A Ball State student will be lacing up his running shoes again three days after running the Boston Marathon, but this time he will be running in support of his fellow marathon participants who were injured in the bombing.
Justin Glancy, a junior exercise science major, said he hopes to join the Ball State Runners Association in honoring those affected by the Boston Marathon bombing by running two miles around campus at 5 p.m. today.
“I think it’s a great thing to show support for those individuals who have been a part of the tragedy in Boston,” Glancy said. “In times such as this, it brings people together and so I would really hope for people that may not even have an interest to get out to connect with some people.”
The event will be free and open to the public.
“[It’s] a time and a place to reflect on what happened and to be unified under this situation, as Americans and as people,” said club president Josh Fern, a junior organizational communication major. “It’s important to everyone, not just to the people in Boston, but everyone ... Doing it in more places is important, just for that chance [to reflect.]”
Glancy was at the airport, having left straight from the finish line, when he first found out about the bombs.
“I was going through security when I started getting phone calls asking if I was OK and I had no idea that anything was going on,” Glancy said. “I was very thankful for myself that I was safe, but as they kept showing more and more footage, realizing that about an hour ago that is where I was with thousands of people there ... [that was] unsettling a little bit of how quickly things can change.”
He said he was probably on one of the last flights out, if not the last, at 4:30 p.m. The pilot paused on the runway for 10 minutes, unsure of if they were allowed to fly, Glancy said.
Even though his first Boston Marathon was unsettling, Glancy said he is not going to stop running,
“For me, I think with this experience, it is always going to be a twofold,” he said. “A lot of people had talked about not doing Boston anymore, or not doing any more races, but that’s exactly what people that plan those type of attacks want, they want people to be afraid.”
Besides the Run for Boston, Glancy said he will take 10 days off and then train for Chicago marathon in October, with hopes of again running in Boston next April.
“My goal now is to run it every year for as long as I can, as long as I qualify.” Glancy said.
Social media chair for the Ball State Runners Association Justin Miller, a sophomore sports administration major, said they first began discussing organizing the Run for Boston on Tuesday.
He said the turnout isn’t what is important, and the organization hopes for a group of about 30, despite predicted rainstorms. Miller and Fern both said the running community will stand together to honor the victims, no matter the weather.
“They picked the wrong group to try to attack,” Miller said. “Runners are a very tight community, and we believe we should all come together to honor and help our fellow runners that have been affected by this.”
The run will follow the club’s usual route, beginning at LaFollette Field, following down McKinley Avenue, through the Quad, back up McKinley Avenue under Park Hall, past Bracken Library and finish back at LaFollette Field.
“Everybody at the run club ... we are really excited, not only to run, but to run with a cause for the people at the Boston Marathon.” Fern said.
Glancy said he appreciated that Ball State was honoring the marathon, and shows that people will be able to move forward.
“All of the events that are going on ... just goes to show that the running community is showing a lot of perseverance and persistence.” Glancy said.
