Yesterday was the Marine Corps Marathon, which is held annually in Washington D.C.
In addition to the 26 mile run, the Marine Corps sponsors a 10K run in conjunction with the marathon.
This year, I ran/walked the 10K along with my oldest son. It was a
great race, and I really enjoyed the people that I met on the course. I
managed to finish in an hour and fifty minutes- 20 minutes less than I
was expecting.
I was moved by the determination of the athletes who ran the entire 26
miles. It was inspiring to watch athletes crossing the finish line
after 5 straight hours of running. It was even more inspiring to watch
the last finisher cross the line. People who just didn't give up and
just kept going - putting one foot in front of the other.
On the 10K course, I was moved to tears by the number of families who
were running in memory of family members who have been killed in the
line of duty while serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. Literally hundreds
and hundreds of families, running with the pictures of their loved
ones, which listed their duty location when they were killed. It was
humbling to realize how many have died in the last ten years. And yet,
the families have carried on the memory of the lost service member, and
have persevered, putting one foot in front of the other, continuing on
without their sons, daughters, husbands, and wives.
Even more moving were the service members who were competing in the marathon - with prosthetic limbs.
Talk about determination. I honestly didn't feel worthy to be running
on the same course as these true heroes, who have given so much in
service to their country.
And throughout it all, there were the Marines, manning the course. Ever
polite, and offering encouragement up the final 400 yards (really,
really steep hill).
Who knows what horrible sights these young men and women have seen? And
yet, they were manning the course, polite to the end to all of the
civilian runners, encouraging people to keep going, and offering support
to everyone. It was a humbling experience.
I'd like to thank all of our military members and their families. Your
sacrifices are above and beyond anything the rest of us can imagine.
Your perseverance and determination in the face of adversity is an
inspiration to us all.
This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Thrifty Living" blog. I
moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all
of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one
place. I've matched the publication dates here to their original post
date. If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking
the time to go back through them all!
