I almost knew Meg.
It was inevitable that our paths would cross. We lived in the same close-knit running community. We had mutual friends and training partners. We were both slated to run Boston this Spring.
And it was likely that we would be friends. Both of us stay-at-home moms. Our kids the same age. Outgoing runners.
It’s not a stretch at all to say that I was days away from knowing her. The track workouts had been planned with Sage. A tentative date set. The three of us had work to do. Meg was running Boston…Sage chasing a PR at Gettysburg…I had a Beast to slay…
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By now we all know how this story plays out. Wrong road. Wrong time. Wrong driver.
tragedy.
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Tomorrow is like any other Saturday. So many of us will lace up our shoes and head out for a weekly long run. Last week Meg was a nameless runner logging 16 miles with her training group. Tomorrow 75,000+ will put on blue and run with her name on their lips, her children in their hearts. The running world coming together to remember someone we didn’t know….yet we all knew.
She could be any one of us. A mother, a friend, a sister. One of the good ones, raising a family and taking some time to pursue her passion. She was fast and she was strong, but from everyone I’ve talked to she was more. She was life and love, happiness and enthusiasm. She was a mom.
What is the vibration….the energy….the spirit that binds us runners? Emergence theory. Emergency. When tragedy strikes….9/11….Boston 2013….Meg Menzies…we unite. We congregate. We run.
We run and we breathe and we try to find some meaning. We push and we hurt and we show our strength. We preserve. We endure.
In April we ran for Boston. Now in January we run for Meg. I have no doubt that we will be called in the future to gather again. And I have no doubt that when that call comes we will answer en masse.
Run, Mommmy. Run! 