To be able to run the Boston marathon you must qualify. To qualify you must run a marathon the proceeding year in a time determined on your gender, age and physical ability. I have yet to qualify. From the moment I started training for my first marathon exactly 10 years ago, I decided that one day I would run a marathon fast enough to deserve the honour of lining up at the start line in my favourite US city! Like many who run, it remains a big item on my bucket list. I will attempt to qualify again this year at the Valley Harvest Marathon on Thanksgiving Sunday in beautiful Wolfville, Nova Scotia. (that journey will be the subject of another blog after hopefully earning my Mdot tattoo at Ironman Lake Placid)
Last year, the Boston marathon Monday fell on my compressed day off. I was tracking the progress of my many Nova Scotia friends and running acquaintances on line while simultaneously watching the coverage on television and on my computer. I was particularly interested in how my friend Francine Comeau was doing. I had just announced to Barry who was down the hall his office that Francine just crossed the finish line when the bombs went off. I was hysterical! Immediately devastated. I was so very concerned that Francine may be hurt. I knew she must have been near the explosion. She was OK physically, understandably shaken emotionally as were all my friends. So many others were not as fortunate.
Like so many others, I was glued to the television and on line news updates both in the aftermath of the cowardly act of terrorism. Sicken. Angry. Determined to accept my entry into the New York City marathon the following November. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by I was when family and friends reached out to me, also concerned that I might have been in Boston.
There was no doubt in my mind or in the minds of runners all over the world that Boston would hold its 118th marathon on the 3rd Monday of April in 2014. Boston is back. Boston is Stronger than Ever!
I've tuned in to the tv broadcast already. It's on in the background as I write this entry. I will have to duck out for a bit as I have a pool workout to do but my iPhone won't be far and I'll be home for the finishes of the elite men and women and my friends. Don't know anyone running today? Adopt one or all of these marathoners: Stacy Juckett-Chesnutt, Stephen Zwicker, Kim Cox, Clint Cummings, Paul Gallant, , Wade Keller and Brenda Topliss... plus some more I'm still hearing about and will add later today
Tennessee thoroughbred Nova Scotia resident and new Canadian Citizen - my friend Stacy Juckett-Chesnutt at the 5k friendship run on Saturday. Lovely curtsy. Stacy and her husband Tim Chesnutt are race directors in Nova Scotia. Get this - they met 10 yrs ago at Ironman Lake Placid!!! I have to mention that Stacy founded and is lead volunteer for Girls Gone Gazelle Run Club - a free all-girls running club that promotes confidence, body acceptance and socialization while increasing physical activity in elementary school aged girls ages 8-12. Please consider supporting them with a cash or in kind donation
Have a great run at the world's greatest race!
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