A Runners Tale

I am not, nor will I ever claim to be, a runner.  This is not to say that I do not run.  In fact I run a few times a week, either in my beach bootcamp class or along the boardwalk of Mission Beach.  Running for me is a relative term.  I run for exercise, not often for clarity and I do it out of a sense of duty to myself or my fellow bootcamp partner.  But, given my choice of activities, I would rather be splashing around in an 80 degree pool or stretching out in a yoga class.  Having said all that, there is nothing like the sense of accomplishment one feels when they are able to go just a little bit longer, run just a little bit further then they did the day before.  Last year I ran my first obstacle course and I proudly finished, not first but not last.  I didn’t actually care where I finished in the rankings because my whole point for being there was just to finish.  To try something new and survive to tell the tale.  This year I will attempt several other races, some obstacle, some standard 5k (3 miles) and each, for me, will present their own set of unique challenges. 

I ran the most important one of them all just this week – the Boston Strong Run/ Walk by De Anza Cove in San Diego.  There was no prize for finishing first or second.  That was not the point.  The point was to show solidarity with the people of Boston – to show them that even though we are all the way across the country – we are all Bostonians at heart.  Roughly 1400 people showed up for this run/ walk.  It started out as a small Facebook movement – the brainchild of two women who just wanted to show the people of Boston and the marathon runners from around the world that we are with them with each stride we take.  What started small grew bigger, television interviews fanning the flames, friends passing the message onto other friends, colleagues, and strangers.

When we arrived at De Anza Cove, decked out in our Red Sox and Boston University apparel, street parking was all that was left and that was filling up fast.  As we jogged toward the designated meeting place we were surrounded by the colors of Boston – Red Sox Red, Patriots Blue, Celtics Green and Bruins Yellow – all intermixed with the familiar blue and yellow of the Boston Marathon runners.  Shortly after six the run began – and a sea of people, all ages, races, sizes, and shapes ran toward us.  Mothers running behind strollers with dogs on leases, friends running together, catching up on their lives, couples enjoying some quiet time away from the kids, and some lost in their own thoughts – perhaps contemplating the reason we were all here.  The Boston Strong Run/Walk did not have a finish line – you made it what you wanted.  Some, like us, ran for about 2 miles and then made the turn and walked back amongst the seemingly endless stream of supporters.  Even as we made it back to our car, there were more people arriving – starting the run an hour later then everyone else – but still showing up because it was important. 

I am not going to tell you that a 2-mile run is an easy one for me.  I had my stops and restarts.  But I made it and that is the point.  I set out to run 2 miles and I did it, I got to my personal finish line, which is more then some of the marathoners got in Boston.  And that was the point of the Boston Strong Run/Walk.  We were finishing the race that they never got to finish.  We finished for them when they couldn’t.  While not a native Bostonian I have spent enough time there to know that Bostonians are tough people.  They don’t back down and they don’t give up.  One of my favorite things I saw posted on Facebook about Boston was the following “Boston is probably the only major city that if you “mess” with them, they will shut down the whole city…stop everything… and find you.”  So this run/walk was not about being strong for Boston when it was weakened, because it never was weakened, it was about being strong with Boston – fighting right alongside it. 

-Boston Proud and Boston Strong Since 1999