Bombs in Boston

[nyquillyn]

The kid who died at the finish line while waiting for his dad is just fucking brutal. My kids always wait for me at the end of races.

I don't even like getting home from work so late that I don't see my daughter before she goes to bed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her, especially in such a horrible way. A true tragedy for the families effected. I have a few charity races (just 5ks) in the next few weeks around DC. Nothing so big it would attract a threat, but still makes me a touch nervous.

Like I said in the work-out thread. It won't change a thing for me. If anything, I may just use this as motivation to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. It doesn't change the fact that the Boston Marathon is the most important race for every long-distance runner in America. Marathon running is about perseverance.

[Fuck You Jobu]

The kid who died at the finish line while waiting for his dad is just fucking brutal. My kids always wait for me at the end of races.

I don't even like getting home from work so late that I don't see my daughter before she goes to bed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her, especially in such a horrible way. A true tragedy for the families effected. I have a few charity races (just 5ks) in the next few weeks around DC. Nothing so big it would attract a threat, but still makes me a touch nervous.

Like I said in the work-out thread. It won't change a thing for me. If anything, I may just use this as motivation to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. It doesn't change the fact that the Boston Marathon is the most important race for every long-distance runner in America. Marathon running is about perseverance.

What makes it different from other marathons? Is it hillier?

[Norah]

The kid who died at the finish line while waiting for his dad is just fucking brutal. My kids always wait for me at the end of races.

I don't even like getting home from work so late that I don't see my daughter before she goes to bed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her, especially in such a horrible way. A true tragedy for the families effected. I have a few charity races (just 5ks) in the next few weeks around DC. Nothing so big it would attract a threat, but still makes me a touch nervous.

Like I said in the work-out thread. It won't change a thing for me. If anything, I may just use this as motivation to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. It doesn't change the fact that the Boston Marathon is the most important race for every long-distance runner in America. Marathon running is about perseverance.

What makes it different from other marathons? Is it hillier?

Newton ain't flat.

[broken iris]

Hey cutuphalfdead, got any updates on the Saudi student connection? Drudge seems to playing that up right now and Rep. King has repeated the 'speculation' as a caution ahead of immigration reform bill voting. Of course he's not assuming someone is guilty of terrorism because they were of Arab heritage and on a student visa and in the general location of attack and is not implying that allowing in more students would increase such attacks. No, sir. That would be prejudice.

[TheDapperGent]

Of course he's not assuming someone is guilty of terrorism because they were of Arab heritage and on a student visa and in the general location of attack and is not implying that allowing in more students would increase such attacks. No, sir. That would be prejudice.

That's almost logical. You bigot.

[nyquillyn]

The kid who died at the finish line while waiting for his dad is just fucking brutal. My kids always wait for me at the end of races.

I don't even like getting home from work so late that I don't see my daughter before she goes to bed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her, especially in such a horrible way. A true tragedy for the families effected. I have a few charity races (just 5ks) in the next few weeks around DC. Nothing so big it would attract a threat, but still makes me a touch nervous.

Like I said in the work-out thread. It won't change a thing for me. If anything, I may just use this as motivation to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. It doesn't change the fact that the Boston Marathon is the most important race for every long-distance runner in America. Marathon running is about perseverance.

What makes it different from other marathons? Is it hillier?

The Boston Marathon is the most-storied marathon on the planet. It's been run since 1897. And the history of the race has mirrored the history of our society in many ways, like the struggle for women's right (the Kathrine Switzer incident) for instance. It has also been the sight of many great performances. Bill Rodger's victories there really fueled the running boom of the 70s.
Qualifying for Boston (or BQing) remains the goal for most long-distance runners in this country. It has tough standards, my qualifying time is 3:10, which is crazy fast consider less than 3% of marathon finishers finish under 3 hours. The average marathon finish is around 4:30. Qualifying for Boston is often the ONLY real athletic goal a long-distance runner has.
So, the Boston Marathon has both history and prestige.

[vegman]

I don't even like getting home from work so late that I don't see my daughter before she goes to bed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her, especially in such a horrible way.

I feel exactly the same way. Me and my Dad are taking my son to the All Star game at Citi Field in July and now this has me a bit nervous too. Thinking about losing him this way literally makes my stomach churn.

[broken iris]

Of course he's not assuming someone is guilty of terrorism because they were of Arab heritage and on a student visa and in the general location of attack and is not implying that allowing in more students would increase such attacks. No, sir. That would be prejudice.

That's almost logical. You bigot.

Eh, I screwed up that post. I meant to imply that Rep. King was being a bigot and taking political advantage of tragedy to further stoke unfounded fears of Arab immigration into the US resulting in more Islamic fascists being active in the country. I should stick to threads where I have something of value to say.

[TheDapperGent]

I was being sarcastic. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I don't think I have the personality to actually call somebody out in that manner.

I believe that in an investigation you have to look at all options with an open mind but you also can't ignore what the past has taught us and unfortunately profiling has it's merits.

[liebzz]

The kid who died at the finish line while waiting for his dad is just fucking brutal. My kids always wait for me at the end of races.

I don't even like getting home from work so late that I don't see my daughter before she goes to bed. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose her, especially in such a horrible way. A true tragedy for the families effected. I have a few charity races (just 5ks) in the next few weeks around DC. Nothing so big it would attract a threat, but still makes me a touch nervous.

Like I said in the work-out thread. It won't change a thing for me. If anything, I may just use this as motivation to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon. It doesn't change the fact that the Boston Marathon is the most important race for every long-distance runner in America. Marathon running is about perseverance.

What makes it different from other marathons? Is it hillier?

The Boston Marathon is the most-storied marathon on the planet. It's been run since 1897. And the history of the race has mirrored the history of our society in many ways, like the struggle for women's right (the Kathrine Switzer incident) for instance. It has also been the sight of many great performances. Bill Rodger's victories there really fueled the running boom of the 70s.
Qualifying for Boston (or BQing) remains the goal for most long-distance runners in this country. It has tough standards, my qualifying time is 3:10, which is crazy fast consider less than 3% of marathon finishers finish under 3 hours. The average marathon finish is around 4:30. Qualifying for Boston is often the ONLY real athletic goal a long-distance runner has.
So, the Boston Marathon has both history and prestige.

Only might be an exaggeration, but it is a very historic race. I have many running buddies who have never considered running Boston, but have been running NYRR races nonstop for years to qualify for the New York City Marathon.

The Boston Marathon was in some controversy in recent years due to the fact that the international community would not recognize a record time due to the fact that it is technically a downhill race.

That being said, I've got nothing but tremendous admiration and respect for those that have run a marathon, and what happened yesterday is the absolute height of tragedy.

[liebzz]

BTW, that last post was certainly not meant to belittle the Boston Marathon, more some things I've picked up about it along the way that directly or indirectly answer the root question.

I have nothing but total respect for the dedication it takes to run one of these. Months of sacrifice, giving up large chunks of time to train, the mental stress, the worries of injury - it's really incredible.

[nyquillyn]

There is a certain segment of the running population that doesn't seem to care about the Boston Marathon, but most of those people are young and don't understand the history of Boston. There are also a lot of people who have no chance in hell of ever qualifying, so they shit on it.

Throughout the years, many people have wanted the organizers to move the marathon to the weekend and loosen their qualifying times. I applaud them for keeping their traditions and standards.

Boston's significance has seen a resurgence in recent years. So much so that even qualifying won't necessarily guarantee you a spot in the race anymore.

[liebzz]

I don't know if it's sour grape as much as people want to run the marathon that's the big deal closest to them (international competition notwithstanding). I don't think New Yorkers obsess over the Boston Marathon - but that's mostly because they have their own to obsess over. I don't know about Philly since theirs is not as big, but could be the case there, and Los Angeles and Chicago. Professional runners do them all I am sure, but I think the recreational runners mostly focus on the one that's closest. Maybe I'm wrong.

Even still, I just don't get it when it comes to what happened yesterday. To me, this is people from all over the world running a big race. There's no political subtext in my mind that makes this a natural target outside of sheer insanity. I'm pretty sure that the animosity from a Revolutionary War battle probably wore off about 175 years ago.

[nyquillyn]

I don't know if it's sour grape as much as people want to run the marathon that's the big deal closest to them (international competition notwithstanding). I don't think New Yorkers obsess over the Boston Marathon - but that's mostly because they have their own to obsess over. I don't know about Philly since theirs is not as big, but could be the case there, and Los Angeles and Chicago. Professional runners do them all I am sure, but I think the recreational runners mostly focus on the one that's closest. Maybe I'm wrong.

Even still, I just don't get it when it comes to what happened yesterday. To me, this is people from all over the world running a big race. There's no political subtext in my mind that makes this a natural target outside of sheer insanity. I'm pretty sure that the animosity from a Revolutionary War battle probably wore off about 175 years ago.

Well yes, of course, the majority of recreational runners focus on a local marathon because they simply could never qualify for Boston. And that's its significance, it gives people a goal to reach for. When people find out I'm a runner, they often ask if I have run Boston.

Most pro runners go where the money and fast times are, they don't really care about history.

[wtfisaledbetter?]

I found an article on Huffington Post regarding a man on a rooftop that is seen in one of the blast videos. I guess authorities are trying to figure out who he is. I saw the picture on twitter yesterday and didn't think anything of it again until today.

CNN has been showing some time lapse video and one of the still shots shows some bags near a mailbox just before the blast. Some people are just fucked up...

[liebzz]

I don't know. I run with a group of about 200 local runners of various levels of experience, many of whom could easily qualify for Boston, a few of which were in the marathon (including a guy who has run a marathon a month for something like 53 consecutive months - a long story). In any event, we're not far from New York, and no one really cares or holds the Boston Marathon in some epic esteem above all others. If anything, that's how most people in my group treat the NYC Marathon. It's certainly not because they can't qualify...I'm pretty sure because it's simply the local race. People certainly look forward to Boston, but I am not sure it's that different to them than a baseball player getting to play in the oldest baseball park (*ahem* Fenway). It's cool and awesome and historic, but it's not what they gear their whole lives for.

[broken iris]

I found an article on Huffington Post regarding a man on a rooftop that is seen in one of the blast videos. I guess authorities are trying to figure out who he is. I saw the picture on twitter yesterday and didn't think anything of it again until today.

CNN has been showing some time lapse video and one of the still shots shows some bags near a mailbox just before the blast. Some people are just fucked up...

That man of the roof stuff sounds like a coincidence. Would a terrorist trying to time an attack really need to be on the scene of an event that is being broadcast live?

[nyquillyn]

Well, this probably isn't the thread to debate the merits of the Boston Marathon. All I can say is that if your friends don't revere the race, then, in my opinion, they probably don't know enough of or have enough respect for the running history of this country or they subscribe to some silly NY-Boston rivalry.

I don't see "NYQ" by times on most race results, I see "BQ".

[McParadigm]

In any event, we're not far from New York, and no one really cares or holds the Boston Marathon in some epic esteem above all others. If anything, that's how most people in my group treat the NYC Marathon.

Are you two still going on about this??

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors.

The event attracts 500,000 spectators each year, making it New England's most widely viewed sporting event.[3] The Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 established a record as the world's largest marathon with 38,708 entrants, 36,748 starters, and 35,868 finishers.[3]

In terms of media coverage, the Boston Marathon is the second biggest single-day sporting event in the U.S., just behind the Super Bowl.

Now, I realize that none of that directly determines if it is the most important race among RUNNERS, but at the end of the day a lot of prestige in any sporting event is determined by public awareness and interest. The Superbowl, after all, is just another football game. Do consider that your proximity to New York may be causing a fairly ordinary case of New Yorker's Disease.

[Jorge]

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