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Twenty-two thousand runners participated in the Boston Marathon yesterday, a few of them were professional runners, but most of them were just runners like me, but faster.\u00a0 They qualified for the Boston Marathon.<\/p>\n
Fifteen minutes separate me from qualifying for the Boston Marathon, a goal I\u2019ve been working towards for the past four years. Boston has one of the oldest and greatest marathons in the world.\u00a0 As a runner, being there would be a dream come true, and not only because it would mean I\u2019m fast. My father grew up just outside of Boston. The marathon is part of American history, and part of my personal history, too.<\/p>\n
Just over a week ago, on April 7th,<\/sup> I ran the Milano City Marathon<\/a>. It was my seventh marathon, and I didn\u2019t finish as close to the Boston Marathon qualifying time as I\u2019d hoped.\u00a0 My legs cramped and my blood sugar was high, but that doesn\u2019t make me want to stop trying.\u00a0 Neither does the horrifying act of terror that took place yesterday near the Boston Marathon\u2019s finish line. I view yesterday\u2019s attacks not as only an assault against the people of Boston, or against the United States.\u00a0 What happened at the Boston Marathon yesterday was as an act of evil against something that is purely good.<\/p>\n Running is about the triumph of the spirit. It\u2019s about conquering oneself and doing more than you think is physically possible. When you\u2019re a runner with diabetes it\u2019s a double conquest.<\/p>\n Marathon running is a combination of physical endurance and mental strength. The people on the race day course have spent months – or years – training.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been running no matter what the weather was like, often in the dark and when others were sound asleep. \u00a0They\u2019ve watched what they ate, gone to sleep early, and given up things they love (like a cold beer!) in the name of a better performance.\u00a0 All this to be a part of a celebration of human achievement.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a feeling of camaraderie among the runners \u2013 I have felt it in my own country and in the European races I\u2019ve run.\u00a0 And the crowds are part of this, too.\u00a0 They cheer not just the elite runners, but all who participate.\u00a0 My wife Jess was with me in Milano last week.\u00a0 As she put it, \u201cI chased the marathon, and I loved it.\u201d\u00a0 She stood in front of the La Scala Opera House cheering for me and for my friends who were also running.\u00a0 And she just cheered and clapped because the runners are amazing and, \u201cYou\u2019re just proud of all of them,\u201d Jess said.<\/p>\n Knowing someone you love is out there watching you makes every hard step a little less painful.\u00a0 But that\u2019s all under the assumption your loved one is safe.\u00a0 You run with the good faith that those running with you, and those watching, will be okay.\u00a0 Sure, someone will get dehydrated, and someone will get pickpocketed.\u00a0 And someone always falls.\u00a0 But as Roger Robinson<\/a> in the Guardian<\/a> said of marathon running, \u201cIt’s the only sport in the world where if a competitor falls, the others around will pick him or her up. It’s the only sport in the world open to absolutely everyone, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or any other division you can think of. It’s the only occasion when thousands of people assemble, often in a major city like New York or London, for a reason that is totally peaceful, healthy and well-meaning. It’s the only sport in the world where no one ever boos anybody.<\/p>\n If you’re losing your faith in human nature, look at marathon crowds, standing for hours with no seating, no cover, no bathrooms, to cheer thousands of strangers.”<\/p>\n When I approached the finish line of the Milano City Marathon I was in agony, but I didn\u2019t feel alone.\u00a0 The crowd was supporting me, and Jess was there about 150 meters before the finish line.\u00a0 She\u2019d made her way through the crowd to the front.\u00a0 She\u2019d found a place to lodge her foot on the barrier fence so she could push herself up and be taller than everyone else.\u00a0 Through my pain I barely saw her, but I heard her shouting for me.\u00a0 I heard \u201cGo Mikey, go Mikey, go Mikey!\u201d<\/p>\n I crossed the finish line and doubled over in pain.\u00a0 I felt like I was going to throw up.\u00a0 But I also felt like a winner.\u00a0 Everyone who takes part in a marathon gets a medal and feels like winner.\u00a0 After running my first few marathons my young children would ask me if I\u2019d won, and I would always answer yes.<\/p>\n The marathon is not just the 26.2 mile course. It is a long journey.\u00a0 It is mind over matter.\u00a0 It is spirit and will.\u00a0 These are powers we must employ now to get through the Boston Marathon tragedy because there is no finish line for the pain, suffering, and loss that yesterday\u2019s bombings caused.<\/p>\n \u00a0ASweetLife sends our thoughts and prayers to the victims, their families, and the city of Boston.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Knowing someone you love is out there watching you makes every hard step a little less painful. But that\u2019s all under the assumption your loved one is safe. You run with the good faith that those running with you, and those watching, will be okay. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":32440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1541,1457],"tags":[82,575],"yoast_head":"\n