Something evil.

I was at work today, serving drinks to businessmen on their lunch breaks, when I saw the CNN coverage of the events in Boston.

The fear and disbelief that gripped me was reminiscent of watching the 9/11 attacks unfold, and I know so many of you were watching the same thing.

How many times have we run races, sprinting joyously, trudging determinedly, putting one foot in front of the other to the finish line?  How many times have we been in the same place mentally, emotionally, and physically as these runners in Boston?

There are horrible tragedies every day, in all corners of the world, but this.  This hit home to me, and to all of us in the running community, in a way I can't even put into words.

I had a dear friend in Boston today, running her second marathon, an amazing PR.  Kimba was on my Ragnar team, and has been my friend for more than a decade, and when I saw the footage of the bloody pavement and the runners getting blown over by the shock wave, I felt panic so acute I felt like my throat was closing and my heart was beating out of my chest.

She mercifully sent a text soon after the bombs went off, that she was OK.  She finished before the explosions. 

I don't know if it's that Kim was there, or that we could see the flags of all of the countries represented in the race being pulled out of the wreckage, or that I feel this was an attack on my community... runners.   I don't know why I feel so shaken to my core.  It's not only the devastation of the viciousness of the attack, of the lives of the innocents lost, of the horrific injuries... it's a complete assault of the optimism, the free-spiritedness of the running community.  Why?  How?  Who would do this?

My heart is in Boston tonight.