"Go out and watch a marathon.."

"If you are loosing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."  That's a famous quote from Katherine Switzer, the first woman to ever run the Boston Marathon.  I, and I am sure a lot of other people out in the world today, have lost a lot of faith in human nature over the years, even over the past months.  Sandy Hook is still raw in my mind (I still think about one little boy, Chase Kowalski, who completed his first triathlon a few weeks before he was murdered), and tomorrow is the anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre.  Oklahoma City is in a few days, as is Columbine. 

This is a human tragedy first and foremost, but I think a lot of athletes, endurance athletes, runners, etc. have taken this especially to heart, because we all know and love the chaos of a race day--the crowds, the cheering, the rubbing sweaty, greasy elbow to sweaty, greasy elbow of your fellow participant--and that same chaos was used to do something evil.  It's been said a thousand times that there is something special, sacred even, about a marathon, and I do believe that's true.  It's still true.

Running the NYC Marathon was one of the most special moments of my life.  Watching my beloved city come to life that morning was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.  I swam competitively for years, and while there were some awesome times, nothing compared to my first marathon day.   I think that was the moment where I became truly addicted to endurance sports and what initially planted the seed in my mind about doing an IronMan.

 I love triathlon, but running alone possesses a simplicity and purity that the marathon brings to life on a grand scale.  You never know who you'll meet in the starting corrals, and whether it is someone conquering their own inner demons or someone who has raised thousands for charity, it's hard to find a bad story.

Watching the news/checking the web/following Twitter and Facebook with updates, people have said time and time again that they could not believe how many people ran towards the explosions to help, how many runners kept running after they finished to see if there was a need for blood donations, Boston residents opening up their Wifi links and homes to stranded athletes.

Two soldiers in fatigues, who themselves had ran the race, were seen running right in to the fray the second the explosions went off.  I think of course of my sister, whose job it will be one to day deal with nightmare triage scenes like the one on Boylston Street.  She already has her own tourniquet--meant to stop the bleeding when limbs have been blown away.  We were playing with it the other night as she squeezed it on to my arm, in what has now become a morbidly real shown-n-tell. 

She sees a lot of amputated limbs and missing legs in the Army hospital every day, shares lanes with Wounded Warriors in the pool whenever she trains.  She and her amazing brothers and sisters in arms have a calling to serve, but judging by how people reacted en masse today in Boston, that calling is deep within many of us.

I myself will be cheering loudly along the streets of Brooklyn next year for NYC, pre-IronMan tapering "rest my legs" be damned.  Because I still want to see something incredible and have my faith in humanity restored.  So I'm going to go out and watch a marathon.



Now that you've read my rambling, the internet/Twitter is abuzz with ways to help/donate.  http://www.redcross.org/support/donating-fundraising/donations is a good place to start!