We were out the door bright and early on Marathon Monday. This is the first time that I've cheered the runners on from Heartbreak Hill. When we lived in Brookline (2000-2005) we always went to straight for the finish line. I was really, really looking forward to taking the children there this year after we left Heartbreak Hill. I wanted them to see the truckloads of bananas and water bottles they hand out to the runners just as they cross the finish line. I wanted them to see the thousands of runners draped in their heatsheets with metals strung around their necks. 
But for about 4 hours we cheered the runners on from the sidelines. The runners in wheelchairs were the first to pass by, then came the elite women and not too long after, the elite men and then everyone else.
Kate was my #1 cheerleader clapping them all along. Henry stood on the sidelines, his left arm stretched straight out with little cups of water in the palm of his hand. Sometimes, the runners were going so fast, you didn't realize they were going to grab a cup until after it happened. Most didn't say anything, but one man grabbed a cup from Henry's palm and yelled "Thanks, Buddy!!" He turned to me with the worlds biggest smile on his face.
We sat with the Whitcombs and EP who got there extra early to save us a front row seat. Chris was out of town and didn't go with us and so Henry was determined to take a photo of every single runner that passed to make sure Chris didn't miss anything. My camera died shortly after. We can't find the charger anywhere. So click their blogs and check out their amazing photo's.
We hopped in the car at 2:15 to head to the finish line, but stopped for some ice cream in Chestnut Hill on the way. It was while we were sitting there, the breaking news came on the t.v. It felt like total chaos. All cell phone service was intentionally shut off. We came home instead and I found myself glued to the t.v. all night long. Kate was concerned and hoping that the runner wearing the hamburger costume didn't explode at the finish line. I assured her that he was ok. She closes her eyes and puts her hands over her ears when she hears anything about it. It's clearly too much for a 4 year old to understand I've kept a lot/most of the details from her.
We'll be back at the marathon next year, cheering on the runners, handing out water and definitely going to the finish line.
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