For the second year in a row, I took advantage of the nearness of my house to the starting route of the Boston Marathon and walked down to Main Street to watch the runners go by. Last year, it was Sam and me; this year, it was my mom and me. It was fun to watch, and we had a good view. The Marathon and its runners, with all of their different situations, never fail to inspire!
First, the wheelchairs and handcycles went...
Then the wheelchair duos. These ones are always especially touching.
Then the elite men. They are very elite runners. Many of them are Olympic athletes. Two of them are LDS returned missionaries who were in last summer's Olympics. They ended up placing in the top five and ten.
The black man at the front in the teal/turquoise shorts ended up winning the whole thing. He was a Kenyan. They usually win! 😄
Next were the elite women. One of the Kenyans won again.
Then the para athletics division went—also very inspiring.
Then there was a flyover of two military jets, and next came the literal waves of runners—around 30,000 of them from all 50 states and 118 countries. There were four waves total, and we stayed for the first two.
Check out the wave of runners stretching back into the distance!
This is literally as close as I get to being in a marathon! 😂
So many of the runners seem thrilled to be there. But this is only a mile or so in. It's probably a very different story 20 miles later for some of them! It's one of the most difficult marathons in the world.
The crowd is great, cheering, clapping, and encouraging. I brought my cowbell again!
It was a fun way to kick off April Vacation week, and it was the most fun thing about my April Vacation, since I worked most of the week and Sam wasn't with me. I love living back in my hometown and getting to experience the Boston Marathon again!