Yesterday, Dave, Max, and I took a looonnnngggg walk to go see the Boston Marathon runners as they journeyed through Newton. Okay, I freely admit my our piddly 5 miles round trip is absolutely nothing compared to the 26.2 these folks ran. I was astounded by the diversity of people running, jogging, walking, rolling. And they were all so inspirational. Of course, I brought the camera with me to document a bit of the fun.

There were people of all ages, races, styles running. And some with great sense of humor- like this guy- and the guy who wore a hamburger and the girl who had pink bows on her shoes. Anything to keep yourself joyful as you run… And presumably these fun peeps brought joy to all those around them.

Dave and I arrived late- around 4 hours into the run- because I had an appointment. We had hoped to "see" one of our brides who ran the Marathon. Unfortunately we just missed her. She finished in 4 hours! Amazing.

Our wanderings lead us to the 20 mile marker.

This lady has a great smile on her face.

Determination.

The sidelines were probably as interesting as the runners.

These committed volunteers handed out gatorade and water to the athletes. The two in the very front were calling people’s names to get them excited. I can only imagine they were tired from standing and cheering all day long, and I am sure they had water and gatorade thrown on them a few times, as runners rushed to get rid of their cups.

The kids were so cute giving high-5’s to passers-by. And it was always fun to see the runners reach out to one of the kids.

This group of teens was full of energy- cheering on everyone who came by. Love the sign "Happy Thoughts!" I am sure they brought smiles to more than one runner.

This is such a fun sequence. The two ladies in orange- their faces totally lit up when they saw their friend in black.

Then they attacked her with hugs. What must it feel like to be 20 miles done, with 6 still ahead, and see a friendly face?!

Anybody else make it to the Marathon and have fun stories or sightings to share?

If you want to see more, you can check out our photostream on flickr. Or more on Boston.com.