A few thoughts on the bombing in Boston

Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror. -- President Obama (4/16/2013)

There were a few things that struck me yesterday regarding the bombing of the Boston Marathon. The first has to do with the crowds of fans watching the runners punish their bodies. Road races are one of the last sporting events that folks are able to walk up to and watch. There are no tickets. There are no metal detectors.

Part of the beauty of the Houston Marathon are the crowds gathered along the course. Whether it's the Heights, Montrose, the Village, the Galleria, Tanglewood, Memorial Drive, Allen Parkway or the final stretch, the fans are loud and supportive. If you're paying attention you'll see the same folks three, four or five times along the course. I never get tired of the sight of a runner heading to the side of the road to spend a few moments with family members before continuing on.

How much is that going to change as a result of what happened at the finish line on Monday? I hope it doesn't. This world can be a dangerous place but if you spend your life trying to wrap yourself into a protective cocoon, you're going to miss an epic journey.

Which brings me to my second thought. While driving up to Conroe this afternoon to make the 1:30 p.m. docket, I was listening to Talk of the Nation. The topic, of course, was the bombing. One of the panelists was asked about increasing security measures for runners and he didn't think it would be a big deal to require runners to pass through a metal detector on the way to the start line. Another guest who was associated with Atlanta's Peach Tree race piped in that she didn't think the runners would mind the inconvenience.

And why should runners have to walk through a metal detector on the way to the start line? It wasn't a runner who was carting two bombs along the course. I have never read or heard about any runner carrying a weapon with him on the course and using it during the course of the race. The notion of subjecting runners to unnecessary security measures is not just absurd, it's downright scary. It's scary because there are folks who find nothing wrong with the idea.

These are the same lemmings folks who blindly accept the latest "security" measure at the airport (or wherever) because it's all about being safe. So what if we're trading our privacy and our liberty for the false promise that our government will keep us all safe. One day y'all will wake up and tell your grandchildren stories about the old Fourth Amendment that will sound as quaint as today's tales about rotary dial phones and getting up and changing channels by hand.

And finally it's time to deal with the President's quote. If there is an award for unintended irony, President Obama has already wrapped it up for the year. How he was able to equate the bombing of innocent men, women and children with terrorism and keep a straight face while doing it, I'll never know. Yes, the deaths of three people and the maiming and wounding of more than 180 others was tragic - but it doesn't even compare to the death and destruction wrought by our government on innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama, Serbia, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - just to name a few.

Imagine the terror of sitting down at a cafe and having a bomb explode as it falls from the sky. Imagine the horror of seeing a cluster bomb fall in a market. Imagine the fear induced by the sounds of fighter jets in the sky knowing what they're carrying.

The United States is the world's finest killing machine but no one in our government and very few in the media care about the loss of innocent lives by the hand of American weaponry. They don't look like us. They don't talk like us. They don't practice religious superstition like us. They're just collateral damage in a war they had nothing to do with.

Yes, Mr. President, the use of bombs to kill innocent civilians is terrorism. And you, Bill Clinton and the Bushes should all be standing in the dock at The Hague answering charges of crimes against humanity.

Dreams turn into nightmares

As I write this I'm still in something of a state of shock about what happened in Boston yesterday. I was sitting at my desk when the New York Times app on my phone alerted me to the story. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon with live coverage from a Boston television station on in the background.

As though of y'all who read this blawg on a regular basis know, I'm a runner. I've run 28 marathons and ultras over the past 15 years but I have never qualified (nor gotten reasonably close to qualifying) for the pinnacle of American road racing - the Boston Marathon.

It is a race that every one of us who laces up our shoes and hit the pavement every morning aspire to. It is a dream that very few of us will ever realize and anyone who qualifies for it should savor every minute of the experience. But now, for thousands of runners, their memories of the 2013 Boston Marathon won't be of the  satisfaction of crossing that finish line. Instead, they will always associate their moment in the sun with the tragedy that befell spectators near the finish line. Instead of happiness their memories will be of horror and sorrow.

And, for the thousands of runners still on the course, their dreams of crossing the finish line will remain unfulfilled.

For those of us who run these races for fun our friends and family line the course to cheer us on and to give encouragement when we need it. It was supposed to be a glorious day for them, too. To see their loved ones  finish the Boston Marathon.

Now three people are dead, including an 8-year-old, and well over 100 are wounded. A day that broke with promise ends in unspeakable tragedy.

A slight change in plans

Today is usually when I write about the zen of trail running. The first Saturday in December is the traditional day for the 50K trail run through Huntsville State Park. I have completed the 31-miles along the trails on six previous occasions.

This past Saturday presented a slight conflict, however. Race day coincided with my oldest daughter's birthday and with the first 5K she's run solo. She has run three 5Ks previously - two with her mother and one with her aunt.

This semester she decided to join a group at her school called Girls on the Run. Once a week she'd stay late after school, go to a study-hall type class and then go running with her teammates. The program culminated in a 5K run at Bear Creek Park.

I asked my daughter whether she's rather I run in Huntsville or stay in town to watch her. She decided she wanted her daddy to be at her race. So, I scratched my trail run off the calendar (adding the Galveston marathon in its place) and watched her cover the 3.1 miles in under 42 minutes.

She was hot. She was tired. But she was determined to finish and she sprinted out the last quarter-mile. I was so proud of what she'd done.

And, being that it was unseasonably warm, okay, hot, hitting a record high in Houston, I was quite glad I wasn't out on the trails.

All in all, I think everything worked out just fine.