GOD BLESS BOSTON

Hard to write a hard-driving political blog today when the whole nation is feeling so sad, distraught, and probably terrified. How many of us thought back to 9-11, Oklahoma City, London, and Madrid when we saw the bombs exploding on TV?

The Boston Marathon is the "king" of Marathons to us old runners. I lived in California for thirty-five years before moving back to my roots in Northeast Ohio, and I ran in five 26.2 mile marathons. No, I'm not going to brag. my first one took me 4 hrs. and 36 minutes to complete. Don't laugh.

It is ironic that my last marathon in '83 was my best time at 4 hrs. and 6 minutes, which is almost the time when the bombs went off today. At 77 years of age, that means I was forty-seven when I ran my fifth and last 26.2 miler.  Dad  died three months earlier, so I dedicated the marathon to him.

Sorry for seeming so melancholy in today's blog. Two people were killed in the terrorist bombings today, one an eight year old boy. My heart has been aching all day. I'm not ashamed to write that I've shed a lot of tears today.

Marathon runners love to celebrate after the run. Runners always say the day of the 26.2 miles is actually fun. It's the grind of the training preparing for months that gets to you. I can't call it a race as far as I'm concerned; I could never get under four hours. But just to finish was a big deal to me. For me it was a four hour run. I trained and ran in all five with my two great California friends John and Roger. Yes, they finished ahead of me, but I've got some great memories.

I think that's what got to me so much today. Marathon runners like to stand around after a run, congratulating each other as they chug a bottle of water, laugh, commiserate with one another. It's a great time. And today some evil monsters spoiled Patriot's Day and a great day for thousands of runners.

My sadness is mostly for the dead and injured, but those poor runners had to feel vulnerable and terrified to see the finish line, and then experience two bomb explosions shattering the sky. To think they awoke today thinking only of running in Boston's Patriot Day's Marathon, never gving any thought to the tragedy that some evil monsters had planned.

I do appreciate the White House finally calling it "terrorism". It's difficult for me to write anything political today. I've got a heavy heart.

Please say a prayer for those in Boston today...God bless us all, and watch over us.

I'll talk at you tomorrow....