Former WWU All-American runner: 'This horrific display of hatred ... has stolen the innocence of my beloved sport.'

Sarah (Porter) Crouch, a former All-American runner for Western's Track and Cross Country teams, and her husband ran in this year's Boston Marathon and recently shared her thoughts on Facebook: 

Hey everyone, I just wanted to say thank you for the outpouring of concern and love Michael and I received while we were in Boston. We are home now, and somehow, it doesn't seem real. It seems as though I would turn to Michael this morning and say, "I had the craziest dream about bombs going off during the Boston Marathon." I feel that 9/11 stole the innocence of my generation, but this... this horrific display of hatred, it has stolen the innocence of my beloved sport. It has forever tainted what is supposed to be a celebration of the indomitable will of the human spirit and has replaced it with fear. It doesn't seem right that I should wake up this morning to birds chirping and the first buds of spring, but you know what I'm going to do today? I'm going to run. And every step I take will be in defiance of the people who are trying to take my freedom from me. I suggest you do the same.