kbecker57

Out and about – Beijing

Peking ducks!

The China and Korea portion of my trip were part of a Field Seminar through school. It was 13 strangers (aka students), one professor, and one school representative…kind of sounds like a commercial for a season of the Real World! Hmmm, is that show still on or am I totally aging myself here?

Street meat

In China, the food is categorized by region, unlike the generic catch-all of “Chinese food” that we use in the U.S. It makes sense, China is a BIG country! The other thing that took a little getting used to is the shared food culture – the dishes are served family-style and everyone just dives in with their chopsticks. It is definitely not a place for germophobes!

Plate spinning acrobatics

One of the highlights of Beijing eating was the Peking duck, at the original Peking duck restaurant. I ate a lot of duck that night….I think they ordered five ducks for the group. And that was in addition to several other cold and hot dishes and a birthday cake for Sneha. I am glad that I stuffed myself with duck, because after that meal we walked through an outdoor food market where people were selling scorpion, goat balls, pigeon, and all sorts of creatures on sticks. I did not try anything, but I do think I would have been tempted if I was the least bit hungry. I managed to control myself around street food until later in the trip.

One evening we went to the Laoshe Teahouse for a performance of Peking opera, which included performances of comedy, oral mimicry, pot juggling, spinning plates, and Sichuan opera. We had a Bento box dinner and delicious tea.

Lenovo lunchbox

I also really enjoyed dining in the cafeterias of the companies we were visiting. I always like to see how the locals eat, so it was nice to experience that as well. My favorite “company lunch” was actually at a Korean restaurant, Bibigo, which is owned by the CJ Group. We had bulgogi (Korean barbecue beef). This made us all very excited about the food we would get to eat in Korea.

Dumplings!

The day we were in Tianjin we had the opportunity to go to lunch with Mr. Park of LG, to Gou Bu Li, one of the best restaurants in Tianjin. This was another multi-course meal with several cold and hot dishes and pork dumplings that were prepared tableside (I think that was more for show, but I dug it). I really liked the chicken with walnuts, the pork with egg and mushroom, and the whole fish. We were told that it is a tradition to end a meal with fish. We were also told that it’s bad luck to turn the fish over yourself, but then the server said it was ok. I’m pretty sure we dared someone at my table to eat the eyeball. We also had some yummy watermelon juice (and beer, of course).

A lot of our meals started with these strange and colorful gelatin cubes. I tried a few of them and just couldn’t get past the texture. Not my favorite.

I am told that Beijing food tends to be heavier and spicier than other regions…and I would agree, I felt a little heavier and spicier after spending a few days there.

Baked parsnip fries

“Fry” shaped parsnip

Spring dug parsnips are a treat and a great way to celebrate a USA win in our World Cup game earlier this evening! I had a parsnip that was about one-third of a pound and I decided to bake them into fries. I used cayenne pepper and paprika, but feel free to substitute other herbs or spices to your liking. Do you know what the technical measurements for a pinch and a dash are?

Pinch = 1/16 teaspoon
Dash = 1/8 teaspoon

Baked fries

Back in my days as a server at the East Islip Clam & Oyster Bar, we used to serve a maple mayo with our sweet potato fries. I think this is also where I fell in love with the sweet potato fry…that relationship is still going strong! I always thought it would be easy to recreate the maple mayo, and turns out it was! All I did was whisk 1/2 Tablespoon of maple syrup with 1 Tablespoon of mayonnaise, and I got to use the itty bitty baby whisk that I got at Jerel and Michael’s wedding. Not gonna lie, I wish I had a pair of itty bitty baby whisks. I think this would also be super tasty with plain yogurt instead of mayo, but I didn’t have any yogurt on hand.

Baked parsnip fries

Parsnip fries with maple mayo

Serves: 1

Ingredients
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into “fry” shapes
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Toss together all ingredients in a bowl, then spread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes until cooked through and enjoy!

Out and about – Hong Kong

Beef brisket with flat noodles

I think I am mostly recovered from my jet lag (Hong Kong and China are 12 hours ahead, Korea is 13), though it would be really really nice to sleep past 4 AM! My first stop in Asia was Hong Kong, and I really had no idea what to expect. If I’m being honest, I hadn’t done much research before I left…other than to download a DK Eyewitness “Top 10 Hong Kong” book to my iPad, which I skimmed through on the plane. It came in handy when I was looking for a lunch spot, though it did make me wish I had ordered the old-fashioned paper version…it was raining that day and I had to keep pulling out my iPad to make sure I was heading in the right direction.

Since I was already in Central, I decided to try to find a little place called Kau Kee. My guidebook had this to say:

Humble Kau Kee was once offered millions for its beef brisket noodle recipe. Taste and see why. This is a place of pilgrimage.

Dumplings!

I arrived around 11:30 and there was already a line forming…outside, in the rain. For a multi-million dollar recipe, I joined the line and waited until they opened at noon. I managed to order the beef brisket with flat noodles (they gave me a menu in English when they realized I didn’t speak the language). It was a great first meal in HK.

Pork buns

That night we met up with my friend Daniel and his friend Ray and went to Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant famous for their xiao long bao (soup dumplings). There are several locations, and I was fortunate to be able to go again in Shanghai. Yum. It was great because Daniel and Ray took care of ordering, and did a great job…I loved everything, but most especially the soup dumplings. They even give you instructions on how to eat them properly, so as not to burn yourself or spray soup on your tablemates. In addition to the soup dumplings we had tofu skins, pea greens, pork buns, spicy noodles, and beef with rice.

In general, I heard mixed reviews about Cantonese food…well, actually…mostly people told me it was terrible. I didn’t feel strongly about trying it, though we did decide to check out Maxim’s Palace in City Hall for dim sum as it had been recommended by a couple of people. I’m glad we tried it, but it was not my favorite. Actually it was my least favorite meal in Hong Kong, which could also be related to not knowing what’s best to order. We tried the barbecue pork buns, beef ribs with glass noodles, and several types of steamed dumplings (vegetable, shrimp, and pork with crab roe).

Lamb shank

That night we met up with Thad’s friend Ben (a college friend and a completely random encounter the first night we were there) and he took us to a Sichuan restaurant in SoHo, Shui Hu Ju. I really loved the duck cucumber salad and the lamb shank. We were told that the chicken with chiles was their “signature dish”, so we gave it a shot. It looked a little intimidating, the chicken was black and covered by an entire layer of whole red chiles. I like medium spicy so this was a little too spicy for me. We also ordered dumplings with peanut sauce, dam dam noodles, and jade vegetable (which tasted kind of like a warm, crunchier cucumber).

Jade vegetable

I wanted to try pigeon…it was a late night decision, fueled by a little liquid courage. We got sidetracked by another bar (HK loves Jaeger bombs!) and it didn’t happen…still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Overall, Hong Kong made me and my stomach very happy!

The rundown
Kau Kee
21 Gough Street, Central
中環歌賦街21號地下

Din Tai Fung
68 Yee Woo Street, Causweway Bay
銅鑼灣怡和街68號地下

City Hall Maxim’s Palace
5 Edinburgh Place, Central

Shui Hu Ju
68 Peel Street, Soho, Central
中環蘇豪卑利街68號

May RC – Ramen night at Sweet Cheeks

Ready for ramen!

For this month’s RC we headed to Sweet Cheeks for their ramen night…if you can manage to go out on a Monday night, I highly recommend it. You won’t find anything about it on their web site, but they will tweet about the ramen flavor o’ the day. We arrived by 8 and there was already a line (it’s always a good sign when there are lots of Asian kids lining up for ramen). Seating doesn’t start until nine, but the outdoor bar and shrimp chips helped to pass the time.

Teriyaki wings

Lucky for us the ramen of the week was fried chicken with house kimchi, soy sauce, egg, and “more yummy goodness”. The broth had been cooking for three days and we got to select a spice level (mild, medium, spicy)…I went with medium and it was just the right amount of spice for me.

It is a limited ramen night menu, but luckily their amazing biscuits were still on the menu. Of course biscuits and ramen go together! Our server played a mean trick on us and told us they were out of the biscuits. Then he started laughing and said “Just kidding…that was so worth it!”. We also got shishito peppers, teriyaki wings, and smoked pork belly (which you order by the pound).

My favorite part was the fried chicken. And the broth. And the noodles. And the mushrooms. And the egg. Ok…I loved every part of it. It was absolutely delicious, and way better than dorm room ramen (per Julie Spanos).

Great pick Kendrin!

The damage
$32 each plus whatever drinks we ordered at the outside bar while waiting in line

The rundown
Sweet Cheeks Q
1381 Boylston Street, Boston MA
@sweetcheeksQ

Indian-spiced braised chicken

Too many recipe books and magazines

One of my go-to recipe magazines over the years has been Everyday Food, and I’ve received and saved seven years of magazines (2006-2012). That is a lot of real estate in my tiny place! Starting this month, I’m starting to recycle these. The ideal thing to do would be to pin the recipes I want to save via Pinterest, but realistically, I will just rip out the recipes I want to try, such as this recipe for Indian-spiced braised chicken from the April 2007 issue.

I made this over the weekend for my parents who were up from NY for marathon weekend. I knew it would be a busy weekend and we would be eating out a lot, so I thought it would be nice to cook something for Friday night when they got into town. And by cook, I mean throw a bunch of ingredients into the slow cooker and let it work its magic.

I added the yogurt a little too soon – it was super hot and the yogurt kind of coagulated. It tasted fine but it didn’t look very pretty. I think this recipe had just the right amount of spice, but feel free to adjust the cayenne pepper to your liking.

Dinner is served

Indian-spiced braised chicken
Serves: 4
Source: Everyday Food, April 2007

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, halved and thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon grated ginger (from a 1-inch piece)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Cooked white rice, for serving

Directions
1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, stir together chicken, onion, pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, coriander, and cayenne; season with salt and pepper.

2. Cook on high for 4 hours (or on low for 8 hours) until chicken is fork-tender. Stir in yogurt, cilantro, and garam masala. Serve with rice.

April RC – Bostonia Public House

“World famous” pickle pot

April was my month to pick our restaurant and I was Twitter-stalking two restaurants that were supposed to open in “early April”: Bostonia Public House and Bastille Kitchen. I was a little nervous that neither would open in time for the April 23rd date that I had chosen for RC, but thankfully Bostonia Public House opened its doors on April 17th. And then I was nervous about first week jitters.

Yummy polenta fries

I arrived early and was able to snag one lone seat at the full bar. Maybe it was because the seat was on the corner, but I waited at least 10 minutes before I even made eye contact with a bartender. Since I was about an hour early, I did not bother to check in with the host about my 7 PM reservation – and little did I know that my fellow RC’ers also arrived early, checked in, and were seated. I drank wine, but I heard that the $14 cocktail was watered down.

Our server was very eager (perhaps over-eager) and perhaps tried to be a little too chummy with us. After asking him a few questions about the menu, our takeaway was that he claimed that everything on the menu was “world famous”, for example, the world famous pickle pot and the BPH burger (it’s not called a hamburger or a cheeseburger!). We found it hard to believe that *anything* was world famous (yet), since they’d only been open for a week.

(Undercooked) pork and (overcooked) beans

We started out with that world famous pickle pot, as well as Parmesan polenta fries, tater tot poutine, salt and pepper fries, warm lump crab dip with crispy potato chips, and the Berbere spiced pork ribs with almond quinoa. The pickle pot was more like an “onion pot” and we shared that constructive feedback to our server. He said that other people had said the same thing and he was going to take it off our check. The polenta fries were super yummy – light, truffle-y, airy and perfect. I also enjoyed the house-made crispy potato chips and the fries…we were there just two days after the marathon so I may have been in carb re-loading mode. The ribs would have been better if they had more seasoning (ie, more flavor), but the almond quinoa was so good that it would be great as a side on its own.

Crab crusted cod

For the entrees, we tried the Berkshire pork loin (with “Bostonia” baked beans, apple fennel slaw, sherry reduction), Georges Bank scallops (with artichoke, merguez sausage, white beans, pequillo pepper, harissa oil), and the native MA crab crusted cod (with asparagus, leek & potato succotash). It’s not often we have multiple people order the same thing. I went with the cod because our server said it was their signature dish (I think he refrained from calling it “world famous”). I really liked it and would consider it the winner, but it was difficult to identify the crab in the “crab crusted” dish. The pork was too rare for Julie, even though she requested it to be not pink. Luckily it was a huge portion so she was able to eat around the edges of the pork slices. The consensus on the beans was that they were too smokey and overcooked. The scallops were good, though there were a lot of white beans…and they were the largest white beans I think I’ve ever seen.

Deconstructed Boston cream pie

Sweet potato doughnuts

For dessert we opted for the “Bostonia cream pie” (vanilla custard, chocolate ganache, almond sponge cake crumble) and the Berkshire bourbon glazed sweet potato doughnuts. It seemed out of season for the apple crisp and the milk and cookies didn’t sound that exciting. The quotes are very appropriate for the “Bostonia cream pie” as I think it is trying to be a deconstructed version of the traditional dessert, but I just thought it was odd. The doughnuts looked heavenly, until someone cut into one and said, “Wait, is this filling or is this raw dough?” After everyone at the table cut into one, and double-checking the menu description, we determined that it was indeed raw dough. More constructive feedback for the server and chef: your doughnut is raw. The server insisted we wait while they cooked up another batch and it was worth the wait…the doughnuts were delicious, especially the glaze. We may have tried to eat the glaze off the raw doughnuts while we waited for the second batch to cook.

There is a lot that’s good, and there is a lot that has potential. They do carbs and cod well but everything with crab was underrated, and definitely not “world famous”. There was also a theme of undercooked (pork, doughnuts) and overcooked (beans), but hopefully they will be able to work out those new restaurant kinks.

Table faves
Parmesan polenta fries
Almond quinoa (that was served with the pork ribs)
Native MA crab crusted cod
Berkshire bourbon glazed sweet potato doughnuts (the cooked ones)

The damage
$77 each (even with the comp’d pickle pot and sweet potato doughnuts)

The rundown
Bostonia Public House
131 State Street, Boston
@BostoniaPublic

The 118th Boston Marathon

My very own marathon scarf

The 2014 Boston Marathon…it was a great day to cross that finish line, along with almost 99% of those who started! I want to be able to say that I loved every minute of the race and the course, but as a pretty average runner, it’s just hard to truly love every minute of running 26.2 miles. I also still stand by my belief that crazy sh*t happens after 20 miles (or even earlier when your body knows it’ll have to go longer than 20 miles).

But there were lots of things I did love about the day: seeing Team Hoyt on the course, learning that an American male (Meb Keflezighi) won for the first time since 1983, passing the point where the runners were stopped last year, making the turn onto Hereford Street, and of course, finishing! I also loved seeing my liver teammates on the course and all of the spectators who were out cheering us on every step of the way, especially my very own cheerleaders who I looked forward to seeing at different points along the course.

Heading to the start!

Here are some highlights the Boston Athletic Association sent us earlier this week.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2014 BOSTON MARATHON

QUICK FACTS

32,456 runners started the 118th running of the Boston Marathon.
31,931 completed the race from Hopkinton to Boston, which is a finisher rate of more than 98%.
54 push-rim wheelchair athletes started the day with 53 of them officially finishing.
48 mobility impaired athletes started with 44 completing the event.
51 visually impaired athletes started with 48 finishing.
There were 80 countries, and all 50 states (plus six U.S. territories) represented in the race.
Meb Keflezighi (USA) became the first American man to win the event since Greg Meyer (1983), and the first American to win the open division since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach (1985).
Rita Jeptoo’s (KEN) time of 2:18:57 improved the course record set by Margaret Okayo in 2002.
With victories from Ernst Van Dyk (RSA) and Tatyana McFadden (USA) in the push-rim wheelchair division, they both captured the men’s and women’s 2014 Boston-London Wheelchair Challenge competition respectively.
Joan Samuelson (two-time Boston Marathon champion) became the fastest 56-year-old woman in history with her time of 2:52:11. 1968 champion Amby Burfoot (4:42:48) and 1990 champion Gelindo Bordin (4:10:37) also ran.

Go liver!

Runnin…
Photo credit: Ashley Marie

Among my friends and teammates, the consensus is that it was a tough, hot run. After training in Boston this winter, race day proved to be like nothing we’d trained for. My plan was to take water every three miles and fuel every six miles, and I tried to stick to my plan despite the sun and heat because everyone talks so much about the risks of overhydration. I also had some pre-race GI distress (shocking) so I was even more conscious about what I was eating and drinking. Everything went great for about the first 16 miles, but I battled nausea for the last 10 miles. I walked more than I expected to and I willed myself not to vomit in front of all those spectators. After I finished, I willed myself not to vomit in the Copley Mall where I got turned around and had to ask for directions to the Westin, not once but twice! I couldn’t even drink the celebration beer my parents had waiting for me when I returned from taking a shower. And now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’m pretty sure I was under-hydrated and under-fueled. Since I was trying not to throw up, I was scared to put anything other than water in my stomach. I finished the race with almost all of the fuel I had brought with me…no bueno.

Tired, but finished!

This year was my second marathon and second Boston. I PR’d by a little more than a minute, but I know I have/had a better race in me. And that’s why Boston is kind of like a bad relationship…one that you know you should quit but you can’t. Something keeps drawing you back…conquering those Newton hills or achieving that finish time. And this year, for me and some of my teammates, that also includes a finish line photo! The “what ifs” abound and that makes me contemplate another attempt in 2015.

I want to thank again all of my family and friends who helped me finish the race and race $5,129.70 for liver disease research and advocacy. Together, our team has raised more than $1.4 million! I also want to give a special thank you to my coworker Maureen for my marathon scarf and to the Wellesley girls for my fabulous sign (though I didn’t get to see it on race day).

Donors of the week
The Karr Family
Christine Colpitts
Barbara and Charlie Becker (again!!!)
Alan Ehrlich
Jamie McLellan
Kelly Brubaker

Remembering 4/19/13 – Claire’s story

Claire was my first call on Marathon Monday. She lives in Watertown and this is her story.

I went to bed early that night, maybe 10pm. I rolled over around 11:30 and checked facebook, as all good social media addicts do, and saw that a police officer had been shot at MIT. Keith was still awake but hadn’t heard yet that the officer had died. Then the sirens. So many sirens, and so loud. I wondered aloud if it was possible the sirens were carrying from across the river in Kendall Square right to our open bedroom window. A few more minutes went by, then POP, poppoppoppop, BOOM, pop pop POP POP. Like those fireworks that crackle, but it went on for several minutes, with a few LOUD explosions mixed in. I anxiously asked Keith if we could turn on the TV, just to see, in case the news had any information.

View from Claire’s window

Boston had not been the same all week. There was a LARGE police presence throughout the city with a uniformed officer or military guard on most street corners. Bomb threats and “suspicious packages” popped up throughout the city all week long. A family member who works in law enforcement emailed us to say, “Stay safe. They’re not telling you everything.” Despite this, I somehow didn’t make the connection that the shooting at MIT and the sirens blaring outside my window were associated with the marathon bombings. It took turning on the local news before I put the pieces together. I’ll never forget the visceral fear in Adam Williams’ voice, projected through my television as he huddled behind a parked car not two blocks from my house.

We didn’t go back to sleep that night. Keeping the news on was oddly comforting. We stayed in the bedroom with the shades pulled, afraid even to look out the window. Around 2:30am we discussed a strategy for where to hide if he broke in. Around 6am we grabbed the cat carrier out of the basement and packed a bag in case we got evacuated. Medication, water, granola bars, contact solution, cat food. They said not to open the door to anyone other than clearly marked officials. I wondered how we would know – turns out the full SWAT gear (with automatic weapons) was a good clue.

Watertown proud

They lifted the shutter indoors order at 6pm with no signs of the suspect, and I remember feeling more anxious than at any other point during the day – we kept you indoors all day while we searched for this dangerous criminal and we didn’t find him but we think it’s OK to go outside now. WHAT??? Minutes after the broadcast the sound of helicopters erupted; we figured they were heading back to Hanscom, or wherever helicopters live. About 10 minutes after that returned the sound I will never again mistake for fireworks. We were ahead of the news, since we could hear it before they could broadcast it, then finally the announcement from our new hero, Ed Davis: “We’re so grateful to bring justice to this case. To those families that lost loved ones, and from neighborhoods that lived in fear for an entire day, we have a suspect in custody.” The city celebrated, cheering at the ambulance that transported a murderer. I sat on the couch sobbing – the first time I had left my bedroom all day. To celebrate any part of this horrific tragedy simply felt inhumane.

Morning broke with eerie silence Saturday in Watertown. Love and support poured in to Boston from all over the world. And we laced up and began to heal.

Remembering 4/15/13 – My story

I sat down to write my story and it was harder than I thought it would be. What came out is not a play-by-play of my day, but I think everyone knows the chronology by now. I also looked back at what I posted last year, which was mostly my photos because I didn’t have words at the time.

I ran the Boston Marathon in 2010. It was a perfect day and I had not planned to run it again. It had been crossed off the proverbial bucket list. I knew that I had another marathon in me, but I had my sights set on NYC or Chicago, and a not-so-secret goal of a sub-four hour finish. That all changed on April 15, 2013 and I knew that I would do whatever it took to run the Boston Marathon in 2014. For better or for worse, the Liver team were my people last year, and that is why I chose to run for the American Liver Foundation this year. I’m so glad they chose me too!

It’s hard to believe a whole year has passed. In some ways it still feels like yesterday, and at the same time it feels like even longer than one year. But I think that’s what happens in tragedy…you get stuck in the in between of wanting to go back in time and wanting to, having to move forward. You don’t want it to get easier because you don’t want to forget.

April 15, 2013. Tax day. Patriot’s day. Marathon Monday. It was a perfect morning for the marathon…it almost felt like my perfect day back in 2010. My biggest worry that morning was about getting Dave’s parents to the Liver team cheering station in front of Newton-Wellesley Hospital and then back to the Westin. I don’t know what compelled me to throw my phone charger in my bag at the last minute. Thank goodness for that phone charger.

We got to see the lead pack of men and women at mile 16. We high-fived and hugged Jerel and Dave. We got back in the car and headed toward the Westin. The timing was close and Kendrin and I had to run to the finish line from the Westin. We were at the finish line, on the grandstand side of Boylston Street, trying to push our way toward Hereford Street. We weren’t making much progress, so we decided it would be faster to run around, and it was. We made our way to the west side of Hereford Street, between Newbury and Boylston.

We had gotten to Hereford Street just in time. Just in time, we thought, to see both Jerel and Dave. As it turns out, we were just in time for other reasons as well. We had probably been there for less than five minutes when we heard the noise. I can’t say that I knew in that moment that it was an explosion or a bomb, but I remember we looked at each other and said “that’s not normal”. We looked to the sky to see if there was some type of flyover, but we knew the Sox game was already over. Then we heard the second one. There were two things that made me realize that something was very very wrong – every cop had their head tilted to their shoulder, listening to their radios. And then we saw people starting to run.

We looked at each other again, and we knew we also needed to run. We didn’t know which direction to go, but we chose the right one – we wanted to find our runners. As we ran west on Newbury, we passed a Hubway station and decided in a split second that bikes would help us get away faster. We knew we both had Hubway keys. According to my Hubway account, I rented the bike at 2:52 PM that day. It is the only time I’ve been charged for having a bike out for more than 30 minutes.

We made our way to Comm Ave where they were stopping the runners from making that infamous right on Hereford, and almost immediately found both Jerel and Dave. We were the ones to break the news to many of the runners – about the explosions and that the race was over. I lent Dave my jacket, and wished I had more clothes that I could give to the cold, exhausted, and confused runners. I managed to get one phone call in, before phone calls stopped going through. It was a call to Claire, who I knew was at home that day, with a plea to turn on the news and please keep me updated via text. I was able to send and receive texts so I lent my phone to anyone who wanted to send a text, but many people did not know a cell phone number. I learned that day to always run with my phone and to memorize a couple of emergency cell phone numbers. I sent a message to someone on behalf of Diane from Texas. A few months later she texted me to say thank you and we still text back and forth occasionally. I hope she is returning this year. I remember talking to a woman, who I later found out would have been the first woman with dwarfism to complete the Boston Marathon. She will also be back this year.

I had the news on in the morning when I was getting ready, and I remember seeing an interview with a woman who was going to push her daughter in a wheelchair à la Team Hoyt. She became my “main extra” that day. I saw her at mile 16 and again on Hereford Street. And then she was on every news station across the country and the world that day and forever more – she was just crossing the finish line as the bombs went off.

I don’t remember what time I finally got home after being locked in the Westin, and the next few days are also a blur. I couldn’t stop watching the news, even though there was nothing “new”. Nothing, of course, until the events of Thursday night and Friday. And then it was over…or it was just beginning. I think both are true. In some ways my life has gone back to “normal” (and I am grateful to live in a place where these types of events are not the norm), but I and the Boston Marathon have been forever changed. And I can’t wait to take back the finish line on April 21.

See also

Remembering 4/15/13 – Michael’s story

Michael Sullivan was a spectator last year with his daughter Cora. This is his story.

I was waiting with my three-year-old daughter Cora at the family waiting area when we heard the two explosions. We were sitting down on a curb on Stuart Street at the family waiting area. Cora was exhausted. When I heard the explosions, I remember thinking that it didn’t sound like normal city noise; like a truck tire popping or something like that. A few minutes later several people came running down the street shouting something about a bomb. A bomb? At the marathon? My fellow spectators and I looked around at each other. No way. Why would someone bomb the marathon?

Then I looked down at my phone and realized there was no signal. A couple minutes pass and a dozen messages all come through at once from various people. My friend Stacey who I had not spoken to in over a year asked me if I was OK. My brother told me that CNN was reporting a bomb went off at the finish line. I told him to text me updates as no data was going through the phone.

For the next two-plus hours I carried Cora on my hip all over the surrounding blocks looking for information. No word of Jerel at the medical tent. I was tracking him with text updates and I knew he would have been crossing the finish line at around the time of the explosions. I became more and more frantic. Seemingly out of nowhere dozens of military hummers and police with automatic weapons descended on the Back Bay. When my eyes started watering, Cora asked me what was wrong. I told her that someone had done something very bad and that many people were hurt and I couldn’t find Jerel. She said, “I miss Jerel. I want to see Jerel.” At one BAA information tent, a kind volunteer noticed my distress and gave me a couple bottles of vitamin water and kindly reminded me to stay calm.

At one point I went into Turner Fisheries at the corner of Stuart and Dartmouth to use their phone. Inside I was met with the sounds of runners and spectators sipping cocktails and eating shrimp staring at televisions with live shots of the street right outside. It was surreal. Outside I went up to one of the guys with the automatic weapons and asked him if anyone was seriously hurt. “Yes.” Did he know names? “You know I can’t tell you that.”

Eventually Jerel was able to call me and I told him to meet me at Club Cafe, a gay bar a few blocks south of the finish line. I went in with Cora and asked the waiter if he could make a hot chocolate for her. “Well this is a bar.. but we have some chocolate milk we can heat up.” I thanked him and ordered something for Cora to eat. About 20 minutes later Jerel came in and I hugged him tight. I had already been in touch with Lucy, Cora’s mom, who offered to come and pick us up. When she arrived we paid and left, Lucy and I walking briskly through the crowded sidewalk; Jerel had to remind us to slow down – he had just run a marathon after all. I had almost forgotten that was the point of us being there.

We walked passed an absurdly long line of parked ambulances. I didn’t realize there were so many ambulances in the city. Lucy had parked very illegally in some tow zone area on some street in the South End but didn’t get ticketed or towed. The police had bigger fish to fry. She dropped us off at home and offered to take Cora back to her house. I was grateful to her and her partner Elizabeth for keeping Cora safe and looking after her. Jerel and I trudged up to our apartment on the third floor, Jerel sorted through the 80 or so Facebook posts to his wall, and, dazed, we turned off the TV.

This year I am running the marathon. I am not a runner. I took up running partly because of the bombings and partly because its difficult to be a non-runner in a relationship with a runner. Boston is this city that people love to hate. As a native Bostonian I’m used to the complaints about Boston, about people saying it’s small, that the people are unfriendly, and that train closes too early. I’m proud of my city. I’ve walked down Hereford Street and Boylston Street probably a thousand times in my life. There’s something sacred about this time. I’m looking forward to crossing the finish line and putting the bombings squarely in the past.

See also