Earlier this week, a judge officially sentenced Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to death. The ruling is the beginning of the end of Tsarnaev, a journey for him that began on April 15, 2013.
The bombing, and the events that followed, killed four and injured 264. The path of destruction that Dzhokhar and his brother, Tamerlan, caused was something that the city of Boston had never seen in it's history. But to truly understand how significant the Marathon bombing was, you cannot look at numbers, but rather what the Marathon means to the city of Boston.
April 15, 2013 was Partriot’s Day in Massachusetts. Patriot's Day, is a state holiday that celebrates the battle of Lexington and Concord, one of the first battles of the American Revolution. Schools take the day off, and parents often bring their kids into the city for the day. Patriot’s Day is also a unique day on the baseball schedule. The Red Sox game starts at 10 a.m., the only morning start during the baseball season. Many people start off the day at the Red Sox game, and finish it by watching the marathon. The day usually becomes a celebration for the city’s love of sports.
The marathon is more than just a race For the city of Boston. This event is, perhaps, the premier event for the city each year. Runners from around the world come to Boston to run the marathon. The race, which began in 1897, hosts around 30,000 runners each year, and around 500,000 spectators. But most runners are not professionals; most are parents and doctors, whose families would be around the finish line when the bomb went off. The Tsarnaevs knew this.
The brothers wanted to make an impact when they set off their bombs. They did not want to injure politicians or corporate sponsor members who were only there when the lead runners finished. They wanted to injure the innocent families and children who would be there cheering on their loved ones.
That causes an impact. They wanted to bomb the heart of city at one of its most joyous times. The bombing, which occurred around three in the afternoon on April 13, 2013, occurred when media attention was minimal. For perspective, that would be similar to bombing Toomer’s Corner after an Auburn victory. If you wanted to create attention, you would have done it during the football game. If you wanted to go for the town’s heart, you would have done it to Toomer’s Corner. That is what the Tsarnaevs were trying to do to Boston.
However, in the aftermath of bombing, the city of Boston has shown stellar resilience. Runners, after running 26.2 miles, continued running to local hospitals to donate blood. David Ortiz gave a passionate speech at Fenway Park, where first responders were honored. And at the first sporting event since the bombing, a Bruins game, the crowd sang the national anthem together.
As Tsarnaev waits on death row, counting down the days until he meets his maker, he will think of his legacy and the impact he had on the city. What Tsarnaev did do was show that it will take a lot more than a bomb to shake the city of Boston.
The marathon bombing will be remembered by how the city came together and stood up to a monster in the wake of an unforgettable tragedy. Boston strong, indeed.
