Yesterday, I was able to head into the city and watch the 116th Boston Marathon. I am not a runner. I never have been. I knew no one running in the race. It was rather impromptu. It was… amazing.
When I first got off the Train at the Arlington stop, it took a lot of hiking to even get close to Copley Square where the finish line is, since the streets had been blocked off.  I treked all over the city to get as close as possible to the finish line. I ended up first about 200 yards from the finish and witnessed some pretty inspiring stuff. Simply standing and seeing the people push through to the end was enough to get me all verklempt. There were waves and waves of people and whenever a runner would slow down or start walking, (and who could blame them??), the crowd would cheer and clap and get them back up running! The most touching moment I witnessed was a runner stop and start to sway. He was completely done for. He couldn’t put his left foot on the ground anymore and he was literally 200 yards from the end. Two other runners, passing by, stopped and put their arms around him, and carried him to the finish. I balled. I couldn’t help it! I read later that another runner, Remus Medley, walked across the finish line on his hands, after his legs gave out on him, steps from the finish.
I walked to another spot, at the 26 mile marker. It was right where people started seeing the finish line. They were all smiles! It was so sweet to see everyone get excited because they knew that they were almost there. I also walked down to see the end of the race, where the runners walk through and get their finisher medals. While I was there, I saw a PREGNANT runner! There’s something that should make the pregnant ladies feel wimpy, (which you are NOT). Her shirt said “Baby on Board.”
On one of my many relocation walks, I stumbled upon a small crowd of people with their kids, taking photos of a wheelchair racer. Being the photographer that I am, I sniffed out the photo op and asked who he was. It turns out he was Joshua Cassidy, the winner of the wheelchair race! He even broke the world record with his time of 1 hour, 18 minutes and 25 seconds, beating the world record by 2 seconds. Talk about amazing…
The spectator crowd was an ocean. It reminded me of when Dan and I went to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you don’t like big crowds, you should probably book a hotel room with a view of the race from the window. Otherwise, you are in for it.
I want to congratulate the runners of the Boston Marathon 2012. It was an honor to see you race! Thank you for being an inspiration for never giving up.
