Thoughts on the Boston Marathon Attack

I started running in 2009.  I found it to be a great stress reducer, as well as an efficient way to drop unwanted pounds.  It took a while to really learn to love it, but I did learn to love it.  I would hate to miss a run.  There were times that runs just couldn't happen though.

I ran two marathons.  I am not a fast runner.  I have never professed to be fast.  I guess I might even be slower than average.  I enjoy running though.  I knew I would never qualify for Boston.  I have never set my sights on running the Boston Marathon because I would be a distant last place, I am sure.

Seeing the attacks on Boston today, really stirred some strong emotions in me.  I sat, in complete horror, with goosebumps covering me, for at least an hour.  I watched it playing out on the screen. The older man, I just now heard on the television that he is in his 70s, falling over just a matter of yards from the finish line.  The woman falling right at the finish line.  My heart was breaking for the people.

When I ran the SunTrust Richmond Marathon, my three young children, my husband and my mother were there.  They had made signs for me to hold at the finish line.  When I was nearing the finish line, I saw them.  I saw them holding their signs and cheering me on.  When I saw the explosions on television today, that would have been exactly where my family was in relation to the finish line in Richmond.  I knew there would be injured children.  Children are their parents biggest supporters.  My children, at least, are mine.  I can't imagine the horror that parents were feeling, knowing that their children were probably close to the explosion.

I wouldn't have been near the finish line with 4:09 on the clock.  I would have still been an hour and a half away.  Like I said, I am not fast.  I just enjoy running.  I am sure the people today that were running today were doing it because they enjoy it.  I don't know anyone that would sign up to run 26.2 miles just to torture themselves.  Lives changed today.  Lives ended today.

As I did my three mile run tonight, my thoughts were on Boston.  My thoughts were about the people that have been training for so long for this race.  Some people train a lifetime for it.  It is not an easy race to qualify for.  It takes a lot of dedication.  I prayed as I ran.  I prayed for the injured and the families of the dead.

My prayers are with Boston.  Although I will never run Boston, my heart is there.  May God Bless the people that lost loved ones.  May God Bless the people that were injured, physically and mentally.  I would not have done well if I had been there and seen what people saw.  May God Bless America!