The Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon – April 21, 2014-04-22

The 2014 Boston Marathon was run under sunny skies and with mild temperatures. An African-American man won the men’s marathon, and a Kenyan woman won the women’s marathon. Four waves of entries, totalling over 36,000 people competed. Large numbers of police, service personnel, and volunteers made the day a safe one, unlike the 2013 Marathon when two Chechen youths with hate for the United States, (although the US had sheltered and educated them when they fled Chechnia,) secretly planted explosives which killed 3 people and injured scores. Quick police work plus citizen cooperation led to finding the two terrorists within days, one being killed in a shoot-out with police (and also being run over by his fleeing brother) and the other caught like a rat in a trap and currently in prison awaiting trial.

This year we celebrated the winning men’s runner, Med Keflezighi – a refugee from Eritrea, who became an American citizen and is the first American in decades to win Boston. And we celebrated Tatyana McFadden, a double amputee, who won the women’s wheelchair marathon. Tatyana as an infant had no legs, and walked on her hands. She was adopted as a baby from a Russian orphanage, and brought up in the U.S. Both winners exemplify how new citizens to the U.S. can thrive and go on to contribute to America. We need to do more to help all refugees and new immigrants to achieve their best as these two winners did.