I hate waking up to tragedy. I feel kind of ashamed that it
takes a tragic event to prod me out of hibernation and get back into writing
this blog but I suppose it’s those sorts of events that start one questioning
the world we live; therefore prompting a need to write. I was planning on turning
on and tuning in to this blog again after reading a comment article regarding
the usefulness of news in our world but that has taken a backseat to the events
which unfolded in Boston yesterday. I’ll find my way back to the article soon…right
now it seems like news is a very useful entity indeed.
I don’t know what it is about this tragedy…I just can’t seem
to wrap my head around and come to terms with it. It has actually been bugging
me all day. Like a splinter or itch in my brain that I just can’t seem to scratch.
It has nothing to do with the death count as a result of the explosions (still
currently sitting at three) as this is much lower than other major tragedies
that have occurred throughout the world in recent months. Maybe it was the
video footage I was able to see witnessing these blasts taking place. Maybe it’s
the thought of runners, who’s joys, livelihood, and strength or their legs;
loosing those very things that got them into this event in the first place. Maybe...
I think, like many
others, it has to do with the event at which the perpetrator chose to explode
these devices: a marathon. I understand there are bombings and attacks every
single day around the world that result in much larger destruction and death.
Just today there was a car bombing in Iraq that resulted in 9 people being
killed…three times that of the bombing in Boston. These are almost all war
zones though. It becomes too easy to view these events as part of a much larger
action taking place and to not associate them with tragedy (although I do view
them as such myself). There’s just something about it taking place at a
marathon…a sporting event that is bothering me.
Not only a marathon but one of the world’s oldest and most
prestigious marathon competitions. Now, the marathon is seen as the peak of
what it is to achieve athletic greatness as a human being. Sure there are
records of unbelievable amounts of home runs being hit, goals being scored, and
championships won. However, nothing comes close to the marathon. This is an
individual endeavor. A human being must devote themselves to months of grueling
training, must motivate and push themselves to go beyond their own limits, and
must find their own inspiration to do it. Like it or not humans are not
designed to run continuously for 26 miles. We just aren’t. It takes a lot of
specialized and continuous training to achieve this feat. There’s a reason why
they save the marathon event for last in the Summer Olympics: it’s the oldest event
and greatest achievement for a human to complete. Marathons are times for
joyous celebration and self-fulfillment after so much time spent preparing. In
one brief moment this innocence and joy was shattered…and I’m afraid that we
will never be able to put the pieces back to together again.
I am afraid. I’m afraid of the repercussions this is going
to have for any future public events. It only takes one look at the changes put
in place after the 9/11 attacks to see the lengths we can go to in order to
maintain public safety. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to attend a sports
event without countless numbers of pat downs, bag searches, police dogs, and
heavily armed guards every ten feet. Most of all, I’m afraid of the sanctity of
anything anymore. It truly feels like there’s no event, no gathering, no
anything that can be considered safe anymore. If I had been asked of a likely
sport based target for a bomb attack I wouldn’t even rank a marathon on my
list. There’s just too much happiness, too much hope, too much charity, too
much unrequited love involved to ever consider it a target. I don’t want to
ever feel like I need to constantly be looking over my shoulder going anywhere,
but it seems the world is turning down this dark and dangerous road.
I am also afraid of the reactions. I read a beautiful
comment piece on the Guardian website today by Roger Robinson (a quite famous
Kiwi marathoner) who had attended the marathon yesterday. There are many
extremely valuable points made and he touches on something I have read a lot
about in the last 24 hours and that is the strength of the running community.
Unfortunately, as Newton so wisely said, for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction. In only takes a trip down to the comments part of the page
to see some of the extreme reactions taking place. I understand that an
internet comment stream is the least accurate place to gain a sense of people’s
stances, but it is a scary place to see how some people actually so think in
this world. Fear-mongering I believe is the best way to put it. Theories and
conspiracies about how and why this event took place…and it has barely been 24
hours. The White House and Police Department of Boston both made sure to
include pleas to the nation in their addresses to not give in to speculation,
to not give in to a knee-jerk reaction and begin playing the blame game, but to
wait and see the fruits of what will be a large and thorough investigation.
There’s absolutely no saying who planned and committed this attack and there is
no saying why. Until there are answers there will be more and more questions…and
the more there are questions the more rumors and fear begins to spread. Out of
the Guardian, Washington Post, and New York Times articles I read this morning
all about the bombings; I was extremely disappointed in the Times feeling the
need to explicitly state that the police had been questioning a Saudi man (who
was hurt in the blast) who had been acting suspiciously prior to the attack….along
with several other people. Why single him out? Why give any person whose
thoughts immediately went to this being the work of Middle Eastern terrorists
any fuel to add to their fire? It’s irresponsible. It’s stupid and it could
make matters a whole lot worse. I could be proven wrong in the end, again, we
don’t know why this tragedy occurred. Until we do it is safest to not give in
to speculation and blame.
Amongst all of this fear however, I have seen and felt hope.
Thankfully there have been more articles and news bites published regarding the
heroism of people around the scene of the explosions than anything else. Videos
were taken of runners abandoning their dreams, things they fought and sacrificed
for months, in order to run TOWARD the blasts and help. That’s right….towards.
Human instinct seems to take a backseat. Wounded being carried to what were
simple medical tents to treat dehydration and muscle pulls now set up for
triage. Lines of runners immediately wanting to donate blood to help those in
need. This is the bright side of human nature. Something that events like this
will never cloud over. I truly believe that for every one person who is bent on
destruction and anarchy there has to be at least 5-10 more who won’t let them.
The running community is strong…it is close…and it will help
its members to get through this tragedy. Investigations are ongoing and it is
suspenseful to wait for the moment when the world learns why these took place.
The only thing that can add to the tragedy of this is if it was for nothing. If
this was nothing more than a messed up kid wanting to prove something and raise
a little hell…that there is no motive or statement trying to be made. That
these people were injured and died in vain…for nothing. My thoughts and prayers
are with everyone who has been touched in some way by this tragedy.
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