A World of Runners United

My heart is heavy as I write to you guys tonight. I originally had planned to blog about my half marathon that I completed this past Saturday, but in the wake of the events of the horrible attacks at the Boston Marathon today--I'll save that story for another day.

This afternoon, someone decided to shake the world of running (and the nation) to the core by setting off explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Now, I know I haven't been involved in the running world that long, but I still know that this race is one of the most prestigious and coveted marathons in the country! There are confirmed deaths and many, many more injured. Not only runners, but fans & spectators of the great sport of running.

Since I first caught wind of what happened today, I have literally been sick to my stomach. I am heart-broken. Just crossing a finish line myself, it hits closer to home for me. I don't personally know anyone that was participating in the race, or any of the people that were there, but in a way--I feel as if I did. That the love of running itself, has bonded me to those strangers--they are my brothers and sisters. Bonded in our love for the sport, the grit it takes to finish a course, the determination and focus it takes to train, the exhilaration of the finish. I feel violated. And now I am angry.

I hope as the investigation continues and in the days to come, more information is revealed about who did this and they can be brought to justice. I pray that those injured or affected, heal quickly and that the God's love wrap them up and comfort them. I will be lacing up my shoes tomorrow morning and running a few miles in honor of those in Boston. I hope some of you will join me and do the same.

Below is a long quote that I stole from a friend of mine on Facebook. It's haunting, beautiful and gives me hope all at the same time.  We will move on from this, united.

Boston. Fucking horrible. I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity." But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, they damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will." - Patton Oswalt