Boston Marathon: Thousands Of Runners Finish Final Mile Sunday Morning
By Josh Hill
The Boston Marathon and the city it’s held in will never be the same as it was before that fateful Monday last April. But while a pair of terrorists tried to take something away from not only the people of Boston but from thousands of innocent people around the globe, they won’t be winning the race. Rather the people they tried to take it away from will as thousands of runners who never finished the Boston Marathon this year gathered to walk to the final mile together in an amazing symbolic sign of global unity.
3,000 people, both those who ran in the race, never finished or simply wanted to be a part of the gesture, gathered in Boston on Saturday morning to finish the final mile of the Marathon as a tribute to those who could finish it with them. The event was dubbed OneRun and began in Kenmore Square and ended at the official finish line which previously couldn’t be crossed due to it being labeled a crime scene.
It was truly a touching and moving scene as the National Anthem was sung by the choir from St. Ann’s Parish, the place of worship for 8-year old victim Martin Richard and his family. From there the runners finished the last mile to honor those lost in the bombings, those who couldn’t be with them due to injuries suffered when the bombs went off and also to the first responders and the scores of emergency workers who dropped everything to save lives on April 15th.
Boston and the Marathon will never be the same, but demons were at least temporarily purged on Saturday and the Marathon was reclaimed to those who it belonged to. But a lot more was won back on Saturday as the human spirit has once again endured and people set aside all differences to cross that finish line side by side, not as Americans or foreigners or runners or athletes.
Those who crossed that finish line Saturday morning triumphantly raised the human spirit above their heads and did their best to show that you can hurt it but you can’t break it.