The Agony of De Feet

This Monday, while thousands of runners staggered their way through a sweltering Boston Marathon, I stood on the sidelines and watched.  I like to think I'm in reasonable shape, but marathoners make me feel fat.  I might weigh more than the first place man and woman combined.

The Girl ran, and performed admirably.  I stood very still, shoulder to shoulder with other race fans, for over six hours, and managed to not fall down or punch anyone.  I'm sure hers was a greater effort, but I don't know how wide the margin is.

My one disappointment was that I never actually saw The Girl during the race--had it not been for a friend who called me with updates on her progress (which she received via text message), I wouldn't even have known she had crossed the finish line.  However, it's hard to be truly disappointed while watching the Boston Marathon.  It is a spectacle of the grandest scale, and I got many glimpses into the very best of humanity.

Several troops ran, in uniform, with full packs.  I think some of them may have been ROTC, but whenever any of them passed, the crowd roared.  Many people yelled their thanks.  I hope they heard us.

Some runners would wave their arms at the crowd, encouraging us to cheer louder.  I surmised that if they had the energy to coax louder cheers from us, they probably didn't need the support, but that didn't stop anyone.

Occasionally, we had other reason to cheer.  A few times, a runner would shudder to a stop right in front of us, less than a tenth of a mile from the finish line.  The crowd would urge him to continue, and remind him "you can do it!!"  Once, I even saw two runners turn back and take the arms of a man who might not have made it on his own.  The three of them walked the rest of the way.  After 26.1 miles of hills and heat, they still had enough left to help someone else finish.

I'm proud of all the runners that day.  I'm proud of the crowd around me for supporting the runners.  Most of all, I'm proud of The Girl, who ran an outstanding race in really tough conditions.  Kudos to everyone.