Monday, April 15, 2013

The Day That Changed The Finish Line Forever...

Of all the memories that will remain burned in my mind, two of them will be the first time I finished the Marine Corps Marathon in 2006, and the time I finished Ironman Arizona in 2011.  I remember them not only because of the accomplishment they each represented, but because my mom and other loved ones were there to cheer me on and welcome me across the finish line.

Mom and me at the start of the MCM in 2006...I had shirts made with my Grandpa's Marine Corps picture.
And although I don't remember every finish line I've crossed over the last 15 years, I remember many of them. Each time the finish line represented the culmination of months of training, hours of sacrifice, and buckets of sweat and tears.  Each time, no matter how small the race, there were spectators along the course, particularly at the finish.  Spectators, some of whom had loved ones in the race, but some of whom were just there to cheer on complete strangers.  And every time during a race when I needed a little inspiration, I'd see either a familiar face or a total stranger who was cheering me on.  Every time as I approached the finish line, it was the roar of the crowd, their applause, and their cheers, that gave me the extra wind to come across the finish with a little "umph."  Each time I crossed the finish line, there stood a stranger or volunteer to hand me a medal, a bottle of water, take off my timing chip, and congratulate me.

That finish line has now been forever changed...

Today at the Boston Marathon there were 28,000+ runners.  That means there were at least that many spectators, but probably more.  Even conservatively estimating that there's one spectator for every runner, that means there were 56,000 people running or watching the Boston Marathon today.  That doesn't even include the countless emergency personnel and volunteers who were helping with the race.

So let's just say there were 60,000 people out in force for the world's premier marathon today.  Do you understand how powerful that is?  Do you grasp how amazing it is that 60,000 people would be in one place, celebrating one goal, all cheering and bringing their positive energy to one event?

That's what race events do.  They bring people together to support the accomplishment of one goal - the mastery of a particular distance.  Races are different from sporting events where there are two teams, where the crowds can become hostile as they compete for the win.  Races are even different from other individual sports like tennis or golf, where the spectators are still cheering for a "victor" to beat the other opponent.  In those team or other individual events, there's always a slight air of negativity, even when there's a storybook finish.  Those events are always slightly tainted with at "let's beat 'em" mentality.

But you don't really see that in races.  Sure, there are the elite athletes who certainly want to "beat" the other elite athletes.  But that rivalry is nowhere near as contentious or negative as other sports rivalries.  Moreover, even if the crowd is rooting for a particular athlete to win, people still are happy and congratulatory when everyone else comes in after the first place finisher.  That doesn't mean races aren't competitive - they most certainly are, especially given that most people who run them are Type A personalities.  But, most of the time, the competition is within each person more than it is against another person.  That type of internal competition brings out the best - not the worst - in people.

In addition, triathlon and running races are one of the few events where regular 9-to-5 Joe's and Jane's get to compete on the same course as professionals.  That gives us amateur athletes a sense of how unique these events are.  You'll never get to play football with Drew Brees during an NFL game.  But you can certainly run in the same race as Craig Alexander (albeit a pretty far distance behind him, but still....)  Thus, endurance events are head and shoulders above other sporting events because they literally put amateurs and professionals on the same competitive field.       

And like no other sport, the spectators are right in the action. The race sidelines are closer than any football or baseball sideline.  The spectators truly can reach out and touch the competitors.

But more than all of that is the cohesiveness and comradery that permeates a race event.  The overwhelming majority of endurance athletes are giving and supportive people.  Sure, there are jerks just like in every sport.  But during races more than any other time in life, I see random acts of kindness and support.  I've seen heart warming gestures as one runner helps another across the finish line, or stops to help another runner who has fallen down or is throwing up along the sidelines.

All of these things have allowed athletic races to bore a special place in my heart.  Nowhere else do I feel such a sense of people united for one goal.  Nowhere else do I feel that kind of unsolicited support and affirmation.  Nowhere else do I feel such accomplishment as when I cross a finish line...

Yet now, the acts of a one or a few evil individuals have tainted the magical nature of the finish line forever....

At this point, we don't know who is responsible for the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon today.  Nor do we know the motivation behind their heinous acts.  Whether knowing the "who" and the "why" will make a difference, I don't know.  What I do know, is that if ever there were a group of people who can take a tragedy like this and not only bounce back, but bounce back stronger, it's the community of endurance athletes and those who support them...

Although this tragic memory will forever waft over endurance sports from this day forward, it does not have to quell the spirt of those running and watching the races, including the Boston Marathon.  Endurance races are popular and successful for one reason and one reason only:  endurance athletes have extraordinary spirits that will not let anything get in the way of their goal.  Bombs will not stop the endurance athlete any more than terrorists have stopped Americans from flying.  Sure, there will be some people so understandably traumatized by today's events that they may never enter or watch another race again, just like there are people who have never flown again since 9/11.  And that's ok.  But there will be countless more people who not only continue to enter endurance events, but who may decide for the first time in their lives to reach for the goal of entering an endurance event.

It saddens me beyond words to know that the memory of this tragedy will creep into my mind and the minds of other athletes every time we cross a finish line in the future.  It's the same as every day when I pass the Pentagon on the way to work:  the memory of 9/11 creeps in, even if but for a fleeting second.  It's inevitable.  It changes you forever.  But you can either make that change in a positive or negative direction...that's a choice everyone impacted directly or indirectly by this event will have to make.   

I hate that runners and spectators were deprived of their lives, limbs, and sense of security.  I hate that an 8-year-old child was killed.  I also hate that so many runners and spectators were deprived of the joy that I experienced when I finished my first marathon or Ironman.  I hate that any runner who was competing in the marathon for the umpteenth time did not get to experience the magical finish line that they'd experienced so many times before.  I hate that the acts of one or a few evil individuals have scarred tens of thousands of people forever.

But as an endurance athlete, I feel it is my responsibility not to let this keep me from toeing up at any start line ever again.  Believe me, within a few minutes of hearing of today's attack, I thought of the Marine Corps Marathon that I'm scheduled to run this October.  What if there's an attack during that race in the Nation's Capital?  I can't let that stop me, however.  I'm an endurance athlete because my soul craves the journey and the destination.  I'll be damned if I'll let the threat of evil deprive my soul of what it craves.

More importantly, I feel that if we let this evil deter us from ever crossing another finish line, we're doing a great disservice to those who were killed or injured today.  Those people were there either because their soul craved the same journey, or because they were supporting a loved one on that journey.  Either way, we owe it to them to continue that journey and continue to support others on that journey....

Yes, the finish line has changed forever.  But so too has the spirit of endurance athletes and those who support them, which should rage stronger now than ever before...


2 comments:

Jen said...

Well said. Thank you for this post.

Life Through Endurance said...

Thanks, Jen...