A Tragedy in Boston

I wasn't supposed to run yesterday. The odds were against me.

But I did.

For the past 5 months I've been fighting injury after injury. Peroneal nerve injury to sciatica to IT Band to hamstring strain... my running world since November has been a constant battle of fighting off aches and pains. I didn't mention it on the blog, but last Tuesday before the race, I pulled my groin at physical therapy. I took off 4 days prior to race day to heal. The groin, in addition to the annoying hamstring pain, was enough to make me consider withdrawing from the race.

But I didn't.

Yesterday, April 15th, I woke up feeling excited and ready to give the race a shot. I thought, "What's the worst that can happen?" I planned to take it easy and walk if I sensed any pain. The race had organized medical buses that could bring you to the finish, if needed. My goal was 4 hours and to have as MUCH fun as possible. Take pictures, high-five spectators, and savor every beautiful moment of the 26.2 miles.

Jake walked me to the race buses that morning and there was such excitement and joy in the air. I waited in line to board the bus and could not wait to get to Hopkinton to start the race.

No more than 4 minutes after driving towards the start, we heard a loud boom from under the bus. Yep, our bus broke down. I had just been talking to the lady next to me about my silly injuries and I joked, "I swear, God mustn't want me to run this race today!" Another bus came and picked us all up, and we drove the hour long ride to Hopkinton.

I stood in line for the bathrooms after getting off the buses, then leisurely made my way to the clothing drop off where I shed my layers and walked toward the starting line. Lesson #1 at the Boston Marathon: the starting line is about 0.5 miles from the clothing buses. Give yourself more than 10 minutes. I almost missed the start, but luckily I sprinted and made it just in time. How's that for a warm-up.

The race itself, well, it was AMAZING. Unreal. Beautiful. Incredible. I will do a full race recap tomorrow, but it was absolutely the most fun and energetic race I have ever done. Ever. Loved every minute.

The first half I was super slow and conservative and it felt pretty good. Once I hit 13.1 and I was pain free, I decided to kick it up a notch and see how my body felt. The miles kept flying by, and I felt this strange internal urge to finish as fast as possible. I just felt like I needed to get to that finish line as quickly as I could, even though I knew a PR was far from possible. My pace continued to improve, which in a marathon is usually unheard of. My phone died right after I texted Jake "24" to let him know I was almost there.

As I ran down the main street towards the finish line, I had 3 faces I wanted to see: my mom, dad, and Jake. I heard their voices and saw their smiling faces among the thousands of excited fans and felt so relieved! I had made it. It was over! They were standing directly across from the mandarin hotel, the site of the 2nd bombing.

I crossed the finish line 3:38.59, exactly 30 minutes before the horrors unfolded and exactly 30 minutes before I would have finished if I didn't sprint the 2nd half. I wanted to collapse when I crossed that beautiful finish line, but I kept moving. The only thing on my mind was that I just wanted to be with my family. I found a free AT&T phone booth (since smart Brittany took too many pictures and used up her iphone battery) and called Jake to let him know where to find me. It was pure chaos everywhere: families laughing, friends cheering, racers limping towards their loved ones' open arms. It was such a happy and joyous time for the accomplished runners.

I found my parents and Jake and fell into their arms. We walked back to the hotel, and no sooner had we walked into the hotel, did we hear two loud "booms." We had no idea what the sounds were, but when we turned on the TV, the sights were surreal. Two blocks away, terror and panic were unfolding. Two blocks away, people lost their lives, loved ones, and what was supposed to be a day of joy, admiration, and triumph was turned into a day of cruelty, fear, and devastation.

We went downstairs to the hotel bar/restaurant to order food and watched the horrific scenes play on CNN. Immediately after receiving our food we heard yelling and suddenly the restaurant was filled with cops and the SWAT team yelling, "Everyone out of here now! Evacuate the area!! Either go up to your rooms or get into the mall!!" Jake, always being resourceful, grabbed all of our food and we all ran towards the stairwell, not knowing where to turn for safety. We made it back up to our room on the 16th floor and were officially on hotel room lock down until 7:30pm last night.

From our room we watched the streets of Boston fill up with cops, fire trucks, ambulances, and other official vehicles. We saw the police take police dogs to the top of the buildings around us to search for other bombs. We all said our prayers for those lost and for our own safety as we had no idea what was going on below us.

Police and Ambulances below our hotel

Hours later, still crowded streets with ER vehicles

Police Dogs searching the roof...

We made it out of boston safe and sound this morning and I practically kissed the pavement when we got off the subway.

Safety outside downtown, finally!

It was a day that shook my very core and I will never forget. The odds were against me to run yesterday, but I did. I truly believe that God was watching over me and my family yesterday and I will always be grateful for my strong legs that helped me run faster than I anticipated and the safety of my family throughout the horrible tragedy yesterday.

I am devastated for those who lost loved ones and those left with broken hearts. It was such a horrific day that I cannot believe I witnessed and I will never, ever forget.