Humans really like to run. Living pretty high on the food chain, we can afford to look at running as entertainment rather than a means of survival. Runners come in many varieties. Some run for the adrenaline rush like the adventurous souls who descend on Pamplona, Spain for a week every July to take part in the running of the bulls. The risk of being gored while running through a maze of cobbled streets is a turn on for some. Watching others’ near-death experiences from behind a barricade is a turn on for others. But running isn’t reserved for the adrenaline junkies. We also like to watch other animals run without the risk of being trampled.
On the first Saturday of May, thoroughbreds run for the roses in front of a packed Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s a high point on the social calendar. Of course it’s a day filled with horse racing, but it’s also part fashion show and a brilliant excuse for day drinking. There aren’t too many places you can wear an outlandish hat, watch beautiful horses on parade, and start drinking before noon. At least not until the next royal wedding. And they don’t serve mint juleps. Definitely a lesser affair, but we’ll get back to the royals later.
If you’re in the mood for something less formal but much larger in scale, come to Massachusetts on the third Monday of April when half a million spectators line the streets to watch about thirty thousand people run the Boston Marathon. Doubtless there’s plenty of day drinking going on, but the attire will reflect our sketchy spring climate and most of the hats are going to be Red Sox caps. And you’re in luck! Today is the appointed day.
The third Monday of April is often referred to as “Marathon Monday”. Well, it is. But as big as the marathon is around here, this day represents something much greater than that. Before the marathon came to town it was known solely as Patriots’ Day. But as the runners line up in their high-tech sneakers with dreams of a personal best dancing before their eyes, their only concern is what lay ahead on the road east.
The Boston marathoners’ journey begins in the small town of Hopkinton with the firing of a cannon. That may seem over the top but indulge me and keep reading. Runners wind their way along wooded streets, through the Wellesley College “Scream Tunnel” where they may get a good luck kiss, up and down heartbreaking hills, and finally, with 5K left, enter the city of Boston where a bright yellow and blue finish line awaits them, a permanent fixture on the pavement of Boylston Street. But 249 years ago, a very different eastward journey gave this day its name.
At dawn on April 19, 1775, after a decade of disputes centering around taxation without representation, the Minutemen of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Arlington, and Cambridge engaged King George III’s redcoats after the latter unsuccessfully attempted to seize munitions and military supplies that had been stored at Concord. The plucky Patriots had learned of the “secret mission” and relocated the supplies thwarting the mission. They waited for the British Regulars to make their way back to Boston along the Post Road and started picking them off. These, my friends, were the original Massholes.
The history of that day and what preceded it is well known and serves as a reminder of how people can accomplish great things when they stand together. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” was written to reignite this feeling as the nation stood on the brink of civil war. He immortalized the silversmith’s effort to warn of the redcoats’ impending march and feared dark days were ahead if the warning wasn’t again heeded. To ensure that future generations would continue to honor the trepidation of the nation’s first defenders, the governor declared Patriots’ Day a holiday in 1894.
Massachusetts is known for being a bit prickly, but don’t mistake that for unfriendliness. Remember that we use our third Monday in April to celebrate a 249-year-old spirit of determination and community by supporting runners from all over the world as they set off to challenge themselves and achieve new goals. We choose to cheer on total strangers with good faith and wish them godspeed.
As you go about your third Monday of April this year, give a little nod to those around you who are facing unseen obstacles. Not every problem shows up wearing a red coat. Hold the door for a stranger, smile at someone who probably needs it, and generally be kind. Life is, hopefully, a long race. If we stick together, we can all be winners. And, as the signs along the Boston Marathon route say, may the course be with you.
Happy Patriots’ Day! Huzzah!