I loved Marathon Monday

So Patriot's Day here in Boston is also known as Marathon Monday. Every year, the Boston Marathon takes place on this day, and I was so excited. After an early morning in Lexington, I went home to shower and then watched the marathon on TV. I was watching the elite female and male runners. I timed it so that when they would be finishing, I could be just a couple miles from the finish, on Beacon Street, to watch them past. So I called Amanda and Rachel on my walk over, who live right off of Beacon Street, and we met up. Here are Rachel, Amanda, and I as marathon spectators.

This man was amazing, running on 2 athletic, prosthetic legs...I was inspired.

Here are the male elite runners, Ryan Hall (the white guy who ran with the pack of Africans) ended up in 3rd place at the finish.

Here was the 1st place male runner, and at this point he had gained considerable distance over the other men.

Here are the elite women, the fast pack. Sadly, Kara (american in front) did not end up winning, she got 3rd-an Oregonian. I believe one of the Ethiopians got 1st.

Needless to say, Marathon Monday was inspiring. We watched lots of the fast runners, then we headed into the city for shopping, and on our way back home, we got to see runners still finishing, this time the really slow runners. I saw several 75 year old men still going. I saw overweight individuals who were accomplishing a major physical feat for themselves. I wanted to cry again and again. Some of them looked so tired, and others looked like they were in pain. I was inspired, did I say that yet?! I am definitely doing a Marathon in the next year or so, and I am definitely doing Boston sometime soon! Happy running to all my runner friends and family out there! This all made my half marathon look like a stroll in the park :)