“Your strength doesn't come from winning. It comes from struggles and hardship. Everything that you go through prepares you for the next level.” ― Germany Kent

In spite of my age, and the fact that I took up running in my sixties, I say that I only have 30-year-old knees because they don't have the mileage on them that most people my age have on their knees.

The Boston Athletic Association, the organization that puts on the Boston Marathon, also manages a 5K the Saturday before the Marathon, a 10K in June and a Half-Marathon in October.

This year I am running all three races, the first of which is only three weeks away. I took some much-needed time off after running my first Marathon last October. (Damn Proud.)

Well, I actually took a lot of time off. It was a little difficult to answer the question 'what's next' after running those 47 laps around the outside of Fenway Park to reach 26.2 miles.

Regardless, I am back in business and on the road again and the 5K will be an 'emotional race' for two reasons, and both of them are highlighted in this week's Weblog.

Being Boston-centric for most of my life, at this time of year, I think about the Boston Marathon taking place the third Monday in April. I was on the sidewalk in Kenmore Square.to watch the Marathon for the first time more than 60 years ago.

 

But I also think about the Boston Marathon Bombings that took place the third Monday in April in 2013.

It's one thing to hear about bombs killing civilians half a world away in Ukraine or another troubled spot, it is quite another when they do the same in familiar places and locations you know well. The phrase 'closer to home' really applies to our reactions.

That day, the explosions of home-made bombs on the sidewalks at the finish line on Boylston Street impacted a lot of people, obviously and most significantly the victims and the families of those who were murdered and maimed in the two explosions. (See the Wikipedia page details at the end).

But the events that day also affected more than families and friends.

Even if you are not affiliated with Boston in some way, you can still understand what an emotional, hard to forget event took place at that finish line 9 years ago. 

Some remember that the entire metropolitan area had to ‘shelter in place,’ because it was unknown what the terrorists were up to, how many there were and what was 'next.'

Others remember the horror of the blast scenes, and still others remember the second terrorist, captured and climbing out of a boat in a backyard in Watertown. 

I remember public safety men and women running towards the blasts, while spectators were running away. 

Running toward danger became a symbol for 'Boston Strong'.

And that phrase, ‘Boston Strong,’ became a mantra for the resilience of the people in our area. Some things you can’t forget, and others won’t let you forget.

The terror, the trauma, the memories come back to many when moving down Boylston Street, or near Kendall Square across the river in Cambridge where a security guard was shot in the aftermath.

Because my travels take me to both of those places on a regular basis, I might think about the terrorist acts more than others would. 

Just a week before the blasts, Opening Day at Fenway Park took place, and the traffic and parking was so bad near the park, my son and I had to find a space more than a mile from the park in a garage on, you guessed it, Boylston Street. I pushed him in his wheelchair right past the bomb sites oblivious to what was going to happen just a few days later. 

In my role leading a non-profit in the Boston area, I also had a volunteer committee meeting one block from the bomb sites three days after the blasts and tried to be Boston Strong and go about my business. 

That non-profit also had an event scheduled at the DCR Hatch Shell two weeks after the Marathon and it was later discovered that the bombers original plans were to have the explosions take place there. (Proceeding with our event was finally approved, but we were required to triple the State Police detail and have bomb sniffing dogs on site). 

So, you can see why the memories and the impact of that day regularly enter my consciousness as I make my way around the city.

I am NOT running in the Boston Marathon this year. Been there, done that. 

But as mentioned, on Saturday, April 16, I AM running in the annual Boston Athletic Association (BAA) 5K race as part of Marathon Weekend in the city, and as part of my re-entry into the world of running after the winter of rest and recuperation.

The 5K, like the actual Marathon has a finishing stretch that passes by the explosion sites. 

I will be thinking about that day nine years ago a lot as I run. I have participated in this race before and it is very emotional. 

I am not driving by the finish line, I am not walking by the memorials on the sidewalk and staring at the spots, I am running down the middle of the busiest street in Boston with 10,000 other runners and we’ll be crossing the freshly painted, most famous, road race finish line in the world.

When I cross over the blue and yellow stripe on the road, I will be reflecting on the lives changed and lives lost, surrounded by memories and feeling really Boston Strong.

When bad things happen to us, or people we know, or places we remember, they are each an announcement to us to try to be strong. Because the size of the challenge and our ability to overcome it sometimes don't match, we cannot go through life completely in ‘smooth sailing’ mode with adversity after adversity or big blow after big blow hitting us. No one can.

What we can do, however, is be as strong as we can be. 

What we can do, however, is to try to bounce back. 

Even if not successful, there is redemption in trying hard to bounce back. I know.

Sometimes we need a friend to step in to help, other times the wounds heal or partially heal themselves, and other times the memories keep us warm. 

But things move on, with or without us, and it's important to recognize that the quicker we recover or the higher we bounce back, the more we…. admire ourselves. 

And at the end of the day, regardless of how many people admire us, admiring ourselves is what really counts.

Those first responders running towards the explosions, were taking charge when something bad happened. We call them public safety personnel, but most of the time we don’t see them in that specific role. That day they were a symbol for the profession, and the city of Boston.

Several days after the blasts, the Boston Red Sox, playing in Fenway Park less than three-quarters of a mile from the sites, dedicated the season to Boston Strong and the victims. 

After winning the World Series, the players brought the trophy to the finish line as a symbol of what being Boston Strong was all about.

In less than three weeks, I will be rounding the turn from Hereford Street to Boylston Street and honored to be passing by the sites where the lives of so many innocent people were altered forever.

And then I will cross the most famous running finish line in the world, and as I do so, I know I will be emotional and, like every year, I will say a little prayer for the families and friends and loved ones who will never be on those sidewalks again.

Boston Strong is not just a phrase, it is an attitude that says when something bad happens, move forward and be strong, even when it is hard to do.

Three people were killed as a direct result of the bombings. Krystle Marie Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager from Medford, Massachusetts, was killed by the first bomb.^[259] Lü Lingzi (Chinese: 吕令子),^[260][261] a 23-year-old Chinese national and Boston University statistics graduate student from Shenyang, Liaoning,^{[262][263][264][265]} and 8-year old boy Martin William Richard from the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, were both killed by the second bomb.^[266][267]

Sean Allen Collier, 27 years old, was shot and killed by the bombers as he sat in his patrol car on April 18, at about 10:48 p.m. He was an MIT police officer, and had been with the Somerville Auxiliary Police Department from 2006 to 2009.^[268][269] He died from multiple gunshot wounds.^[270]

Boston Police Department officer Dennis Simmonds died on April 10, 2014, from injuries that he received during the Watertown shootout a year before.^[67]

According to the Boston Public Health Commission, 264 civilians were treated at 27 local hospitals.^[4][271] Eleven days later, 29 remained hospitalized, one in critical condition.^[272] Many victims had lower leg injuries and shrapnel wounds,^[273] which indicated that the devices were low to the ground.^[274] At least 16 civilians lost limbs, at the scene or by surgical amputation, and three lost more than one limb.^{[275][276][277][278]}

Doctors described removing "ball-bearing type" metallic beads a little larger than BBs and small carpenter-type nails about 0.5 to 1 inch (1 to 3 cm) long.^[279] Similar objects were found at the scene.^[52] The New York Times cited doctors as saying that the bombs mainly injured legs, ankles, and feet because they were low to the ground, instead of fatally injuring abdomens, chests, shoulders, and heads.^[280] Some victims had perforated eardrums.^[274]

MBTA police officer Richard H. Donohue Jr. (33) was critically wounded during a firefight with the bombers just after midnight on April 19.^[98] He lost almost all of his blood, and his heart stopped for 45 minutes, during which time he was kept alive by cardiopulmonary resuscitation.^{[citation needed]} The Boston Globe reported that Donohue may have been accidentally shot by a fellow officer.^[99]

Marc Fucarile lost his right leg and received severe burns and shrapnel wounds. He was the last victim released from hospital care on July 24, 2013.^[281] Courtney Kelleigh who ran for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, suffered hypothermia with no permanent damage.^[282]

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