Runners Blog: The Magic of Marathon Monday

By Lauren MacDonald

I have a friend who abhors running (and being outside), but this same friend texted me on Tuesday telling me that she wants to run a marathon next year. This colossal change of heart was short-lived when I reminded her that to do a marathon, she would have to run and be outside, but it was humorous all the same. The crucial piece of information missing from this story is that my friend attends Boston College and spent much of last Monday cheering on nearly 30,000 runners who made the famous journey from Hopkinton to Bolyston Street. Even my running-adverse friend was stirred by the magic of Marathon Monday.

I’ve only ever attempted to train for a marathon once and it was a colossal failure—I ended up in the hospital with mono after completing my 20-mile training run. I took it as a sign that a marathon wasn’t really in my best interest and for the past four years, I’ve been fairly content with this decision. But every Marathon Monday, I think about trying again. There is something about Boston that captures the runner’s spirit and makes me feel the need to run further, faster and harder. The tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing only heightened this feeling. Like Ed wrote in his article last week, “The Boston Marathon has become a state of mind for runners and non-runners”.

While I didn’t go so far as to sign up for a marathon this week, the magic from Boston definitely got me excited for the races I have lined up for this summer. Summer racing season—with a 5K every weekend—was how I got my start in running as a little kid. Since moving back to CNY last fall, I’ve been looking forward to revisiting all my favorite races—Nate the Great, the Boilermaker, and the Delta Lake Triathlon, just to name a few.

With the changing weather and the magic of Boston, I’ve started to feel like I’m breaking out of the rut I wrote about a few weeks ago. What about you? Are you ready for the spring season?