Working with today’s Discover Prompt word — distance — was no problem, because a dear friend of ours, Jim Miller, is a marathoner. (Of note to readers, perhaps, is the fact that we can hardly run to the mailbox and back, but Jim has now run 180 marathons in 50 states, 11 of which in Boston.) We’re proud to know this man who can definitely run the distance.

Not surprisingly if you’ve been keeping up with cancellations across the nation, the 2020 Boston Marathon, originally scheduled for April 20, has been postponed to Fall 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. An article in the Portland Press Herald dated April 16, 2020 — “Officials tell Boston Marathon runners to stay home, wait for official September start” — urges runners and spectators to distance themselves from the race and return September 14, 2020, when the 124th marathon is set to begin, hopefully with upward of 30,000 runners.

Monday represents the originally scheduled date of the 2020 Boston Marathon until the coronavirus pandemic moved the race to September. Officials in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, the site of the start of the race, are reminding runners to remain home on Monday and wait for the fall to run the marathon.

Michael Bonner

We can’t tell you much about other races since we’re only novice marathon watchers, having attended only two marathons in Boston. But we can tell you that excitement ramps up the day before as runners mill around the starting line for pictures. . .

and chow down on pasta with thousands of their closest friends at the night-before dinner.

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Then real excitement builds on the day of the race — and not just for runners. We spectators watch (and yell, of course) at the start and finish lines. Or we ride trolleys out to any of the stop-off points to cheer on runners. If we’re lucky, we capture them on film and reach out for a fast and fleeting high-five.

Even with a distance of 26.2 miles, true Boston marathoners take it all in stride as they cross the line listening to the din of cheers from welcoming spectators . . .

grab waters from a host of volunteers . . .

and line up for that all-important medal.

But sometimes the distance takes its toll, and runners do what they need to do: rest in place.

So, stay home this spring. Boston’s not happening. But if we’re lucky, we’ll see runners in person September 14th going the distance.

Rusha & Bert

This post is one of a series of one-word prompts for April 2020 called Discover Prompts by WordPress. Enjoy!