Marathon Monday 2011

In Boston, the day of the Boston Marathon coincides with Patriot's Day, a day that celebrates the ride of Paul Revere.  The city of Boston and some other neighboring towns will usually take this day as a holiday, mainly because the marathon really hinders any sort of traveling across the city.  This year, Marathon Monday landed on April 18th.

Runners and Spectators take over Beacon St. in Brookline

It's actually quite a great day, especially if it's a warmer spring day.  For the most part, everyone on the street is cheering on their friends, family members, and complete strangers.  And all the adults have their red plastic cups out without any fear that the cops will harass them. 

No fear of being hit by a train!
 When Bostonians cheer, they cheer HARD!

There are tons of volunteers who sign up to staff water stations throughout the marathon route.  As we were standing there on St. Paul St and Beacon (a little bit after Mile 24), we noticed that the volunteers started getting in the way of the runners!  They literally were trying so hard to make sure that the runners would grab the tiny cup of water from their hand that they started standing closer to the middle of the road instead of sticking to the sidewalk.

It was honestly quite frustrating!  I get that they were trying to be "helpful."  But if you're literally IN THE WAY of the runners, you're definitely NOT HELPING!  I kept saying to these idiots to keep moving back to the sidewalk, but they would look at me like I was the crazy person.  My friends and I couldn't believe the audacity.

This man, on the other hand, stayed on the side handing out
 Red Bulls.  Definitely not a helpful drink..but he meant well.

While it's truly inspiring to see so many people run through the city with the goal of getting to the finish line, it really did ingrain in me the fact that I could never be a runner.  I definitely don't aspire to finish a marathon.

Instead, I'll gladly spectate and cheer and applaud and hand out water from the side.