HOW THINGS WENT AT MONDAY'S MARATHON

“...let us lay aside every weight, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (from Hebrews 12:1).

I’m fortunate that our church facility is literally located a tenth of a mile off the Marathon route in Framingham.   It’s been my pleasure to attend quite a number of Marathons since I’ve lived in Framingham, and that’s particularly true since our church purchased our present church building in 1994.  I’ve lived through some very hot Marathon days which felt much more like late July than mid-April.  I’ve enjoyed some very pleasant Marathon events, such as last year’s, when the temperature was around 55 degrees with low humidity and the sunshine was brilliant.  I HAVE attend some chilly drizzly Marathons, but yesterday’s was the COLDEST Boston Marathon I remember.  I’d say it was probably 42 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but with the rain, it had that “raw/cold” feeling- almost more like 35.

Thank God- as bad as things were, the weather wasn’t HALF as bad as was originally forecast!  Last week we were warned of strong damaging winds and torrential rainfall.  I seriously wondered if I’d attend the race under those conditions, and I frankly doubted it.  By Sunday afternoon, some forecasters were saying the rain and wind COULD let up around 10 or 11 in the morning and things might not be so bad.  There was no way my 20-year-old daughter Rachel was going to miss attending the race, so of course, I purposed to go with her.

Under “normal” conditions, I like to arrive a couple of hours early and stake out a location.  I always enjoy just sitting and reading the Boston Herald while I drink a coffee and totally relax.  Due to the storm, Rachel and I did not go out to Route 135 until the time when the wheelchairs were passing by.  I expected almost no spectators to be present, but there WAS a decent sized crowd.  I heard one guy tell his buddy that the crowd was one-third of what it normally would be, and I heartily agree with that estimate.  Rachel and I were out for two hours.  Rain fell for only about 45 minutes of that total time, and most of the time the rainfall was pretty light.  Monday morning I woke up to the house shaking in high winds, but by the time we were out on the route there was no wind except for a light breeze.  Diane and Larry Pepero from our church joined us.  I know that Diane competed in at least one marathon in the Buffalo, NY area around twenty years ago, so the marathon is a big deal to her.  Diane Pepero and I always do a lot of cheering and yelling and this year was no exception.  The smiles and “thank yous” from the runners are a real blessing.  We were also joined by The Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Framingham (located on Route 9 in the Framingham Centre area.)  Mindi’s friend Stephanie was running in the race, and Mindi DID get to see her and give  a split second of cheering and support.  I felt bad for Mindi because she did not wear gloves.  I brought gloves and wore them for about half the time.  I kind of felt guilty wearing them when Mindi was so cold, AND the gloves muffled my clapping, so that’s why I took them off for about half the time.

I think it’s so exciting that the Boston Marathon runs right through downtown Framingham.  Two of my favorite events of each year are the Boston Marathon in April and the Natick Fourth of July parade, so that will be my next big local event to look forward to.  Somehow I DON’T think July 4 will be a cold day, but in New England one never knows!