Run for Boston

Mary Wittenberg

It snuck up on me.  On Sunday, April 6, the day after so many of you ran in the Scotland Run –– our second Club Team race of the year - we gathered for our four mile “Run for the Parks,” benefiting City Parks Foundation. It’s always fun and gratifying to stage this event in support of CPF and their important work in our neighborhoods. This year, with the buzz and energy created by the “double” race weekend, I jumped on stage extra pumped-up to welcome the runners and thank our staff and volunteers.

The view from the stage took my breath away. I had a major flashback. My voice caught for a moment when it all came back.  Last year, we gathered for this race six days after the Boston bombings.

I took some pictures of that race and had them put together into the following video:

Just short of a year ago, the Run for the Parks was an overwhelmingly poignant race for which our running community gathered to honor Boston and to be together. The scene from the stage that day was incredibly moving. Run for Boston shirts. Red Sox hats. Grief mixed with resilience. Total silence as runners stood shoulder to shoulder for a moment to remember those lost and hurt in Boston. Tears rolled and applause surged as our national anthem singer, a Bostonian, fought through her cracking voice, “…and the home of the Brave….,” to unite us with Boston in that moment.

Last Year at Run for the Parks
"I Run for Boston"

I had planned to run London that day. It was to have been my first marathon in 19 years and the last for likely as many. I was super fit for me, and was going to squeeze the marathon in before I had foot surgery, just in case the result was a premature end to my long distance runs.  After Boston, my London run lost its significance for me.  It was more important for me to be with our running community at our CPF race as we gathered together for the first time post-Boston.  On that day, as I’m sure many others felt, too, I wanted to run a marathon for a bigger reason than my own time or personal experience. Boston 2014 became my new goal.

Last year’s Boston Marathon was a moment of tragedy and clarity for us all at New York Road Runners (NYRR) and in running. I’ll never forget flying high as I cheered on my idol and friend, Joan Benoit Samuelson, at the finish line. Joanie represents the best of Boston and running for me. 

With Joan Benoit Samuelson

I was so excited for her, as I watched in the brilliant sunshine with her husband Scott, daughter Abby and our friend, Josh Rowe of New Balance, as Joanie was on track to smash her goal of 2:52:43 (typical Joanie!). Josh and I dashed to the finish line barricades to give Joanie a big hug and snap photos in celebration of her feat –– and then I was off to make my train, with minutes to spare.  Then, just over an hour later while riding home with George Hirsch and many others from NYRR, I received a heart stopping text from Josh….our “worst nightmare…” 

With NYRR Board Chair George Hirsch

My heart was broken that day, and remains heavy today, when I think of Martin Richard and his family, and every single person and family hurt or killed that day. For those of us who spend our lives providing people with the opportunity to dream big through running, cheering and volunteering at our marathons and races, there is no worse nightmare than what happened in Boston that day. People are supposed to come away from our races feeling uplifted and hopeful –– healthier, fitter and enriched –– after having been part of something so positive and bigger than themselves.  What happened last year on Patriots Day was the opposite of that. 

Bonnie Ford of ESPN wrote a beautiful piece on the tragedy on that Boston Monday with a headline that will stay with me forever, “Attack Will Test Marathon Community.” I read that piece to my NYRR staff as we gathered in mourning at the office the next day. Bonnie’s words captured the day, from the pain and heartache to the challenge ahead. She magically captured the essence of what Boston, New York and marathons worldwide are all about - the coming together of people in an extraordinary way.  She wrote of  “….a celebration of a range of achievement, not just the top percentile….an impressionist painting of accomplishment” and, “...a collective civic experience…” and, in Boston, “…with more than a century of history.” Many of those same sentiments were captured beautifully by President Obama when he addressed the nation. 

On that emotional Tuesday morning after the race, I looked into the eyes of our NYRR team –– many in their 20s and 30s –– and saw their concern for those lost and hurt, and for a meaning to it all.  Many NYRR staff were in Boston the day before, running, volunteering, cheering, doing what our running community does so well –– supporting each other.  One thing was clear to me –– that this was a moment that would only deepen our resolve to ensure that the beautiful essence of what our marathons and races are all about would go on. Bonnie’s words gave me expression better than my own on that day. “The next time this –– or any  –– marathon is run anywhere in the world, they will run for yet another [reason].  To show that the power of communal achievement can be beaten on one day, but not on most days and never indefinitely.”

That sense of community, as well as President Obama’s words in Boston, inspired all of us at NYRR and heightened our focus on our road to the 2013 NYC Marathon. Now, in addition to all the meaning of our marathon for NYC, we would work for Boston, for running and for all that we hold dear about the spirit of our communal marathon days.  The 2013 NYC Marathon became about lifting all. “On that toughest mile, just when we think we have hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. We know that.”  Those words also continue to inspire me –– and our team –– as we prepare to honor every person in Boston lost or hurt, and run and work in fullest support of our friends at the B.A.A. and the entire running community. 

There we stood in Central Park almost a year later, following hundreds of races being run in New York and elsewhere around the world, including a record field of more than 50,000 people crossing the finish line on NYC Marathon Sunday last November in front of throngs of cheering New Yorkers. The view from the stage this year was a study in contrasts.  Smiles, laughter, spirited chatter, kids, adults, people swaying and warming up for their run to the music of the race DJ.  I was most struck by so many smiling faces. Other than the sprinkling of Boston Strong tee shirts, there was little hint of the trauma and tragedy of the year before among the sea of beaming faces and colors. But just beneath the surface, the memory lingers.

I am a bit anxious about my run in Boston. I am less fit than a year ago and the prospect of warmer weather scares me after our training through a chilling winter.  I want to make it a good run, not so much for me, but for what the day represents.  I am incredibly excited to be part of a day when we will honor and remember so many just by being there….by carrying on….by doing our best.

I feel privileged to be one of over 40 NYRR staff members who have volunteered to work that day or will run the race in support of the Boston community.  I will run for my amazing husband Derek, our two sons Alex and Cary, who we cherish so much, all of my friends and family, and you, our local runners, who inspire me every day.  As I run for Boston and for the many young people who deserve the same opportunity to discover how running can change lives, I run with you and for us all.

I don’t plan on running another marathon until Alex and/or Cary decide it’s their turn (that’s if they’ll have their mom in the same race!), and I have never raised money personally in connection with a race. This time is different.  Like many of you, I am moved to make the most of this day for others –– to add to its positive impact and legacy.  No pressure here, but I welcome you to join me and our NYRR team as we Run for Life, by making a donation to benefit One Fund Boston –– which provides critical support to those affected by the bombings, and our NYRR youth programs –– which share the gift of running with kids throughout our city and beyond.

Blogmaster's Note:  You can click HERE to view Mary's fundraising page  –– 50% of the funds raised will go to One Fund Boston and the other 50% to fund NYRR youth programs.  

Our running world may look much the same post-Boston 2013, but it will never be the same, nor should it be.  Just like we did at Run For the Parks on April 6th, and on NYC Marathon Sunday on November 3, 2013 when all ran strong towards the Central Park finish line following a specially painted yellow line (next to our normal blue line) to honor Boston, we’ll forever run with those lost and those hurt that day in our hearts.

Line-Painting Ceremony Prior to the 2013 NYC Marathon
With Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) Exec. Dir. Tom Grilk

At NYRR, we’ll strive more than ever to empower the dreams of so many and to protect that most unique aspect of our events and our marathons  ––  those amazing days when as volunteers, spectators, runners, friends and strangers, we come together and become part of something so much bigger than ourselves.

-Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO, NY Road Runners 

#BostonStrong #MarathonStrong #RunforLife