by Karin Norby
Andrea talked about the risk of diving in and just saying yes. Colleen gave the most badass race report of her 50-mile ultra. Seijen is all about the adventure of running. Haley gets real with how her perspective of the long run has changed.
I’m here to tell a very different story. A story of watching, not running. And, if there’s ever a place to watch it’s Boston, Massachusetts during marathon weekend.
If you have ran Boston, you have lived it. If you have watched Boston Marathon, you get it. If you have yet to do either, stick with me on this one.
I grew up in my mom’s jogger on long runs. I got dragged (in the best possible way) to marathons with my whole family when my mom got back into racing (three girls can really put a halt in marathon training). My mom is the reason I ran my first marathon. We did it together (I beat her). I can do anything with that one by my side. And, due to my mom’s fast pace, I have been fortunate enough to watch Boston Marathon on two separate occasions. Once as a high schooler. And once, this week.
Some things never change. That city is alive on marathon weekend. The moment you land, you can spot runners and their race crew everywhere. Oh, and the locals? They stand with every single runner and could not contain more pride for the sport of running in the city they call home. Boston Strong is no cliche, it’s palpable.
Families with signs and cheering kids (yes, we had a unicorn balloon and multiple signs for Bets) College kids + keg parties with no other intention than to rally runners through the last leg. Runners of all ages wearing past marathon jackets proudly as they watch a new crew of runners take on Heartbreak Hill.
All of it is fucking awesome.
So, why this story? And, why now?
This Boston trip- it hit me. One of the coolest things about what we do at Alchemy is we champion the athlete. It’s why I could sit in the lobby of North Loop for hours on end and listen to JT coach a morning class and get the feeling that I am in a locker room at half-time of a playoff game. Never been on a team, never played a sport, never had the gut-check moment in the last seconds of a game – doesn’t matter. We get those feelings, we have those moments, and we create pure adrenaline in the last 30 seconds of an A20 day in and day out at Alchemy.
There is no single story, and no single moment that can capture the electricity of the Boston Marathon. Just like there is no single story to tell of the athletes that come out of Alchemy. But, we know this to be true. There is always an athlete. That athlete always has a champion, the person who rallies and supports the cause.
A local can cheer just as loud for my mom crushing 26.2 as they can for the lead male running Boston in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Similar to a 6AM class at Alchemy NE where Tyler Quinn rallies the entire room for a 20 minute battle where every person walks in with a different weight, a different pace and a different set of goals for the workout on the chalkboard. You’ll feel it next time in class when the clock hits zero, you look to the athlete next you and that high five says it all. You championed each other.
Who knows? Maybe next year we take a crew of Alchemists to Boston. #PYL, y’all.
#AlchemyRuns
Karin Norby is Studio Manager and Coach at Alchemy North Loop. In her spare time, she dreams of being a surfer and spends as much time in the sun as possible.
