Back to Boston
When I first qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2012, I saw running the race as a once-in-a-lifetime event. I would go, run my heart out, then move on to other races.
I did go. I did run my heart out. But tragedy made it impossible to move on.
I am not alone.
The running community is close, passionate and stubborn as hell. When we line up in Hopkinton on Monday, April 21, it will be as ONE, and the world will know it. We will be loud, proud and obnoxiously neon (because we can).
Compassion. Peace. Solidarity.
This will be my mantra for 26 miles 385 yards.
It won’t matter that my training for this race has sucked. It won’t matter that I won’t even come close to my lofty time goals. It won’t matter that I will likely feel like garbage at some point (or all of the points).
What matters is that I’ll be there, running among like-minded souls, with a gigantic smile on my face and high-fives for all.
TheRunFactory.com 
Best of luck this weekend, Jeff. I’ll be watching the live stream of the race along with millions of others who simply want the event to unfold as it should: with thousands of dedicated runners enjoying a run they earned through months of discipline, dedication and a few hundred heaving gasps.
I’m sure the starting line will be very emotional. Though you may want to keep those salty tears in to use as electrolytes during Heartbreak Hill, I think you, and everyone else toeing the line or lining the roads to support their runners, will want to give in to the weight of the moment as a tribute to those who cannot run alongside you on Monday.
Make it happen.
April 17, 2014 at 10:57