A radical idea. What I mean is, dear runner, the bombing was not about you. So leave the hype and sensationalism. Don't watch it vicariously for bombing news. Pay attention only to an actual runner who is gutting it out for himself; not some stupid bomber.
It is just a marathon; nothing more but also nothing less. Go for a simple run as you usually would. Go to work. It is Easter Monday. What about that bigger picture?
I have qualified for Boston twice (even within this decade). But never gone. Why? To me it is just a way to leave a couple thousand dollars in someone else's pocket, do a slow marathon with 30,000 other people, be annoyed with people all along the course and lines at porta potties, be hassled with logistics for 3 or 4 days, then later, tell people about how I ran Boston and wasn't it great.
It is a ridiculous idea.
Just go out and run. Marathons are awesome. Do one for yourself. Boston has nothing to do with it. The media is going to make a big deal out of the bombing. This is actually a corruption. Step aside from the hype; even everywhere you see it about whatever subject. Life is not about the sensations, the hype, the programming.
Dear runner, I am a runner. I've been a runner for more than 40 years. In the early morning darkness, my feet slap the pavement. This is it. Nothing more but also nothing less. Reach quietly down into the guts of who you are: a marathoner. The meaning of this is more than what some announcer on the radio says. Be more. You CAN be more than Boston. Greatness is beyond that.
Don't buy into hype. Be a real person here and now in your own being.
1 comment:
I have engaged in my own personal boycott of Boston and New York ever since I started running. Though I've qualified for years, I don't have any desire to do them. Like you, I'd rather run my own run, or sign up for a marathon with a couple of hundred people or less. I do the same with Western States in ultras. Got into the lottery one year but chose to have foot surgery for a bunion instead. Just no desire to be around the circus. If I wanted to be in the circus, I'd be an elephant trainer or a trapeze artist.
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