Yesterday was Patriots' Day here in Massachusetts, better known to those of us along the Boston Marathon route as "Marathon Monday." Our store sits just a stone's throw from the halfway point, so we can't help but get caught up in the energy and enthusiasm that accompany this annual event. It tends to make for an entertaining (albeit rather distracted) workday. Here's how the view looked from our store's front windows, at one point during the day:

Unfortunately yesterday's weather was not really in tune with the needs of 20,000 runners. The day began with a spitting rain, a stiff wind, and temperatures in the 40s that no doubt dampened the spirits of a few runners and definitely scared off a good number of spectators. It didn't stop the hardcore fans from turning out, though, umbrellas in hand (or a camera, in my case).

One of our veteran children's booksellers, Sarah Nixon, runs the marathon annually as part of the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge. This year she finished 329th out of the 12,373 women who crossed the finish line, and 52nd out of the 2,541 women in the Masters division (ages 40-49). As if being a world-class marathon runner raising money for cancer research wasn't enough, Sarah is also a mother of three, a part-time school library assistant (at Blake Middle School in Medfield, Mass.), and the founder of two non-profits aimed at motivating others to read, exercise, and raise money for literacy. With Fit Girls she gets 4th and 5th grade girls to create fitness goals, read great books, keep reading journals, and raise money for First Book. The adults in her Babes Bookin' It group do much the same thing, though with a bit less supervision (!). Sarah started assembling the group in 2005 and already it has raised several thousand dollars for both First Book and the Boston Adult Literacy Fund.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of Sarah as she ran past the store yesterday, but when she's bookin' it, she looks a lot like the folks in this picture: impressive.