen?
In December, a sick man walked into an elementary school and killed 26 people, including 20 children. This can’t be happening. Not here. Not now.
Two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. 3 deaths, 183 injuries. How. Could. This. Happen.
Am I scared for our country? No, I am not. We are a strong country. We are unified. We are together. We are one.
We will not be silenced. We will go on. We will run races. We will kiss sweet babies and play silly games with children. We will travel to see friends, attend sporting events, and make each day count. We will not be silenced. We will love, most of all. We will laugh and cry and feel joy and life. We will love our families and love our friends and love our neighbors and love strangers. Love is the answer to all this. Choose love. Be love. Live love.
Just as it was in Colorado and Newtown and Columbine and Virginia and New York – our hearts are with you, Boston. We are with you.
What happened in Boston was awful but I know the running community and Boston community will come back strong. The Vancouver Sun Run is happening this coming weekend – it’s one of the largest 10K’s in the world with over 50,000 runners and people are signing up in DROVES after Boston. They are also encouraging everyone to wear blue and yellow. How inspiring.
I am a little scared for society to be honest. I agree we’re strong but this is happening WAY too often and too close together these days. It’s a scary thing when nowhere really feels safe anymore.
I can’t say I am scared for society because, if anything, the tragedy in Boston showed me humanity and the way the human race comes together no matter what. And it also gave me a TON of faith in our police. I don’t know if it’s happening too often or if we’re just more aware of it now that we’re older – and the news is everywhere now. Not just in a newspaper or on TV but something we can get every second of the day. It’s still scary, though, as it’s happening in places you think you’re safe: elementary schools and movie theaters and college campuses and race finish lines. I don’t know what the answer is, but all I can do is live my life with love and bravery.
It’s absolutely horrible, all these acts of violence that have happened in recent years (and in less recent years too, of course). I was literally in that *exact* area one week before it happened. That is absolutely unbelievable to me. And in the last two days, there have been two bomb scares near my house. One near my work, and one near my school, both of which had the entire police SWAT team, closed down perimeter, etc. I just don’t understand why people feel the need to do this to others. We should all be living on this planet as one, not hurting one another, our loved ones. Just terrible.
I don’t understand the logic, either, which is a good thing. I never want to understand why someone would want to hurt people. It’s awful and heartbreaking but man, does it give me so much love for the human race. There were so many stories of people who helped and there was such an outpouring of love that it gives me such pride. Yes, these bad seeds ruined a wonderful day but the real story is of the people who helped and who stepped in when it mattered.
When I first got the notification on my USA Today app saying there were bombings in Boston, I didn’t realize the race was going on. It wasn’t until about an hour or so later when I was checking in on Twitter that I saw it was at the Boston Marathon, and then I saw they needed blood donations, and I was like, “Whoa, blood donations? What the heck?” That’s when I did more reading and turned on the news and saw that it was right there by a bunch of spectators and that another one had gone off a few blocks down. It always takes me a bit to grasp the enormity of a situation, because my mind doesn’t like to automatically assume that people can be so horrible, even though realistically I know they can be. I was 11 when 9/11 happened, and it wasn’t until a few days later at my grandparents house that I started to cry and understand what was going on, because that’s when they started showing the footage of people throwing themselves out of the towers. I ran into the bathroom because I didn’t want anyone to see me.
I really hope the death toll doesn’t get any higher. I was surprised when they said the number of deaths was only at three, but that’s still an unncessary number of people who died. This shouldn’t have even happened. You wrote a beautiful testimony to the community, though, and the verse you shared was a perfect representation of how we need to proceed as a country.
My ESPN app alerted me first. I read it and then just went on with my day, not actually thinking it was a BOMBING bombing, you know? I thought it was something little, maybe a generator exploding or something like that. Not an actual terrorist attack! And then, like you, I jumped onto Twitter and saw the onslaught of tweets and that’s when I realized this was something big and scary. It’s sad and terrifying but I think it showed us the power of the human race. We are strong and brave and we fight for what matters.
I was really shaken to the core by what happened at Boston. All of the past events have impacted me, of course, but this attack hit closer to home since I run marathons and knew runners there. We live in a sad world full of hate. I worry that some other sick, disturbed people will see how much press the Boston attack got and stage another one soon. I know there is no way to prevent that as they have to report the news, but it just scares me. Not to the point where I will change my lifestyle or decisions, but it is just in the back of my mind. I guess it is a reminder of that verse of scripture about how we really don’t know when our time will be up here on earth. So maybe it is a call to arms to make sure we are living the lives we want to live or something along those lines…
I’ve been at the finish line of SO many races and they are nothing but places of excitement and thrill and happiness. No sadness. No terror. No fear. So it’s just scary that things like this can happen but also shows the power of the human race and the way we come together to aid & help when things like this happen. The worst thing we can do is stop living our life because of fear of the “what if”.
I think I am still it a little bit of shock about what happened. It is hard when it’s in such a vulnerable place, with people who are living their lives, supporting each other, and trying to make something of themselves. I feel so exposed, like someone looked at my diary or something. However, I am not going to let bad people make me scared or unhappy. Yes, I will honor those affected, all of them. But I won’t back down from evil.
I can’t imagine how it must feel to have actually BEEN THERE, crossed that finish line and hear this news. So scary. I’m glad you are going to keep doing what you do, though. We can’t let them win and scare us away from things we love.