The Boston Marathon is back to its Patriot's Day date after 3 years of COVID issues

The Boston Marathon is back to its Patriot's Day date after 3 years of COVID issues

Transcript¹

For the first time in three years, Boston is getting a Patriots²' Day Marathon. Thousands of runners will take part in the iconic race today.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The Boston Marathon is underway with about 30,000 people participating. For the first time in three years, the race is happening on the traditional Patriot's Day. From GBH in Boston, Esteban Bustillos has more.

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS, BYLINE³: There are a few days that mean more to Boston than Patriot's Day, the third Monday of each April, when Massachusetts commemorates⁴ the battles of Lexington and Concord⁵. It's also the day when hundreds of thousands of spectators and runners descend⁶ upon the city and its outskirts⁷ for the annual Boston Marathon - at least it was before COVID canceled the in-person race in 2020 and pushed its running to October last year. But now, for the first time in three years, the marathon is back in its rightful Patriot's Day time slot. And for runners in this year's race, it's a much-needed return to normalcy. Madeline Silva (ph) lives in New York City. She ran the marathon in the fall, but this will be her first Patriot's Day race.

MADELINE SILVA: I mean, training for two marathons within six months was definitely a task. But I kind of felt like I couldn't pass it up. Of all the marathons I've done - this is my fourth - definitely, Boston's been my favorite experience so far.

BUSTILLOS: Thomas Habimana, who made the trip from Indiana, is a veteran of the race. This will be his fifth time running the Boston Marathon. But this run will have some special meaning.

THOMAS HABIMANA: I feel this one is going to be a bit different. It's, you know, restarting new after - I hope it's post-COVID. It's just fantastic. So it's so good that we're able to get our lives back.

BUSTILLOS: Unfortunately, Boston isn't out of the COVID woods just yet. Cases are on the rise again. But at the marathon finish line the day before the race, there was still a cautious sense of hope the marathon brought. Father Michael Sliney is a priest based out of Washington, D.C., who is running his first Boston marathon. Sliney, understandably, was coming off a pretty busy Holy Week as he made final preparations for the race. And while he's offering blessings⁹ to any runners who may feel like they'll need a little help from above to cross the finish line, he sees the marathon itself as its own kind of blessing⁸ after a hard couple of years.

MICHAEL SLINEY: So I think it's a way for us to kind of almost burst out of the tunnel and see the light with everybody else, and it's kind of symbolic¹⁰ of that, the culmination¹¹ of a long road that hopefully is going to open up to a brighter sunshine.

BUSTILLOS: And as the marathon and the country try to get back to normal, hopefully that forecast of clear skies stays true.

For NPR News, I'm Esteban Bustillos in Boston.

(SOUNDBITE OF SABZI'S "PURBASHA")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

6 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

7 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

8 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

9 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

11 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。