Some Boston Marathon hopefuls had to deal with heartbreak long before they reached the eponymous hill in Newton.
While Boston always carries a special significance, runners this year were even more determined to prove the running community’s resilience after two bombs went off at the finish line in 2013. Some, however, were sidelined by injury after months of training and anticipation for what they expected to be one of the most emotional and memorable marathons of their lifetime.
Don’t feel sorry for Ben Beach.
Yes, his goal of a string of 45 consecutive Boston Marathon finishes seemed to end on a closed course just miles from the finish line last year, where two bombs rocked the city and the nation. And yes, a 46th consecutive finish would have made Beach, from Bethesda, the sole record holder for consecutive finishes, an achievement he had worked toward all of his adult life. He didn’t get to cross the finish line as planned and for two months, his streak’s fate was in limbo.
Of the Washington, D.C. area’s tens of thousands of runners, 865 have registered for the 2014 Boston Marathon. The list has been updated to reflect a more comprehensive search of local runners
[button-blue url=”http://www.runwashington.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Boston-entrants-2014-revised.pdf” target=”_self” position=”left”] See this year’s local entrants [/button-blue]
If the conditions are right, competitive marathoner Scott Allen, 27, of Washington, D.C., has his eyes on a PR in Boston.
It’s an ambitious goal.
Ask Melani Hom to recount how April 15, 2013 unfolded through her eyes and she still gets emotional a year later.
The date – if it hasn’t been engrained in runners’ memories – was last year’s Boston Marathon, where scenes of rescue workers attending to bloody finish line bystanders overtook those of happy, finisher medal-wearing runners.