Ever since I was I was a little girl I have wanted to run a marathon. I remember going into Boston and standing on Heartbreak Hill, cheering on the runners and fathers of my friends, knowing that one day I would run alongside them. One day, while on a run this December I decided that this year would be better than any to cross the running of the marathon off my bucket list. After last year’s bombings, the Boston Marathon this year was sure to be one that would go down in history, and it did.
I started calling every contact I had in search for a bib number, and I found one from the Courage and Faith Foundation of Nashua New Hampshire. This small charity gives children a safe place to go after school and to play sports. It also works to send local hockey teams to Lake Placid, that otherwise financially would not be able to. By taking the number I promised to raise $6,000 for Courage and Faith. Part of what made my marathon experience so extraordinary was the overwhelming support I received from friends and family, I ended up raising over $6,800!
The night before the marathon I slept MAYBE ten minutes. So nervous. So excited. So overwhelmed. I woke up at 6:30 and my mom drove into Hopkinton at the drop off spot. There were thousands of runners and we all waited in line for the shuttles that would bring us to Athletes’ Village. They searched everything we had on us, and used the same scanner that they do in airports to check us. It was a short fifteen minute drive to Athletes’ Village, which was a scene. Over thirty thousand runners spread about, laying down, stretching, talking and almost ALL of them in line for the bathroom. It stretched across a huge field and there were runners as far as the eye could see. With over two hours to kill until my wave began at 11:25 I grabbed some grass and people watched. When it came over the loud speaker that my wave was up, I joined the masses in walking about a mile down the road to the start line. We loaded into our corrals, 1-9 with a thousand people in each. I was in corral 3. When the woman came over the loud speaker and told us it was time to begin, the mass of 9,000 runners began jogging over the start line.
The marathon as a whole was an experience I will never forget. Along the entire 26.2 mile course there was never one moment where there wasn’t someone there to cheer you on. Someone advised me to put my name on my shirt, an idea which at first seemed weird to me. But while in Athletes’ Village, almost everyone was running around with duct tape and Sharpies taping their name on their chest so I decided to do the same, doing this changed my entire race. Hearing people yell “GO CLARE” or “YOU GOT THIS CLARE” or “KEEP RUNNING CLARE.” It didn’t matter that they didn’t know me, all that mattered is that their support and cheers were getting me to take one step closer to the finish line. The various stops along the way were as amazing as people say, the drunk kids of BC, the screaming girls of Wellesley, the biker bar and the dreaded Heartbreak Hill, which is as bad if not WORSE than people say. However, once I reached the top of it, and could see the Citgo sign, I knew I was in the clear. With six miles to go and a destination in sight I decided to take it all in. The crowds, the people, and the strength of the city.
I finished the race unharmed besides a few blisters and some sore quads, which is much more than the people involved in last year’s attack can say. This year the city of Boston came together as a whole, and took back what belonged to them, the marathon and their pride. It was an unbelievable experience and I hope to run it again many many more times in my life, each time faster than the next.