McCreath fires back at Negative NL Comments on Local Runner's CBC Article

Heather Barrett works for CBC Newfoundland, and she is a marathon runner. Shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings, she wrote an article questioning how these bombings would impact the Newfoundland running community. Many were quick to post harsh judgemental comments on the thread, accusing her of sensationalizing the story for the sake of a story.  What these non-runners don't realize, is that the global running community shares a strong bond; a sense of comradery.  I'm sure Heather knows that the running community will rally together around this tragedy and become stronger than ever, and that NL runners will work even harder to make sure we send as many runners to Boston next year, as we can.

I fired back at the negative folks with the following:

Great article Heather! all u non-runners making negative comments, have no clue what u r talking about. There is a strong sense of comradery in the global marathon-running community. There r approx 200 st john's residents who have run the Boston Marathon over the years. 4 us 200 people, this was our Stanley Cup, our Superbowl, our World Series. this was something we trained r entire life 4. qualifying 4 Boston & getting there 2 run it, was the pinnacle of r athletic career & will likely b the legacy that we r most proud of, as we go 2 the grave at the end of r lives.

4 anyone who has ever undertaken endurance athletics, you'll know how much effort goes into training & preparing 4 it, both mentally & physically. now, imagine u just spent thousands of dollars traveling 2 another country 2 tackle your athletic dream, then 5 minutes short of the finish line, u get pulled off the course, or even worse, get injured by a terrorist attack?? dreams totally shattered!

As sad as I was when I read about the bombings, my instinctive reaction was 2 log into the Boston site & track the 11 NL runners. I saw that 8 had finished the race already & that 3 were still on the course. once I learned they were all physically safe, my heart was totally broken 4 those 3 especially. their 1 shot at glory taken away. They may never get back there, as u have to re-qualify every year.

The irony of Heather's title, is that it is foreshadowing the opposite. She knows, & every runner knows, that the NL running community will now work and train even harder than ever before, to try to send as many NL Runners to Boston next year. I truly hope i'll b 1 of them.

Running 2009 & 2010 Boston marathons r among my most proud moments in life. i'm determined to get back & represent NL in Boston in 2014!  (depicted above, is me shortly after finishing the 2009 Boston Marathon).

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