Pride, dedication, history, and challenge are the things I think of when I think of the Boston Marathon. This years marathon was on Monday the 15th and two bombs went off near the finish line of the 117th race. Three people were killed and over 100 people were injured. This day is supposed to be a time of celebration and joy being able to compete with others that have made the same commitment and sacrifices to accomplish a dream or goal but this year it was tarnished and disgraced. When I hear of bombings, attacks, wars, etc. I always initially wonder what people are thinking when they plan and or participate in these devastating events. I don't understand the motivation behind this bombing or most other bombings for that matter. I find it extremely upsetting someone intentionally harms others in such a devastating way. In this specific circumstance thousands of individuals work extremely hard to qualify for prestigious and idealized race by dedicating an enormous amount of time and energy to training and racing. Although I do not yet know how it feels to qualify for Boston I can relate to the commitment one makes to participate in a marathon. For this main reason I had an emotional tie to this bombing that took place. I did not know anyone that got injured or was affected first hand by this event, however, being a runner and having part of my larger community suffer was heart wrenching.
I wore my seattle marathon race shirt yesterday to honor boston.
Last summer, 2012, I took a class on the anthropology of popular culture and for my final project I put together a blog and photo essay and within the blog I incorporated ideas from Stuart Hall, Michael Warner, and Anderson with regards to imagined communities, cultural roots, and perceptions of time. My goal was to gain perspectives from a variety of people with different backgrounds in the sport of running. I also collected photos from runners that say something about what running means to them or how they perceive running.
Throughout my work on this project I gained a deeper connection to the overall running community by having people that I have never met participate in my survey and pass it on to other runners.
Runners are mentally and physically tough and there is a mutual respect for our competitors, friends, and other runners in our small running communities and at the larger scale community. This was really seen at the larger scale in response to the bombings. After this occurred there was an outbreak of people dedicating their runs to Boston, deciding to run a marathon, and trying to help and get involved in any way possible.
The Eugene marathon, Seattle marathon, Road Runner, and many other running companies and races have both posted and/or emailed people in their communities about keeping Boston in our thoughts and prayers.
The nation can really come together in times of devastation and need which gives me an immense sense of national community and pride.
With all of this said I do not think the Boston marathon will lose its prestige or spirit. It is still an incredible race that I believe will continue to attract dedicated runners of incredible skill. This has proven to be an opportunity for the running community and the nation to unite in a supportive front for all those affected by this tragedy.
Well said. My first thought was of the running community in Boston and my second of you and your personal dedication to running. Watching you and hundreds of other runners compete for over a decade and walking a marathon myself gives me tremendous respect for the sport. Knowing the tenacity involved, I know there is absolutely nothing that will get those or any runners down. And Boston. Really, who wants to take on the place where our own Revolutionary War began?
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