Patriot’s Day

Boston is my home.  Though I grew up 100 miles Southwest most of my 20 Aunts & Uncles and scores of cousins were in Boston.  Every April, I was green with envy as they would get this holiday off, Patriot’s Day, the anniversary of the revolutionary war battles in Lexington and Concord.  My cousins would flock to Boston to watch the end of the Boston Marathon and then attend the Red Sox Patriot’s day double-header, while I sat in school.

In my 30’s, I took up running, joining a couple dozen co-workers at UTC every lunch time for 5-7 miles.   In the locker room afterward, someone would ask the question, “You doin’ Boston this year?”.    That question separated the great runners from us not-so-great.  You see, you have to qualify for Boston.  You have to have run a ‘qualifying marathon’ at below a certain time, based on your age.  There is an exemption if you are a medical doctor, I’m told.  One of the ‘elite’ runners at UTC jokingly suggested my best route to qualifying would be medical school.

The Boston Marathon is special, iconic, quirky.  Just like the city and the people.  The events of April 15, 2013 hit hard.  In the first hours, I was checking Twitter, my wife was emailing her sisters.  Everyone we know back home is ‘fine’.

…. but, Patriot’s Day will never be the same.  And that’s a sad thing.  Boston, I cry for you.

– RTR