Maybe we’ll never know why the cowards who set those bombs off at the Boston Marathon this afternoon did it.  Maybe we’ll never know why they picked the finish line of all places to do it.

The finish line, of all places.

At any road race, the finish line is one of the coolest places in all of sports.  In what other sport do people gather to cheer…everybody?  Fast, slow, sprinting or staggering, people cheer because you finished.  It doesn’t matter, really, how long it took you, though you see all manner of reactions from the runners.

Some are grinning from ear to ear as they cross the line, exalting in a great time, maybe their best time.

Some are clearly mad, upset that they didn’t hit their splits and finished with a time that already has them scheming how they’ll do better next time.

Some are trying to finish without barfing on themselves in front of everybody cheering for them.

The finish line is a great place.  I’ve run in plenty of races, and it never fails.  With a mile to go you are pretty sure your legs are going to fall off or your lungs are going to crawl out of your chest, and then you start to feel the crowds getting a little bigger.  Pretty soon you can see the finish line, and your stride gets longer, your second (or maybe fourth or fifth) wind kicks in and the cheering brings you home.

You see all kinds at the finish line.  Skinny runners who look like they’ll slip through the sewer grates if they hit them just right.  Fat guys who you wonder how they made it.  People with one leg, people with no legs.  Little kids.  Old people.  Some of them are in full gallop, some are trying to make it look like they aren’t walking…but they’re walking.  In the end, it really doesn’t matter.  You start at the start line, you finish at the finish line.  Whatever happens in between just happens.

Distance runners are a little odd in the first place.

They’re the only people who when they race keep moving the finish line forward.

So the psychopathic coward(s) who put bombs in garbage cans to try to kill people at the finish line should know this.

We just moved the line forward again. And we’re going to keep on going.