Patriots Day?? What's Patriots Day?? I'm sure most of you are wondering. Patriots Day is a Massachusetts holiday celebrated on the third Monday of April. It is in remembrance of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which began the American Revolution.
So how do we celebrate? No, we don't fire muskets at each other on the town green. Instead, it obviously calls for a day off from work for all non-critical public employees. Most of us celebrate by kicking back and watching the Red Sox, who are always scheduled for an early (11:00 a.m.) game, or we enjoy seeing people cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon.
That's what I find myself doing today. I'm watching the Red Sox right now leading the Texas Rangers 8-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning. On commercials I'll flip over and watch the masses stream across the finish line. It's amazing to think that the guy who won the men's division crossed the finish line in the same amount of time that I hope to be to at mile 9. His story is an amazing one, 4 time winner of the Boston Marathon, he once was homeless and considered suicide, before being "discovered" and his career began in competitive running. But his story is not the only one. There is the story of Team Hoyt; Dick Hoyt is a 65 year old man who races with his son. The catch being, his son Rick cannot walk or talk. Dick pushes his wheel chair 26.2 miles. Together they have completed 65 marathons. Add to that 224 triathlons, 81 half marathons, and many many other races. Their best time in a marathon...2:40:47!! To put that in perspective...Lance Armstrong ran this years Boston Marathon and finished in 2:50:00. Now remember, Dick is pushing Rick the whole way. And yes....I said 224 triathlons!! If you want to learn more about these incredible people, go see Jeff from Iowa's blog (http://snowytundratraining.blogspot.com/2008/03/yes-you-can.html) and check out his March 23rd post titled "Yes, you can!!" He has a couple videos posted there. I dare you to watch them and not need to wipe your eyes after.
And there are many, many other stories. Cancer survivors, wedding proposals, running in honor of deceased friends and family. I'll repeat it again....as Mike so aptly put it...Many Goals, One Voice!!
Between watching the coverage of the marathon, and watching Rae's video collage, I feel like I'm ready to run the 1/2 Marathon right now!!
5 comments:
I always thought that Patriot's Day was the anniversary of 9/11. There's so many "Days" on the calender, that I've lost track.
You're right Matt. The Federal Holiday of Patriots Day is celbrated on Sept. 11th. But here in MA, we've had our April Patriots Day since the late 1800's.
Thanks for the link. I'll return the favor.
Where abouts do you live?
Happy Patriots Day! Didn't get to watch the game myself, but did see the update from you on my blog, t'anks!
So who's pitching Thursday? Driving in with the wife for the game, should be fun (weather looks good!).
Thanks for the stories/link! I'll check them out for sure.
Oh ok. At least I'm not too crazy!
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