It was supposed to be a glorious day for many marathoners and runners, as well as fellow Bostonian, as we all celebrate the 117th edition of the oldest marathon race in the world. What was not foreseen however was two separate, deadly explosions taking place near the finishing line down the Boylston street. Amidst all the confusion and sadness, and anger, brings me to a question I never thought I would ask in regards to with a marathon, or running, race.
Sports, as in an ideal world should be, should bring us all together in a sportsmanship-camaraderie that knows no bounds of gender, skin colour, religion background, or political leaning. I've seen how the backlash was like towards marathoners (in general) in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy that took out last year's New York marathon. I fear that we runners might all be in a bubble.
Now that this horrifying and totally shocking event took place at what was supposed to be a celebration of the triumph of human spirit and togetherness, what will the next, and future, running races look like? Will it still be the same as it is?
Or will running races go through it's own post-911-level paranoia and closes in on itself?
It's too early perhaps to ponder on this question, but this event really affected me in a deep way. I hardly know any of the runners that was involved in that race, but as a fellow runner, this turn of event shocked me as well. My thoughts goes to all those who were affected by the event, though this may be nothing compared with the valiant effort of the security forces and medical personnel right there at ground zero. Trust me - if Boston is like only 100km away from where I am right now, I would have been there.
Be strong fellow Bostonian and runners.
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