CBS NEWS: At least 12 injured, no fatalities reported after two explosions near finish line of Boston Marathon

Two booms heard from near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel; no immediate word on injuries

There is NO CAUSE reported yet.

OF TWO WORLDS A group of runners, displaced from the cancelled New York City marathon, trot past a line of people waiting for gasoline in Brooklyn on Sunday. Marathoners also ran through Central Park while others aided in relief efforts for victims of superstorm Sandy. (Photo: James Estrin / The New York Times)

I understand why it cannot be held under the current circumstances. Any inconveniences the cancellation causes me or the thousands of runners who trained and traveled for this race pales in comparison to the challenges faced by people in NYC and its vicinity.

2009 New York City Marathon winner MEB KEFLEZIGHI.

If this was the first and only thing out of every registered NYC marathon runner’s mouth — despite Mayor Bloomberg’s decision (and Mayor Bloomberg’s alone) to not call the damned race off until the last possible minute — then it would be grand.

(via The Washington Post)

New York City cancels the marathon, which they should've done earlier this week for fuck's sake.

I know about the economic impact, okay? But we still have broad swaths of the city without power or damaged by water or destroyed by fire, and honestly a bunch of joggers can wait a few weeks or months for their scenic little run.

You cannot spare a policeman, you cannot spare a first responder to stand on a street corner to police the marathon.

WFAN sports talk radio host MIKE FRANCESA, making plenty of sense.

WASH POST: Geoffey Mutai of Kenya logs fastest marathon time ever -- 2:03:02 -- but his finish time isn't considered a record due to a "significant tailwind and a hilly course." Whatever, I'm tired just thinking about it.

HOT TO TROT A competitor walked through the Sahara Desert Monday in Morocco during the six-day Marathon des Sables. Hundreds of participants are competing in what is considered to be one of the world’s most difficult marathons. (Photo: Pierre Verdy / AFP-Getty via the Wall St. Journal)

NY POST: Edison Peña, one of the 33 Chilean miners rescued last month and who kept himself busy by jogging six miles a day while underground, will run in this year's New York City Marathon.

Fucking amazing. From the New York Post:

Peña earned his nickname, “The Runner,” because he logged up to six miles a day through the underground tunnels, killing time during his ordeal.

Race organizers, aware that Peña wanted to run in the marathon, were ready to roll out the red carpet and invite him to various ceremonial events.

They had no idea Peña actually wanted to pound the 26.2 miles of Big Apple pavement.

“We [were] inviting him to be a guest; we [were] not inviting him to run. That’s nothing short of mind-blowing,” said New York Road Runners president and race director Mary Wittenberg.

“Now we’ve had several conversations, and he wants to run. He absolutely 100 percent wants to participate.”

Peña, 34, was one of the most depressed of the trapped men, asking rescuers for Elvis music and a picture of the sun.

Now Peña — who was the 12th miner rescued, at 10:11 a.m. on Oct. 13 — will get a chance to run in one of the world’s most famous races.

“He’s very confident he can make it,” said Chilean Consul General Julio Fiol.

I’ve been here 22 years. And the U.S.A. is a land of immigrants.

NYC Men’s Marathon winner MEB KEFLEZIGHI, on grumblings that he isn’t a “real American”; Keflezighi is a U.S. citizen who emigrated from Eritrea at age 12.

(via Time Magazine)

Many people think that with an African-American president, we are in a postracial society. Clearly, we are not.

RICHARD LAPCHICK, the director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, regarding the incredible, mind-boggling arguments over whether or not the win by Meb Keflezighi in the NYC Marathon - the first by an American in 27 years - should “count” because he was born in Eritrea.

Racists will never cease to amaze me.

(via the NY Times)

GIVE ME YOUR TIRED… YOUR POOR… YOUR HUDDLED BROWNIES A runner wearing a Lady Liberty crown grabbed a piece of cake during the Brooklyn leg of the ING New York City Marathon Sunday. Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu came in first for the women; Meb Keflezighi became the first American man to win the race since 1982. (Photo: David Goldman / AP via the Wall St. Journal)

A GOOD RUN Meb Keflezighi kisses the ground after winning the men’s division of the 40th annual New York City Marathon. He is the first American winner of a major marathon since 2002 and the first American man to win the New York City Marathon since 1982. (Photo: EPA via the Telegraph)

(NB: Fellow Tumblrer poisonville also kicked ass.)