A few days later, Adriana wrote me. The whole experience was harrowing for her in a way that most of us cannot imagine. But she wanted me to know that she wore the shirt and finished the race. She told me that while she ran, even though her racing bib had her name on it, people on the sidelines yelled “Go Nico!” She said I would never believe how many people were cheering for our boy. She thanked me for letting her feel like part of the team and told me she would wear him again in other races. I admitted my neurotic worrying and hoped she would not associate the experience with the shirt (jinxed) and how she replied really moved me. Adriana said she did not feel she had really properly trained for the race this time and that she had done everything that you are not supposed to do before a big race. So she changed her own personal time goal, assuming that she was not in shape enough to finish as strong as she had in the past. But the morning of the race, as she started running, she felt so much energy. She thought there was no way she could sustain the momentum she felt. But somehow she did sustain it. She ended up finishing at 3:42, approximately 20 minutes ahead of her goal and approximately 20 minutes before the bombs went off at the finish line. She wrote: So if anything, I am pretty convinced the t-shirt gave me wings. LUCKY T-SHIRT!
Thank you, Adriana.
P.S. Adriana is not comfortable sharing her photos from the race in light of all that happened there. But she is allowing me to post them on warriornico.com (after this post). Terrorists at the marathon murdered innocent people, permanently injured many and made all of us feel less secure in our own country. But these murderers will not prevent Jeff or me from sharing these beautiful pictures of Adriana’s gift to us. Let these photos serve as a reminder that there are more good people than bad, more love than hate, and that Team Nico (with all your prayers and positive thoughts) is a very powerful force.