April 21, 2014 - This Boston Was Tutu Memorable To Ever Forget

W. K. Munsey

Glance at my photos from the 118th Boston Marathon and you might mistake the smiling runner in the frilly outfit for a crazy old man who slipped on the getup as a last-minute stunt to simply gain publicity. But the deafening cheers I received during my 26.2-mile race from the hallowed grounds of Hopkinton to the finish line on Boylston Street reaffirmed the very personal decision I made to wear a tutu to pay tribute to the joy and spirit of the world’s greatest marathon.

My idea of running the “Super Bowl” of marathons actually was born on April 16, 2012, while watching the 116th Boston Marathon and tracking my friends throughout their journey. I had run four Boston’s prior, with the last being in 2004. Watching the broadcast of the runners and tracking my friends got me thinking about how I would like to go back and experience my favorite marathon again.

April 18, 2011 - Still paying back for a race just under the wire...

Brian Chisholm

I crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon in 2013. It wasn't the way I wanted to. I was wearing a white volunteer jacket with blue strips, pushing the yellow stretcher in the top right corner of the picture below, with three other volunteers. We were stopped briefly because the volunteer riding the rail thought he felt a pulse, but it was probably his own. That happens in situations like this where your own heart is pounding and you’re working to save someone’s life.

We continued our race across the finish line and into Medical Tent A where we were directed to "go all the way down." I knew we were going past empty cots and that didn't seem right. When we got all the way down and reached a second triage station on the right, the doctor said eight words, "hook up a monitor, set up a morgue." Those words were devastating. We lost this race.

April 21, 2014 -“Thank you so much for helping our city heal!”

Greg Hall

The Boston Marathon is special for its steep history, its fabled point-to-point course, the many well-known landmarks along the route and the great runners who have worn the champion’s olive wreath. This Boston though, will be remembered for those who never ran a step.

Spring was slow returning to Boston for the 118th running of the world’s most famous marathon. The green ash, maple, and flowering crab trees that typically greet the current of runners in full bloom were naked and exposed along Commonwealth Avenue and in the Back Bay; their stark branches a reminder of the cruel winter much of the nation was trying to forget.

But spring always finds a way – as does the American spirit.

One year after two cowards turned the 2013 Boston Marathon party into a chaotic life-changing real-life horror movie, the marathon returned to Boston with a resolve and determination to live and survive that even a dandelion would envy.

1991 - "After the rain chased my family from the finish line, I finished alone, but elated!"

Gerald Holbrook

I only began running at age 51. I ran my first Marathon after 21 months as a runner. It was the Memphis Express Marathon, and I ran in 3:58:07 at age 53. Over the next eleven years, I ran a total of 17 Marathons, until after knee surgery, I followed the doctor’s advice and cut back to no more than 20 miles per week.

Like most runners who love running Marathons, I began to wonder if I could qualify to run Boston. By 1988 I had been elected President of Memphis Runners Track Club, and I was leader and director of a local program to prepare runners for running a Marathon.

At the end of that preparation was the Memphis Marathon, the first Sunday in December. I conducted the same Marathon training group in 1989 with my personal goal to qualify for Boston at the Memphis Marathon. I was now 58 years old and needed 3:35 to qualify

Boston Qualified! 2015 - "By my fourth race, I was passing my buddy and really enjoying competing!"

Dale Sandley

 I really haven’t been running very long. When I turned 50, in 2005, I started thinking more about my health, and joined a fitness center. I ran on the treadmill, used the elliptical, and regularly went to fitness classes.

In 2010, a buddy talked me into running a 5k with him. This was the first time I ever ran outside. It was a small event and I finished 4th in age group (behind my buddy). My next 5k I finished 3rd in my age group, again behind my buddy. It was wonderful winning an award. I had never played sports in school, so it was a new experience. By my fourth race, I was passing my buddy and really enjoying competing!

The more races I won, the more motivated my training became. By the end of that year, I had my 5k time down to 21:30!