Showing My Love For Boston {Giveaway}

I love this day in Boston.

For years I’ve taken Marathon Monday off from work to be a part of the hustle and bustle and contagious energy that is the Boston Marathon. I am just obsessed with everything about the day: the runners, the volunteers, the spectators, the inspiration, the happiness. I’m sure my fellow Bostonians would agree that our marathon isn’t just ANY marathon. People from all over the world strive to run Boston. And hometown pride doesn’t really get better than Marathon Monday. The day is a celebration and a tradition like no other.

Last year, two cowardly brothers tried to destroy all of this with a terrorist attack at the finish line. Innocent lives were lost, and Boston was a sad and scary place for quite some time. Last Tuesday marked the one year anniversary of the bombings, and to say I walked around that day with a heavy heart is an understatement. The news certainly had no shortage of reminders of last year’s attacks, and the sad memories just came rushing back. My heart broke for my city last year, and I certainly struggled this week as I thought about the victims’ family and friends, those who were injured and have spent the past year recovering, runners who never got to finish their race, and all the people who witnessed such tragedy. Boston also recently lost two firefighters in another tragedy a couple of weeks ago. It’s just a lot of sadness at once.

But then I read this article on the resilience of optimism, and it helped. It helped remind me that love and kindness overcomes. That our city, and people from all over the world, pulled together to get through something so terrible. That we are strong, resilient, and hopeful. That people are GOOD. And all that outweighs all the bad that happened last year. It has to.

I still love this day in Boston. In fact, something tells me that after today, I am going to love it even more. Today is our chance to take back our beloved tradition, unite yet again as a community of strength, and move forward. We may still be healing, but today we will show that we really are Boston Strong.

Tim and I will be enjoying brunch with our friends Bret and Ashley as we cheer on all the runners in the Cleveland Circle area.

I’m excited for our awesome brunch menu to kick off the day.

I’m excited to sport my new Boston shirt from a local apparel company called Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston.

For those unfamiliar with the Boston Marathon route, Hereford and Boylston are the last two turns of the race. The company was established when a Massachusetts native named John Stoller started creating and selling t-shirts as a charitable fundraiser to qualify to run Boston in 2008. Since then, Stoller runs with different charity teams each year, and he donates a portion of the proceeds of each purchase toward his various fundraising goals. After the terrorist attacks last year, Stoller teamed up with Marathon Sports to create a Boston Strong t-shirt, and they raised over $140,000 to donate directly to The One Fund. <—an example of the good, no?

I’m excited to see the elite runners in the morning.

I’m excited to see some of the staff members from my company run by. I wrote about several of them in a spotlight article for the wellness program at work last week, and they are all just so inspiring.

I’m excited to cheer, scream, and probably cry a little bit too.

I’m excited that today my city will run again.

Giveaway

In honor of today, Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston has kindly offered to give away a Boston t-shirt to five different F&F readers. You can check out their variety of styles for both men and women here. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post telling me why you love the city of Boston. You can earn one extra entry by sharing this giveaway on any of your social media channels and then telling me you did so in a second comment. You do not have to reside in Boston to participate. Giveaway will remain open until Friday 4/25 at 11:59 EST, and I will announce the winners next week. Good luck!

P.S. If you’re looking for some extra Boston love today, check out these beautiful posts from some fellow bloggers last week:

• One year later via Blonde Bostonian
• One year ago via I Train Therefore I Eat
• One year later via Live Run Love Yoga
• My heart is in Boston via Katy Widrick
• One year later via Fighting for Wellness
• Today: Love is stronger via On Tap For Today

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this post, but I was provided a free apparel from Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston in exchange for hosting this giveaway and writing about them. As always, all opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links within this post.