Going back to Boston BOMBINGS NO REASON FOR SOME TO RUN AWAY
Jesus “Moose” Chavez runs for “mental health,” and part of that is a desire to forget the troubling things he sees as a Lakewood police officer.
“I don’t know where I go in my mind, but I just go away,” Chavez said. “I go to a place that’s comfortable, and I enjoy it.”
He couldn’t get there when he ran the ChicagoMarathon last October, though. With a cop’s instincts, he was on alert watching for suspicious people and packages. The Boston Marathon bombers took away some of his joy that day, even though he ran a personal best of 3 hours, 52 minutes and 9 seconds.
“I never went to that place of, ‘This is why I run,’ ” he said.
Chavez will be running his first Boston Marathon onMonday— and helping to raise $15,000 for kids with cancer in the process— as well as making a statement.
“I know I’m not going to win the Boston Marathon,” he said, “but I’m going to win in saying: ‘You know what? You tried to take something away from me and I’m still doing it.’ ”
Undeterred by “evil cowardice.”
Greg Onofrio of Lakewood has run the Boston Marathon twice but gave up marathon running two years ago after rupturing three discs in his back on his 50th birthday.
After the bombings last year he was determined to run again in Boston.
“I felt deep inmy heart that Imust share my sense of solidarity with the running community— that we are dedicated, resilient, passionate and will not be deterred by any act of evil cowardice,” he said.
Onofrio will be raising money for the American Stroke Association. He’ll be running with Tedy’s Team, led by formerNew England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who suffered amild stroke in 2005.
“Marathon running— particularly the training— is a selfish activity,” Onofrio said. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since we have a profound responsibility to take care of our bodies and share our talents, but when it begins to take us away from our families and work, perhaps we need to find some deeper purpose for our running. I have chosen to run for the glory of God and for the good of others in whatever small way I can contribute. Running for charity fulfills that for me.”
Return “like making it right.”
Danielle Hilson of Highlands Ranch finished last year’s Boston Marathon about 15minutes before the bombswent off. Shewasn’t planning to go back this year but then decided itwas something she needed to do.
“There are so many races, and it’s expensive. It’s time off of work and going there is a big commitment,” Hilson said. “But it seems like that’s not how you can leave it. Boston is this great thing that people work so hard to get to, and the whole day (last year) turned out not how it was supposed to. I guess to go back is like making it right.”
Like many runners, Hilson was troubled because the victims weren’t runners, they were spectators.
“The spectators are the helpless ones,” Hilson said. “The runners, it’s their day. The spectators stand there for hours watching people run by so they can see the person they love for less than a minute — a few seconds. The target was completely innocent people that were being selfless.”