Boston Marathon

A week ago today (April 20) I ran and FINSIHED (despite serious desires during the race) the Boston Marathon! Unfortunately my camera didn't work so I had to use a few cameras from my family. Since gathering the pics long distance is tricky I've waited to post, but I can't stand it any longer so I'm just copying my sister Autumn's posts she made on her blog so I can have a record of them. She does a lot better job of describing the excitement of the marathon anyway since I was sort of in a daze:).

Here is one of her posts on "Everything Else":

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I wanted to capture as much as I could about the surroundings. It was QUITE the event. It was so grand seeing all of the set up-one volunteer for every three runners. Here is some of what they were doing as the race was going on.

Getting the blankets ready, anxiously awaiting anyone who needed a wheelchair, and getting water ready.




I was amazed over and over again by the spirits of people running. A rundown:

• This man below with two prosthetics. (I know these
• Two other men with one prosthetic. After reading this article, I believe they are Iraq veterans which makes me love them even more.
• Two other men with one single arm.
• One man with an arm in a cast (under a t-shirt)
• Two blind men running with two guides each.
• All of the wheelchair racers and hand crank racers.
• Different people who carried an American flag! It made me want to chase after them (after the finish line of course when I could actually catch them) and thank them for loving America enough to make a statement about it. I LOVED that.
• Every person who ran the race!

It quickly became apparent by the expressions of the runners that the course was umm...nothing that anyone could imagine unless you had done it yourself. I never tired of cheering and ringing my bell (though my voice did tire)-it was SUCH a blast. It was really neat when one girl had stopped running and when another girl and myself started cheering "go Carly", she hobbled a little faster to the finish. And often times when we saw names on legs, arms, or shirts and cheered "go Jennifer", you could see them smile or wave. It was SO great. I was inspired by everyone, I wanted to cheer for them all.

One group in particular-I really couldn't hold back my love for them. There was a huge host of soldiers who ran in FULL gear, including combat boots and 60 pound packs! They came in different waves. Not knowing this was going to happen, I was totally off guard. The first two who came in blazing fast, I was just stunned, amazed, I couldn't stop staring. The next set, I had tears in my eyes. By the time this set came through I couldn't help but scream like crazy. It made me love strangers like I hadn't before-not only are they serving our country but they of course have every reason to be proud of their service and their country. I couldn't help but scream like crazy and say "I LOVE YOU!!"

You might want to turn the volume off-or really far down.

For anyone who loves observing people, this of course would do it for you. In many fashions. First, it was so fun to watch the different gaits of the runners. Some people looked like their strides were so inefficient--but they were really fast. And some looked like they were absolutely dying-and they probably were. And any time someone came by with a big beard it just looked HOT, I couldn't imagine wearing extra hair for a race. (Though I wouldn't cut my head of hair for one, and they'd probably think the same of me....)

I saw a handful of people cross the finish line with their kids (who they surely just picked up at the very end.) Like this Dad and his tot.

There were lots of people dressed in funny attire. Below right you can barely see the nerd.

And in the corner of this picture you can see three bathtub bathers. They even had back scrubbers! (Again, I can't imagine hauling the extra weight.) And obviously a joker.

Scenes from after the race. Runners finding the buses that held their bags.

And I loved this sign of the guy next to me (for his big brother).

Dad spotted Colonel Sanders and his octuplet brothers getting ready for the race. It was hilarious to hear them say "stretch it out" in old men voices.

Scenes from after the race. Runners finding the buses that held their bags.

Throwing in the other pieces that don't fit into other posts--

Vicki, Afton's good friend from Ztown happened to be working in the exact hotel we were staying in. Magically our rooms were upgraded without us being celebrities. Thanks, Vicki! It was a great view on the 25th and 26th floors! Tuesday morning we did our very brief sight seeing. We ate breakfast in a market that had been operating since 1826. The display there was perfect.

I decided if I lived in Boston I'd like to be an annual cheerleader and scream for 4+ hours. If I didn't have a toddler.