Marathon

We're safe, just very, very shocked. I was at mile 24 for hours with two friends, cheering as loud as we could. I wasn't planning on staying, but the timing was perfect, we saw all of the elite racers, which was such a rush. I brought my camera to capture a slice of the energy, but I was so enthralled I never pulled it out. There were so many moments of pure, beautiful humanity: like the soldiers that were running/walking the entire route in their combat uniforms (including boots) and carrying all of their combat gear in very heavy packs on their backs, all in name of a fellow soldier that has died (and they were wearing a yellow ribbon in their memory); or the zoom of the wheelchair racers with their huge biceps and slick wheels as they gain speed on the downgrade where we stood; or the runners that cramped or felt defeated and stopped right in front of the crowd, only to be cheered on so loudly and directly and with such energy that they started back up to running pace once again. This is how I want to remember the 2013 Boston Marathon.