Please, let us bring our friends and family home,
Safe and sound, before we are flooded with conspiracy theories.
One poster mentioned Drones! Dear god! Others teabaggers and muslims!
I live in Massachusetts, west of Boston. The race comes through the center of town. This is Patriots Day here, a great day for us.
We celebrate the Boston Marathon:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-boston-marathon-held
On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10.
The Boston Marathon was the brainchild of Boston Athletic Association member and inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham, who was inspired by the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. With the assistance of Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton, various routes were considered, before a measured distance of 24.5 miles from the Irvington Oval in Boston to Metcalf's Mill in Ashland was eventually selected.
Fifteen runners started the race but only 10 made it to the finish line. John J. McDermott, representing the Pastime Athletic Club of New York City, took the lead from Harvard athlete Dick Grant over the hills in Newton. Although he walked several times during the final miles, McDermott still won by a comfortable six-minute, fifty-two-seconds. McDermott had won the only other marathon on U.S. soil the previous October in New York.
The marathon's distance was changed in 1908 in accordance with Olympic standards to its current length of 26 miles 385 yards.
One of my friends checked in, she left after the first runners came through. I have other friends that work on Boylston Street.
This is a sad day for us, yet as the President said, Boston is strong, we are resilient.
We in Massachusetts thank you for your support!