Marathon Monday In Newton Brings Out The High Fives - And The Tears

NEWTON- Right across from Mile Marker 21, Chelsea Binnig, a junior at Boston College, is cheering on runners and leaning out across the thin yellow rope meant to separate spectators from the crowd of Boston Marathoners as they leave Heartbreak Hill in Newton and head down Commonwealth. She offers them high fives along with words of encouragement.

"You got this! Come on!," she yells, her voice hoarse. She beams in response to runners smiling and some making a bee line to get that high five she's offering.

And she says the vast majority of people who pass near her take her up on the high five. "It's nuts how many people are really almost yearning for them," she says.

Binning says she's in awe of the runners. When she was a freshman she said she joined the school's ROTC program and runs Heartbreak Hill pretty regularly and knows firsthand a couple miles up the hill is not easy. Add that to the fact that even though these runners most assuredly know about the Marathon bombings in 2013, they are still out there running - on Patriots' Day no less - and the symbolism is not lost on her.

"It makes me so emotional watching these people go by," she says as tears come to her eyes. "It's this feeling of unity. This Marathon brings everyone together," she says.

As for her high fives?

"They only have 5 miles left to go. I think it's a much needed gratification; especially after running up that horrible hill of death," she says.

Photos by Jenna Fisher.