Within
a minute of the bombs going off in Boston on the 15th I received
messages from friends commenting on the events and (from those I haven't
seen for a while) whether on not I was in Wichita and not in Boston. One
of the questions that I was asked was this (in various forms), "did I
believe that this tragic event would affect participation in the
Marathon and the crowds that line all 26.2 miles of the Marathon Route?"
I answered yes to both parts of the question. I believe that they will
have a record number of marathoners trying to register for the marathon
and I expect that the crowds will be larger than ever (and for those of
you familiar with the course) and the Wellesley Coeds will be twice as
loud (if that's possible). Many underestimate the toughness of the mind
as well as the body of dedicated distance runners and their loyal
supporters. I was witness to this on the local level last Monday (22nd)
at the Runners For Boston 5k Run/Walk at the East Side GoRun Store. As
the time approached for the run to start, the gentle rain turned into a
downpour and lightning streaked across the sky in large and frequent
amounts. Those in charge (GoRun Staff) fearing for the safety of the
runners and walkers were holding up the run and trying to decide what to
do when a half dozen young male runners took out on the course and were
followed by about a dozen others followed by me yelling, "let's go,
you're not going to melt." (I have purposely omitted the rest of my
charge yell). Hundreds followed me out on the course and I was in danger
of getting trampled by the faster runners.
Here's a fun little story
for all of you, the Derby Runners and those in my groups have heard
this, but wanted to share this with all of you. One of our runners
(we'll call him "Lucky") was hit by a car while running in the Derby
Area and was lucky to survive, but the skilled doctors put him back
together with pins, screws, metal plates and whatever, Lucky was getting
around pretty good when he left (was transferred) to Seattle at the end
of last year. One day he was at his health club and had a cardiac
arrest and died. With the quick thinking of the employees and the proper
equipment, he was brought back to life, had heart surgery and Lucky
declared that he was faster and in better shape than he had been in
years and was going to go ahead and run the Boston Marathon this year.
Lucky did finish the course before the bombs went off, but don't you
think that Lucky has used up about 3 of his 9 lives by now?
This is my first email in four weeks--its been a tough
tax season and so what follows has been delayed since that time. I
started writing this weekly email message about 14 years ago when email
and the internet was pretty new, smart phones, the RunWichita Website
didn't exist as well as other tech advances that we take for granted
these days. I have felt for about 3 or 4 years that this weekly meesage
has outlived his usefulness, but everytime I talk of stopping, I get
talked back into again so I have reached a comprise with myself. Charlie
(RunWichita Website) has done an outstanding job of posting info on all
of the races and all you have to do is click on www.runwichita.org
to find the latest info on races----there is much more info there than I
can put in my weekly message and I don't really need to repeat it. From
time to time, I do have things that I like to share with you (see
above) and I enjoy your comments. This is the last of my "weekly" emails
and further emails will appear only when I have something new to share
with you, perhaps bi-weekly or monthly.
Until the next time, have some
great runs, maybe this beautiful weather will last for awhile.
