I started running in college. I was in my second year and had just said goodbye to nearly a decade of 6-days a week of cheerleading practices. I started running to stay in shape.

It took a few years, but I kept running because it became my escape. I kept running to not think about deadlines, commitments or what was due.

A few years later, I fell in love with running thanks to the community. I fell in love because there is nothing better than an hour on the trails with a running buddy. I often joke that the conversations that take place during those runs rival what I’d imagine most people talk about at a bar past 2 a.m.

Today, the running community faced a tragedy that I’m certain not a single one of those runners in Boston anticipated as they laced up at the starting line this morning. My heart aches for those runners, but even more so for the community who surrounds them.

Every runner knows as wonderful as the personal time, the endorphins and the medals are, it’s the community that keeps you coming back for more. It’s the moms, the dads, the husbands, the wives and the best friends who will get out of bed at the crack of dawn, carry obnoxious signs for miles and lug all of the extra bags and goodies to the finish line, only to see us trot by for half of a second. It’s their enthusiasm and dedication that make every mile worth the journey, whether that be for three miles or 26.2. While thinking and praying for Boston tonight, I’m certainly hugging all of my personal cheerleaders, and the reasons I run, a little tighter.

“The reason we race isn’t so much to beat each other… but to be with each other.”

– Christopher McDougall, Born to Run