Written in 2013 after the Boston Marathon bombing.
Yesterday I was excited to watch the Boston Marathon because a friend was running, and this was something huge for him.
John Young is a fantastic man I met at University, first because he is a relative of my wife and then he and I were in some amateur theatre at the University of Waterloo. John became a teacher, and I would bet his students think he is something special. John has done some cool stuff along the way. He is a tri-athlete and even after some physical setbacks, he set running the Boston Marathon as a new goal.
He had worked very hard to reach this goal, and the day started well, he began in the early group and was making significant progress. I found out later he was a mile away from the finish line at 2:50 PM, but luckily he was not harmed by the explosions (and neither was his family).
If you want to learn much more about this remarkable man (and others), read this Boston Globe article Dwarfs outrun Expectations in Boston Marathon. You can read John’s Blog here as well, and you can follow him on Twitter @Dwarfparatri as well.
As I said online, John, you finished that race in our hearts already.
For the victims and their families of this heinous act, you are in our hearts
I’m glad your friend was safe. We have friends who have run in the past, and we remember their elation and joy in both being permitted to run and in finishing. Our hopes and prayers are with those hurt and the families of those killed.
That was just tragic. There are really not explanation for that kind of act. It did show great spirit between people when others were helping others. I was at a loss for words, but glad to hear that your friend is ok.
Great post. I was there too.