Most Americans would never guess in a million years that they’d be involved in an act of terrorism, much less while running a marathon. The Boston Marathon Bombings, however, killed 3, including an 8-year-old boy, and wounded at least 144 people.
Runners train for months, years, sometimes their whole lives to compete in races such as the Boston Marathon. It’s a passion for people, and an event that draws from not only the whole country, but the whole world.
Sports serve as an escape from reality for some. It’s time all to yourself, especially for runners. This self time was horribly interrupted at the finish line of the marathon, when runners and spectators heard what sounded like a clap of thunder.
The explosions went off near the finish line about 4 hours and 9 minutes into the race, within a 10-minute window of the average finish time for the marathon.
Officials said of those injured, at least 17 people are in critical condition and 25 in serious condition with at least eight of the patients children.
Medical teams were quick to respond to the wounded. There were already medical tents set up for those competing in the race and they were able to help the wounded as more than 3,000 medical personnel arrived in the hours to come.
As a fan of athletics and sporting events, it is scary to see this kind of attack. Why the Boston Marathon is the question going through my head and probably that of many others.
Sports and sporting events are prominent in American culture and especially Texas culture, so how is something like this prevented?
Security could be heightened in theory, but with a marathon or a Cowboys football game, how is everyone going to be checked? Half of the people at these events aren’t actually “a part” of the event. While there were runners, there were also spectators. While the Ballpark at Arlington may be filled to the brim against the Angels, there’s also people who just tailgate or watch at a nearby hang out.
The strategy for preventing things like this is going to be hard to agree on. But one thing that I think all Americans agree on is that this is an act of terrorism and we want answers and actions against those who turned a beautiful, historical event into a nightmare.
