Boston Marathon

Well, we’re in Burlington and the guys are all seated at a table here at a restaurant that looks and smells fantastic – Farmhouse. I’m catching up on a few things online before I join them, one of which is trying to figure out what happened at the Boston Marathon today. We had a gorgeous drive along Lake George in upstate New York today en route to Vermont… exceptionally beautiful scenery with deep pine forests, big rock outcroppings, and the massive lake… teeming with tourists during the summer, but wonderfully empty for us today. We stopped for gas at one point and I got a text from a friend during a few minutes of cell phone coverage, with the message, “two explosions at Boston Marathon finish line. Lots of casualties.” My heart jumped into my throat.

I (Russ) grew up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, in a little house about an 8-minute walk from the Marathon starting line. “Marathon Monday” was the biggest day of the year for the town, as our 10,000 population grew to 100,000 with thousands of runners and tourists streaming in for pre-race celebrations and then the starting of the marathon itself. Back in 2007 when SoundRabbit first formed as a trio (before Anton joined), we played the pre-race events in Hopkinton. I also know a ton of friends and family who run the race and/or go down to the finish line in Boston to cheer other friends/family the last hundred yards to the finish. The Boston Marathon has a handful of elite runners, but it’s by and large a community event with moms, dads, cousins, friends running it. The timing of the explosions was particularly odd, as it appears it was like 4-5 hours after the starting gun, meaning that the elite (high profile) runners have been finished for a couple of hours and it’s now the common folks – you, me, our friends, our uncles and aunts – trying to finish personal best times in the 4-6 hour range. The finish line had to be full of little kids, families, and friends innocently scanning the crowd of runners for friends/family to cheer on. Some of the initial photos I’m seeing online are heart-wrenching. We’re supposed to play in New York City tomorrow night and in Boston on Friday, so at this point we have no idea if the cities will be on lockdown, etc.

I’m going to go join the guys for dinner and try to have a good show tonight, but my heart is incredibly heavy. More later from the hotel or maybe the road to NYC tomorrow… thanks as always for your time.