From the sidelines of the Boston Marathon

It’s marathon Monday in Boston. I don’t think I had any idea what that meant before moving here and I still think I have more to learn from the stories I hear from lifetime Bostonians.

Last year was my first Boston Marathon experience and our home is right along the marathon route, which was pretty awesome. My brother in law was running, so we had that extra layer of excitement tracking his run and cheering him on -- but what was equally exhilarating was cheering on the runners that we didn’t have any personal connection to, yet welcomed our support.

If you’ve ever run a marathon, you’ll know how important those nameless faces are. The greatest memories I have are of people who only knew my name because it was front and center on my shirt. They cheered me on with such passion and urgency you’d think we were family.

I can still vividly see the face of the guy in New York who watched me eyeing up the Harlem hills and proudly calling out my name with words of encouragement to keep pushing through. He didn’t know me and he had no need to be there for me but he was -- so many people were. They came out to be a part of the experience and in just bearing witness, and being there for a stranger -- that made all the difference.

It’s an incredible thing. We’re not out there cheering for one team over another, we’re cheering for a mass of individuals to persevere and overcome a tremendous challenge. We don’t critique their gait, we don’t laugh at the slower ones. We cheer hardest for those who need it the most. Shouldn’t this be the case in so many other arenas? Shouldn’t this be the case in motherhood where we are all running our own marathon? Shouldn’t we recognize how tough it is and support each other?

I can never thank all the people who got me through my race, but I can be there for others. I can take my kids out today, in the rain, with the signs we’ve made for no one in particular. Sometimes you just cheer each other on. Sometimes all you have to do is be there and it makes all the difference.

This Sunday, April 26th we are calling on our supporters to cheer on and run in solidarity with our founder, Christy Turlington Burns as she runs the London Marathon to raise awareness and support for Every Mother Counts. Join us by downloading the free Charity Miles app, select Every Mother Counts and for every mile you run, 25 cents will be donated to the programs we support to ensure every woman has access to safe pregnancies and childbirth. Share your photos on social media using #EveryMileEveryMother.

You may not be running it yourself, you may not even be in London, but you can be there in solidarity. And it makes all the difference.