I can’t take my eyes off the news today. I’m not one to commit myself to violent news scenes and partake in media frenzies often, but this one, the one that took place this afternoon at the Boston Marathon has my full attention.

Maybe it’s because it hit so close to home, having two of my best friends running the race (both are thankfully safe), or maybe it’s because I just signed up for my very first full marathon in Philadelphia later this year and just trying to imagine what I’d be thinking if I were in Boston running today. If you’ve ever run a big race or played in a big game or had to give an important speech, you know all the scary thoughts running through your head. What if I can’t make the full 13.1 miles and my ankle gives out? What if I forget my lines and don’t know what to say and everyone laughs at me? What if I make a bad play and lose the game? Those are thoughts we’ve all had on our own big days as we put so much pressure on ourselves to succeed, but today’s tragic acts show those are the least of our worries, at least for right now.

The Boston Marathon is one of the most storied events in athletic history, dating all the way back to 1897 drawing an estimated spectatorship of 500,00 people and runners from 96 countries. And this marathon is no average marathon; it’s one of six World Marathon Majors where runners must have a qualifying time in order to even lace up their shoes and participate. This was some people’s very first crack at a marathon and this was the final hoorah for many elite runners wishing to go out on top.

The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) stated there were 23,326 official starters and 17,584 finished the race before the first explosion took place around 2:50pm EST, causing remaining racers to divert and evacuate the original course path.

Running a marathon is no piece of cake and it’s not for the faint of hearts either. It takes hard work and dedication, both mentally and physically, in a sport that does not discriminate in age or size or anything else for that matter. To be able to accomplish 26.2 long, hard miles is tough work, and sadly, for those geared up for today’s race, they experienced a nightmare instead of the euphoric finish line they all worked so hard for.

JJ Watt of the Houston Texans and 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year knows just how hard today was and what these athletes were robbed of when he tweeted this:

Today’s 26.2-mile race wasn’t just another race, it stood for something so important to so many people around the world as each mile honored one of the 26 Newtown victims from another recent tragedy. NFL writer, Dan Durkin (@djdurkin) really summed up the violence our nation is currently facing in this tweet:

Sending our children to school and participating in races isn’t something we should ever have to question or dread. But in a time like this, we must remain positive and stick together for the common good; something the running community has long been known for, which was captured on so many Twitter feeds over the past few hours.

Our friends at Runner’s World (@runnersworld) helped spread valuable and timely information to those monitoring the #BostonMarathon hashtag by supplying phone numbers:

Other avid and experienced runners put their common sense and social media into overdrive for the common good, like Kevin K (@kkee20), who suggested this to ABC and his followers:

Runnerspace.com (@runnerspace_com) shared Google’s new people finder so families could easily track their loved ones in or near the course:

Even folks like SB Nation (@sbnation) shared links of stranded race participants in need of a place to stay for the night or trying to connect those with places:

And finally, my vote for most uplifting tweet of the day goes to Pete Manning who had this to say earlier in the day:

 

Thoughts and prayers to all those affected by today’s tragic events and a sense of thankfulness that our community can band together to help one another in a time like this.

To see the original blog on the Women’s Health Action Hero blog, click here.

To read The Blonde Side | Jayme Lamm’s profile on the Women’s Health Action Hero blog, click here.