~Running, strength, tragedy

I have always thought of myself as an athlete. So much so, that I still winch in recollection at the division my proselytizing created at a long ago Thanksgiving dinner, giving both our parents and extended family significant pause about having me hang around much more that holiday!
Running remains personally vital to health and well-being; propulsion now different and through various other sport, but it is running I love. At one time my ability to collect T-shirts from each race caused an untimely storage dilemma, so I tossed the favorites – those frayed and faded with love and age; eventually most would be retired.
Countless individuals around the world display running prowess. Some run barefoot over trails never coming into contact with anything but wildlife; others combine running into a training format for another sport, while some run to finely tune a competitive edge which few can contest.
Global runners gather to compete in Boston, having achieved such an honor through skill and ability. They come to fulfill a first time, long held dream; to ‘beat a time’ from being there before, or ‘best’ a polished colleague; they come meet a personal challenge, and they come to savor the opportunity of running the Boston Marathon! They excitedly make plans knowing in advance that the weather can turn against them, illness can strike, fatigue of travel will be a factor, luggage may be lost, dietary and hydration plans may run amuck, finely tuned bodies may fail them; they do not expect tragedy to blast at them as it did this past Monday.
A heartbreaking violent, finish line impression will last; for some, longer than for others, but last it will. What should last for each of us, though, is the impact deep into one’s soul of the Interfaith Memorial Service held today, delivered through careful, eloquently spoken moving, powerful voice and song of the faithful, equally diverse as those dedicated to the marathon. Praise on behalf of many who ran to be of service when help was needed, was echoed with vigor and unanimity. Perhaps none as compelling as through the words of the Chairman of the New England Interfaith Council, Nasser S. Wedaddy, originally from Mauritania. While in Syria when he was only seven, he told of his personal terror of being in the vicinity of a car-bomb explosion in the street on his way home from school. “I will never forget that,” he said, “And that anger and fear returned on Monday.”
It was just last week that Wedaddy became an American citizen reflecting in the power of his words, his meaning in becoming a citizen, and vowing then to become involved as an American; spoken through the gently delivered and stirring words of a brand new American, called into immediate action.