Americans prove strength of spirit at Boston Marathon

On Monday in Boston, America proved its resilience once again.

Despite last year’s horrific outcome of the Boston Marathon, more than 36,000 runners showed up Monday to show that nothing can bring down America’s spirit.

In 2013, only about 26,000 runners participated in the event. The Boston Marathon’s record participation is a little more than 38,000.

While the number of Boston Marathon spectators in 2014 is unknown at this point, what is known is that 36,000 people, more than 5,000 of which were those that were unable to complete last year’s race, said terrorism will not keep me from participating.

America has shown before that when terrorists try to hurt us and push us down, we fight back. We rebuild, we honor and we rise above.

“Boston Strong” was the unofficial motto of the 2014 race, but it was more than just about Boston being strong, it was about the entire country banding together to show that what happened at last year’s event will not stop us from living our lives.

There is no better way to honor the memory of those that died on April 15, 2013 than to run or even watch from the sidelines, especially since the three victims, Krystle Campbell, Lu Lingzi and Martin Richard were all spectators when they lost their lives.

It is even seen in the everyday, minuscule details of Americans’ lives since Sept. 11, 2001.

There were many stories about tightened security at the marathon not dampening the jovial mood, but security has been tight all across the country since 2001.

But not once has the extra security stopped Americans from flying or attending large-scale events. While we may complain, we have always just accepted this new way of life and kept moving.

So on Monday, America proved once again that despite what is thrown at us, we keep moving, never stopping, always courageous.