We have really let the horse out of the barn and let it run away from us, haven’t we?  Is there anything left in this country that isn’t polarizing?  Now it’s the Boston Marathon, too, what’s always been one of the great unifying events in the country? And run on Patriots Day for godsakes!  Even that’s got us choosing sides?!

I was reading an article posted on Runnersworld.com What Do We Know About the 2021 Boston Marathon? that quoted BAA CEO Tom Grilk, who said about the now-canceled 2020 race, “it’s just kind of a lost year.”

I read it as more of a lament to a historically sad situation for everyone who loves the old event.  But not everyone took it that way.

Folks were coming down on Grilk like he’d called their babies ugly. They felt all disrespected and ‘I take that as an insult’, and  “It is utterly disgraceful how the BAA has chosen to turn their backs on the charity runners”,  and ‘we charity runners are the heart-and-soul of this event’ and ‘we worked hard’ and ‘we’ve raised money’ and etc. etc. Not happy campers.

And on the other end, former Greater Boston Track Club star Bob Hodge, third place at Boston in 1979, 2:10 man at his best, didn’t hold back, excoriating his slower brethren’s self-importance on Facebook, saying that the marathon has become overly bloated with charity runners and it’s not in the spirit of the original endeavor of drawing “an elemental line in the dirt and somebody yells, “Go!” and you launch yourself into a simple pursuit to see what you’re made of”.  Course, that didn’t sit well, and back they came full of vinegar.

Everyone these days is bitchin’ about something. Like that dude who ran for Governor of New York in 2010 – “the rent’s 2 damn high!” – Jimmy McMillan. Yeah, and the virus is too stubborn, and the game’s not on, and I don’t wanna wear a mask, and I’m sick of you, and you’re sick of me. So everyone go eff themselves!

It’s everywhere, this opposition. It’s the president uber alles versus Never Trumpers, red states versus blue, lockdown versus open up, Fox versus CNN, and now the charity runners versus the fast guys. If I’m not against something, what am I for?

Jeezus, you can feel the ties that bind unraveling in front of our face. And once that last tie gives way, watch out. Our adversaries don’t have to do a damn thing. Just sit back and enjoy the carnage.

Not good, America. You used to be the hope of the world, the golden city on the hill. Now you’re starting to resemble the mean drunk at the end of the bar!

Life ain’t perfect, right. Now it’s even less so.  But get a grip. Then let’s all try to make it better. We are all stuck in the middle of this particular sh*t sandwich (though, admittedly, some more slathered with nasty than others).

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