OTTAWA MARATHON: CHANGE OF PLANS
After battling sacroiliac joint issues all spring, along with insomnia/sleeplessness for the past few weeks, I have decided and#40;after many conversations with Houstonand#41; not to run the Ottawa marathon. This spring I have gotten really strong, but I have yet to get fast. I have logged more miles and put in more work then ever before. But, with what I have been dealing with these past 4 weeks, it looks like I need another 5-6 weeks to train, rehab my hip, and find out what is keeping me up at night. I can't run another race after a sleepless night, and I don't want to attempt 26.2 miles off of 0 sleep. Maybe a half, maybe a 10K, but not a marathon. If I run Ottawa, I predict a 2:55 and I've worked too hard to settle for that. With more time to prep I have the chances to replicate the last five weeks of my most successful marathon, and potentially PR or get extremely close to it. I've decided to run Grandma's marathon on June 22. Though I will miss the Canadian Marathon Championships [Read More]published May 13, 2013 at 6:30pm EDT
THE PALESTINE MARATHON: PROMOTING FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
The West Bank's first marathon took place in Bethlehem to promote human rights and tell an alternative story to one of conflict and war.andnbsp;On Sunday 21 April 2013, 650 runners from 28 countries gathered around the Church of the Nativity, which was transformed into an international sports arena for the day, to run run 5, 10, 21.1 or 42.2 kilometers in the hilly streets of Bethlehem, before returning to an uphill finish at the starting point. Palestinians, of which many were running their first official race, made up close to 70 per cent of runners and finished in the top three places.In the week leading up to the race, word got around that the streets would be closed down on the course that featured refugee camps, Olive fields, the Wall and lots of local shops. Many people gathered to get a grasp of the test of human endurance going on in their streets.High number of female runners37 per cent of runners were women. The high number of female participants is a feat for the organisers, [Read More]published April 29, 2013 at 4:55am EDT
THE REACTION TO THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBINGS
It's been difficult reading and listening to the coverage of the Boston Marathon, not thankfully because any of my friends or family were injured, but because of the relentless 'you can't beat a marathoner' attitudes.andnbsp; Actually you can. Three people so far are dead. The list of men, women and children left without legs is horrific, simply horrific. It just seems facile to drag out the sort of slogans used to get you over a hill or to break that running wall and say yeah, this fits here.andnbsp; Perhaps in this situation acknowledging someone's grief and pain is more useful to them than making T-shirt slogans and online memes. I doubt very much the mothers who have lost children need to see the posturing going on this week.andnbsp; I understand people are afraid and they want to somehow prove to the bombers - whoever they are - that this act cannot hurt them. But it already has.andnbsp;There is a place for grief and sadness and this is it.andnbsp; In the same way we should be reaching o [Read More]published April 17, 2013 at 5:14am EDT
BOSTON MARATHON TRAGEDY THROUGH THE EYES OF A HIJABI FOOTBALLER AND WANNABE RUNNER
Like the rest of the world, I was shocked and horrified whenandnbsp;I heard and#40;via Twitterand#41; about the explosions at the finish lineandnbsp;of the Boston Marathon.I was so stressed and immediately thought about my dearandnbsp;family and friends in the area. Despite warnings that cellularandnbsp;service was shut down I immediately started texting and callingandnbsp;them.Because they are so wonderful and caring they all replied withinandnbsp;minutes to assure me that they were safe.My younger cousin, absolutely dashing and charming fellowandnbsp;whom I adore, works in downtown Boston. I called my Auntandnbsp;frantically to ask about all of them. By the Grace of Godandnbsp;Almighty, my cousin was sick today. And he stayed home.andnbsp;I have never been more thankful for a flu and fever of aandnbsp;family member.I was waiting to hear back from another friend living inandnbsp;the area but then I was reminded she was in Mexico.andnbsp;A very close friend messaged me back to also let me knowandnbsp;she was OK.I did [Read More]published April 16, 2013 at 8:22pm EDT
THE VULNERABLE SPECTACLE: NOTES ON THE BOMBING OF A MARATHON
The bombing at the Boston Marathon - what is there to say about such a thing? Already, barely a day into the story the story is on repeat. Terror, heroism, terror, heroism. How many are dead? Wounds and more wounds. Women andamp; children. Look out for a dark skinned man in a hoodie. It's an awful mix. Violence and the sport spectacle: they are not exactly strangers to each other and#40;Munich, Hillsborough, the parking lot of Dodgers Stadiumand#41;. Nevertheless, it is hard to place this event in a sport context. The obvious point of reference is Eric Rudolph's bombing of a crowd at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and#40;which killed one person, and in which another died of a heart attack, and in which a great many were injuredand#41;. If the media has shown any restraint in naming suspects and#40;while giving in to its instinct to visualize that suspect for usand#41;, we can thank poor Richard Jewell, a security guard who actually saved people's lives when he spotted Rudolph's backpack. Jewell was [Read More]published April 16, 2013 at 3:30pm EDT
BOSTON MARATHON: UNITED IN RUNNING (VIA @JENNY_SCHERER22)
Not sure Iandrsquo;ve ever had such a roller coaster of a day emotionally in my whole life. I eagerly got up yesterday morning, day off of work, to set up my computer to stream Marathon Monday liveandndash; to witness an epic battle between Americans and foreigners for that signature floral wreath and a spot on the podium. And I sat in my apartment, for 2+ hours, and certainly was not disappointed. I glanced back and forth from the live feed to my Twitter feed, noticing Boston filled nearly all the trending topics, recognizing really for the first time the full magnitude of the eventandndash; the Boston Marathon is the equivalent of a runnerandrsquo;s Super Bowl. I left my computer, a little disappointed the Americans hadnandrsquo;t placed higher, but after having watched the event unfold, knew they had given it absolutely all they had through those hills and to the finish. I returned a few hours later in a Panera, where I was refueling and going to get some work done and#40;doing a little soul [Read More]published April 16, 2013 at 10:14am EDT
BOMBING IN BOSTON (VIA @ASKLAURENFLESHMAN)
Iandrsquo;m still processing everything that happened but this blog is an attempt to describe my personal experience at the Boston Marathon, and how I watched my environment unfolding. I have been reading the accounts of others and want to get my experience written down. Obviously I had no idea what was coming all day, and things changed very quickly, and Iandrsquo;m checking the news like everyone else, in my case with inflight wireless. Iandrsquo;ll attempt to tell my story as it happened. Nine days ago, I was sitting amongst a circle of my family and friends at my baby shower in Seattle, drinking growlers of limeade and kombucha and smoking candy cigarettes for a laugh. And every day since then, I have been collecting photos, funny memories, and travel stories to help chronicle the most exciting week Iandrsquo;ve had in recent memory, all of which was set to culminate in my first ever experience with the Boston Marathon. And now, only a few short hours after the finish line explosions, I [Read More]published April 15, 2013 at 8:41pm EDT
THE BOSTON MARATHON: SENSELESS
Carrie crossed the finish line at 4:08:48. The first explosion happened with 4:09:44 on the clock. By then, she was already through the finish area and had met with George, her high school coach from some 25 years ago. She was far enough away to be safe from the blast. She told the Newark Advocate that five minutes had passed between her finish and the explosion, but they say that time slows down in extreme situations. Her husband, John, was still out on the course. A many-time Boston Marathoner himself, he wasnandrsquo;t up to running this year and was experiencing the race as a spectator. Heandrsquo;d missed seeing Carrie go by in a crowd and was still miles away when the explosions happened. They immediately contacted each other via cell phone, so each knew the other was uninjured, but it was still a tense time before they were reunited. He was running down city blocks, fighting waves of people like the protagonist of a disaster movie, and it was hours before he got to Carrie a [Read More]published April 15, 2013 at 10:09pm EDT