Axios
You can learn a lot about the indomitable nature of the human spirit by training for and tackling a marathon. Why it matters: It's a tremendous physical feat. But standing at the finish line — watching thousands of people arrive after 26.2 miles of pain, doubt and persistence — may be even more gratifying, Axios' Bill Kole writes. I witnessed it this week at the atmospheric end of the Boston Marathon. Zoom in: I've spent years chasing finish lines myself. A Massachusetts native, I ran track and cross country at Boston University. I'm a nationally certified distance running coach who has run 18 marathons , including three Bostons. In 2014, one year after bombs placed near the finish line killed three people and wounded 260 others, I live-tweeted each mile of the race for the AP. That was the last Boston Marathon I ran. The big picture: Now, I watch. And from the sidelines, the view is somehow bigger. Monday's 130th edition of America's oldest footrace was a tableau of 30,000 sweaty success stories — often further from the spotlight than the elite runners and celebrity athletes . An inspiring scene I've seen at so many big-city marathons played out again in Boston: A few dozen yards from the finish, a runner's legs gave out, but two fellow competitors stopped to help him the rest of the way. Race announcer and self-described "hype girl" Ali Feller , who's being treated for Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, spent hours shouting out midpack runners from the footbridge above the finish line. Terrence Concannon, who ran barefoot, trained by running on Lego bricks and stabbing his feet with a fork. He raised $13,000 for a charity. The bottom line: "If you're ever losing faith in humanity, go watch a marathon," coach, athlete and writer Mario Fraioli wrote on his blog. Go deeper: Why more people are running marathons
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