I've wanted to run Boston since the marathon bombing.
I graduated from Boston University four months before that terrible day and the year before I covered the marathon as a student. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) was also a journalism student at BU and I couldn't stop thinking about how either of us could have been among the dead or injured. I was living in Waco, TX at the time, my first full-time reporting job, and I signed up for the Waco half marathon that year. When the opportunity came to run Boston this year, on the 10-year anniversary of the bombing, I couldn't say no.
My parents and in-laws live out of state, so when we visit we have to fly. Often times on our flights back home, I'll see families on the plane that clearly have a sick child. I don't ever ask why they're flying to Boston, but I'll occasionally hear parents say they're flying for medical treatment.
My son will turn three in May and thank God he's had a healthy life up to this point. But if we ever need medical treatment for him, we are so fortunate to have Boston Children's Hospital, the country's #1 pediatric hospital "in our backyard".
I've joined the "Miles for Miracles" team because I want to raise money and say thank you for the life-saving work the staff at Boston Children's Hospital do every day.