After the bombings at last year's Boston Marathon, a group of San Diego runners organized a run to show support. They called it "Boston Strong San Diego" and hundreds of runners turned out to collectively cover 3,000 miles, the distance from San Diego to Boston.
Now, with one week left until this year's Boston Marathon, local runners decided to do it again. They planned a "Last Run to Boston" for this Sunday at 8 a.m. in Mission Bay Park.
Mike Daly, a local runner who owns a T-shirt company called boom RUNNING, will be running this year's Boston Marathon and decided to organize the run for San Diegans to show their support.
"The Boston Marathon is a pretty special thing," Daly said. "I've run 11 marathons and there's nothing quite like crossing that finish line at Boylston Street."
Many marathoners don't run long distances for a week before their big race, which is why Daly called the event "Last Run to Boston." But, he said, the event is for all runners, not just those going to Boston for the race.
"The idea of the event is to really just get the San Diego running community together," Daly said. "We want anyone that enjoys running to come out to the event and just get an idea of the excitement behind Boston."
Daly said for many runners, including himself, supporting the Boston Marathon is especially meaningful this year. He knows at least 100 locals who are planning to run the race.
"I wasn't planning to run it until watching the tragedy unfold and I knew that I just wanted to be there this year to show my support for the running community, show my support for Boston," Daly said.
Daly's company boom RUNNING also made a special Boston Marathon T-shirt that he'll be selling at the run. Proceeds go to the Challenged Athlete Foundation.
