Boston Marathon Tragedy

Dear Team,

Yesterday I had no words to express what I was feeling and no capacity to process the range of responses I was experiencing: disbelief, shock, panic, outrage, disgust, horror, hope, sadness, depression, and - worst of all - fear.

The Boston Marathon means so much to so many of us. It is a long-term tradition for both the city of Boston and for members of the Boston Triathlon Team. It represents a day of competition, personal challenge, and the results of months of hard work. It represents volunteering, charitable donations, and support for our friends, family, and team mates. It's a day of accomplishment, a day of giving, and a day of celebration. It's an event many of us look forward to all year.

That has forever been changed. The question in our minds is why? Why would someone do something so horrific?

I won't attempt to answer that. Instead, I want to focus on the outpouring of support, caring, and giving. From our BTT doctors at the scene, to our team network using a combination of social media / email / text / phone to locate our team members quickly and reconnect them with family, to so many who offered their homes to those with nowhere to go, to everyone who is wearing a BAA shirt to work today. The number of phone calls, texts, email messages, tweets, and Facebook posts I personally received from friends, family, coworkers, and former BTT members from around the world simply astounded me. I know many of you experienced a similar outpouring of love and concern. Even in ugliness, the good will prevail.

The words above are my own, but I speak for the entire EC in that we are all truly stunned and saddened by the horrific events of yesterday. However, even in tragedy, it still feels amazing to be part of such a strong and caring community. We hope that friends and family of BTT remain safe. Please join us in keeping yesterday's victims, their friends, and their family in our thoughts during this unsettling time.

Week in Review: 4/17/2013

by Brenda Chroniak

How do I even begin to sum this past weekend's events up? I'm probably not alone when I say that I feel indescribably sad, to the point where it almost hurts physically. That I'm not sleeping well and that no amount of concealer can hide the "I've been crying off and on for two days straight" circles under my eyes. But I'm also very confident that I'm absolutely not alone when I say that Monday's events have made me want to hug people a little tighter and tell people how much they mean to me. That includes all of you, BTT.

I'm proud to call myself a member of the team. I'm proud to race and train alongside you, and to cheer for you as you accomplish incredible feats of athleticism. I'm proud and honored to count you among my dearest friends. I'm proud to wear the blue and green.

I'm proud of Trish Kelly for her great race at the BAA 5K. I'm proud of Tim Daley and Noah Manacas for taking on the challenge of racing the Tour of the Battenkill and excelling. And I'm proud of everyone who trained hard all winter and lined up in Hopkinton on Monday, whether they received an official time or whether the monsters behind it all robbed them of their finish line-- I'm proud of YOU, Ed Galante, Paul Newman, Meg MacSwan, Minna Kim, Joe Kurtz, Eric Lambi, Elaine Metcalf, Terry Reagan, Matt Bergin, Jimmy Ellis, and Mark Mullins. And I'm proud of everyone else who may have raced this weekend.

BTT, you hold a special place in my heart and I'm just so glad that everyone is safe and accounted for. Please accept this virtual hug, until I see you next to exchange it for the real thing.

Much Love,
Brenda

Week in Review: 4/12/2013

by Brenda Chroniak

April showers bring May flowers, and April training brings summer racing!

Since I last left you, only four people have logged in race results, though I know many of you participated in the TRI-MANIA Team Challenge a few weeks ago, and others ran the Doyle's 5-Miler last weekend.

While I won't give shout-outs to those who don't post results, I WILL boast that BTT took 6th place overall at the TRI-MANIA challenge. Congrats to everyone for their hard work and many thanks to the teammates who volunteered in the booth that day. Word on the street is that every last one of our flyers was distributed, so hopefully that will mean LOTS of fun new people to train with this summer, and LOTS of great applicants in the fall!

On the 25th, Anthony Low ran a speedy 2:28:53 in the Eastern States 20-Miler, then on the 30th we had a great BTT showing at Shifter's 5K, where Jorge Martinez placed first in his division and third overall, and Tim Daley and Ed Galante both had great races.

This weekend Tim Daley (who posted his race goal...) will be riding in the challenging Tour of the Battenkill, which I've heard described as "Neutral start. Climb. Climb. Dirt dirt. Rocks. Wind. More dirt. Climb climb. Rocks again. Cry. Curse. Climb. Sprint." Good luck, Tim! 

And then I hear there's some running race happening on Monday? Pretty small, right? Not a big deal?  KIDDING. 

Wishing the very best of luck to Ed Galante, Minna Kim, Joe Kurtz, Eric Lambi, Meg MacSwan, Paul Newman, and Terry Reagan (who all posted their race goals...) as they take on the Boston Marathon. May the wind be at your backs and cold Harpoons be waiting for you at the end!  And thanks in advance to everyone who will be volunteering with our sponsor PowerBar.

Have a great weekend everyone and please please please post your goals and results so I can properly shout-out everyone's hard work and dedication.