There have been 125 Boston Marathons so far, with them being continuous over the years, besides 2020 of course. This year I had the opportunity to watch the marathon in person as one of my roommates lives in Natick, Massachusetts and the path goes right by her neighborhood. We all spent the night before the marathon at her house and headed to the corner of the street to watch right when we woke up. Not knowing anyone running, I was overwhelmed with excitement and a little anxious if I’m being honest. I did not know what to expect while watching the race and cheering on random strangers. There were people of all ages, races, genders, from different states, and countries. There were also physically impaired runners, someone with one leg, one arm, even visually impaired runners with guides. It was amazing to see all the support of other runners and spectators on the street as well. We even counted seven pregnant women who had things written on their shirts, such as “Due in December” and “Baby’s first marathon” it was incredible to see. People wrote their names on their legs, arms or shirt wanting people to say their name and yell in support. Seeing the smiles on their faces as I yelled “Yea Kim you got this keep going!” made my day. I did not know these people and they did not know me, but such a simple cheer for them you could tell meant the world to them. Oh not to mention I was wearing Endicott gear and some guy ran passed, stopped and said “Endicott no way I went there!” it was so cool to see an alumni running, and then another man yelled “Go Gulls” as he ran pass. Making small connections with runners even for literally seconds, are little remarks I will never forget. Seeing all these people running and over coming challenges, whether it be mentally or physically you could tell nothing was stopping them. There were also hundreds of people running with shirts in support of an organization or a special person in their lives.
Running has never been my thing or go to work out, I’d much rather play tennis, go for a short walk with my dog or ride the Peloton in my basement. However I had this feeling the entire time I watched people running by of “wow, I want to do this” not only do I want to, but I know I can. With training, starting off very slow of course, I want to run a half marathon by this time next year. Running a half marathon is something my mom did a number of years ago, she always said how strong she felt when training and how she never expected to love it. Sadly, it was the only one she ever did as she has knee problems. Yet she can still say she ran the New York City Half Marathon, I was very young when my mom trained and ran but I was so proud of her and I still am. Maybe her and I can train together and run the half marathon together next year.
The Boston Marathon is over all such an inspiration as so many people have recovered and come back after such a horrific event, seeing the runners on tv was inspiring but nothing will compare to seeing it in person now.
If you want to start something new, accomplish something others may call a “far reach” that should be even more motivation. Because YOU CAN DO IT, we all CAN. I ask anyone reading this, if there is something or someone holding you back use that to your advantage and prove everyone wrong. My friends would never believe me if I said I am going to run a half marathon, honestly I’m not even going to tell them and then one day just be like oh by the way, I’m running a half marathon today.
Tessa