I guess what’s really bothering me is why do we feel the need to blame? Why do we feel the need to hate?
Like most people, my first response to what happened at the Boston Marathon yesterday was shock. A bombing at a marathon finish line? What???
My second reaction was personal. God, that could have been my family! At 4:09 into the race, that’s exactly where they would have been waiting for me.
Third, I felt a need for comraderie. I reached out to my running friends, and they reached back. We united online and in person to process the tragedy that touched OUR world.
Today, it was learning about the victims and the heros – who were the people, the names and faces, to whom this happened? – and taking notice of all of the outpourings of support and solidarity. The beginning of healing.
But there is also anger – so many angry people who seem bent on blaming someone. Was this a coordinated terror attack from one of our “enemies?” Is it domestic terrorism from another crazy like Timothy McVeigh? You can bet that once it’s determined which of these it is, people who want to hate are going to jump on some type of bandwagon. Just like Sandyhook, which allowed anti-gun people to go on a rampage. I’ve already seen the “rah USA” and the anti-Homeland Security posts. Gag me.
I guess what’s really bothering me is why do we feel the need to blame? Why do we feel the need to hate? I don’t want to hate. And I refuse to fear.
I’ll be running the Tacoma City Marathon in two weeks. Initially, I felt like telling my family – my kids – don’t come watch me. Stay home. Stay safe. If I did that, a lot of people would say I’m “letting the terrorists win.”
My opinion? That’s a stupid-ass way to think of it. This isn’t a contest. It’s not a win/loss situation. The only people who lost are the families of the victims, the 6,000 runners who didn’t get to finish yesterday’s race, and the people of Boston for whom the marathon and its history mean so much. The rest of us? Well, maybe we lost some of our innocence, just as we do everytime something uncomprehendable happens, but life will go on.
And who won? No one. Not even the individual or group who was behind the bombing. If it were a “win” for them, we’d know who they are by now. They would have been looking for acclaim and notoriety and their identity would already be clear.
No, it’s not about winning and losing. It shouldn’t be about hate and retribution. It’s a tragic, senseless event. Tragic, senseless events happen everywhere, all the time. We can’t, and shouldn’t, modify our lives because of them.
You would be hard-pressed to find a group of individuals stronger or more determined than marathoners. I’m proud to be one of them. While I’m sad about what happened yesterday, I’ll be damned if I’m going to let it change one single thing about my love affair with running. And, unless there’s a very compelling reason for them not to be, my family will be there to watch. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.”
smartrunnnergirl 