Committing to Boston

This journey began on April 15th, 2013 at 2:49pm.  I was attending a meeting at work when my boss entered the conference room and said to the attendees "A bomb just went off at the Boston Marathon finish line, you may want to contact your family to tell them you're safe."  In an eerie synchrony, everyone's phones started buzzing as frantic loved ones checked-in to ensure they were safe.  I was a mile away from the site of the explosion but I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.  It was at that moment when I committed to run Boston again.

What I didn't consider however was that getting a number for the Boston Marathon may be more challenging than actually running it.  There are a limited number of bibs available for any race and Boston being the oldest and most prestigious Marathon race in the world doesn't make it any easier.  In addition, all the participants who were unable to finish the 2013 race were invited back to run again in 2014.  Suffice it to say, demand far outweighed supply.  As an amateur runner, there are only two ways to get a number:  qualify, or run for a charity and raise money for them.  To qualify at my age bracket would require me to have run a qualifying marathon in the past 12 months in 3:05 or less.  That was not realistic at that moment, so my only other option was to run with a charity.

Searching the Boston Athletic Association website, I discovered that the New England Aquarium had a charity team.  Now here was a charity that I could get behind.  I had been to the Aquarium many times in the past and had always loved it but this Marathon Team was focused on funding the Aquarium's Community Outreach Program.  The Program, which educates underprivileged kids in underserved neighborhoods about marine biology was amazing.  I was hooked and knew this was the charity for me.   I applied that very day.

The Aquarium on the other hand wasn't so sure about me.  They had received over one hundred applications for 9 numbers.  They wanted to choose wisely.  I submitted my application on September 10th.  Several emails, a phone interview, and 6 tense weeks later I got a phone call.  I had been accepted on the team!  Needless to say, I was ecstatic.   I'm one step closer to my goal.