Marathon Madness

I watched the Boston Marathon today. This was one of the most amazing sporting events I’ve ever attended, except perhaps a world cup game. I got all choked up watching the physical rawness of the runners dragging themselves along on mile 23. It amazed me how exhausted and focused they all looked. And, they no longer seemed to care that they looked terrible. I guess it takes energy to suck in your tummy and straighten your gym shorts, energy that you really don’t have to spare when you are running 26 miles.

Bostonians are just crazy for this race. The spectators were out of control. All the screaming and cheering deafened me to the point where I considered putting paper in my ears. This one lady had a sign that said “Go Japan!” and then something in Japanese, and she would go ape shit every time an Asian runner went by. If one of the runners stopped to stretch or catch their breath, everyone would yell and cheer until they started up again.

Plus, it’s not enough to just run a marathon up here. You also have to do it with a twist. One guy has been running it while pushing his wheelchair-bound son for 25 years. These other two guys do the whole thing while “joggling.” See if you can guess what that means from the picture below. I saw them both today. Apparently they are vying from some kind of world record.

[Image from: http://www.wcsh6.com/home/article.asp?id=34092]