Famous Screams to Quiet Prayers: Wellesley College to Host Marathon Vigil

Yesterday, through the @Wellesley and @WellesleyNews's social media, the college announced they would hold a vigil today, April 17, at 12:30 p.m.

Just a few hours earlier, the same social media was talking about one of the College's marathon traditions: The Scream Tunnel.

Wellesley College has been doing this for years. The Scream Tunnel is an ongoing tradition which, according to our Wellesley College Patch Blog may be as old as the marathon itself.

It is a quarter-mile stretch, where students come out to support runners with signs and screams. 

Patch Blogger Krista Perry, wrote about her Marathon experience yesterday. Despite stomach pains at about mile 10, it was the Scream Tunnel that pushed her forward: 

Then…Wellesley College. Wellesley College was the closest I will ever be to feeling like a rock star. Those girls just scream and scream and scream for you and it is the most amazing feeling ever. I’d do the race over and over and over again just for that!! It was so uplifting. It really helped me push through that mile and those girls were amazing.

Perry goes on to say that one of the girls from Wellesley remarked on her Dana Farber Cancer Institute singlet, and said they had saved her father's life. Which gave her just a little more stength to go forward. 

See the full blog post on Chelmsford Patch.

Last year, they tradition got a bit of an update with social media. There are reports from runners that they can hear the scream tunnel from a mile away--so the college turned to Twitter this year and last to find out how far they can be heard.