On April 21 2014, the 42.2km route from Hopkinton MA to Boylston Ave in Boston was the centre of the running universe. The Boston Marathon is always a big deal for runners, but after the bombs went off at the finish line of last year’s race, this year it was even more important. 33,000 runners wanted to show that they would not be intimidated by terror. The citizens of Boston wanted to reclaim their city, and have “Marathon Monday” be about triumph again rather than tragedy.
All weekend long the atmosphere in the city was electric. I’ve gone to other cities to run marathons, but have never experienced anything like that. Everything in Boston was about the marathon, and the runners all felt like celebrities. The support from the crowds on the course was unbelievable- the entire route was lined with spectators, and in some places the crowds were probably 10 people deep on the side of the road. There were a lot of places where the cheering was so loud that you had to shout if you wanted to talk to the runner beside you.
I didn’t run my best marathon ever in Boston- my time was about 15 minutes slower than I was hoping for- but I ran by far my most memorable marathon- from the moment of silence before the start when tens of thousands of runners were completely silent in memory of those injured and killed last year, to running down the same route that the best runners in the world had done before me, to experiencing the energy of over a million spectators going absolutely nuts cheering for us, to coming around the final corner toward a finish line that I’ve put in thousands of kilometres of training for- it was an amazing experience.
Sometimes people say to me “I could never run a marathon.” Everyone who has ever run a marathon has been in the same boat- you put on your running shoes for the first time, step out the door, and try. Perhaps you’ll only make it to the end of your street the first time, but with some determination, anything is possible. I’m so glad that when I first started running and just getting around the block seemed like a massive achievement, that I didn’t give up. Being able to cross the finish line of the 2014 Boston Marathon made all those hours of training worth it.
All weekend long the atmosphere in the city was electric. I’ve gone to other cities to run marathons, but have never experienced anything like that. Everything in Boston was about the marathon, and the runners all felt like celebrities. The support from the crowds on the course was unbelievable- the entire route was lined with spectators, and in some places the crowds were probably 10 people deep on the side of the road. There were a lot of places where the cheering was so loud that you had to shout if you wanted to talk to the runner beside you.
I didn’t run my best marathon ever in Boston- my time was about 15 minutes slower than I was hoping for- but I ran by far my most memorable marathon- from the moment of silence before the start when tens of thousands of runners were completely silent in memory of those injured and killed last year, to running down the same route that the best runners in the world had done before me, to experiencing the energy of over a million spectators going absolutely nuts cheering for us, to coming around the final corner toward a finish line that I’ve put in thousands of kilometres of training for- it was an amazing experience.
Sometimes people say to me “I could never run a marathon.” Everyone who has ever run a marathon has been in the same boat- you put on your running shoes for the first time, step out the door, and try. Perhaps you’ll only make it to the end of your street the first time, but with some determination, anything is possible. I’m so glad that when I first started running and just getting around the block seemed like a massive achievement, that I didn’t give up. Being able to cross the finish line of the 2014 Boston Marathon made all those hours of training worth it.