Boston Marathon Exec: ‘We Don’t Give In’
Tom Grilk was in Grand Rapids, Michigan yesterday, speaking at the A.I.M. High Endurance Awards.
Tom Grilk was in Michigan yesterday, speaking at the A.I.M. High Endurance Awards.
The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is the governing body of that city’s famous marathon, and on Thursday, Tom Grilk, the B.A.A.’s Executive Director, stood before a crowd at the A.I.M. High Endurance Awards in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Grilk had been invited there as the keynote speaker. He held a copy of a recent issue of Sports Illustrated in his hands.
“It’s an expression of what has come to be embodied by the phrase ‘Boston Strong,'” Grilk said of the cover. “It is a collective expression that we — the people of Boston, the running community and the people of the United States — saying we don’t give in.”
The last American male to win Boston, Greg Meyer, was there at the ceremony. He’s been friends with Grilk since the early 1980s.
Meyer says he’s returning to Boston to run there next year.
“In many ways, I think it energized the sport of running,” Meyer said. “People said ‘we’re not going to avoid a race because of this.’ More people registered. More people wanted to go.”
For More: M Live