Andrew Bunyard, 28, works at a hospital in Boston. "I refuse to forget what I witnessed and heard," he said.
Editor's note: Sign up for the Run for Boston project by uploading a photo of your sneakers to this CNN iReport page. John D. Sutter is a columnist at CNN Opinion. E-mail him at CTL@CNN.com or follow him on Twitter (@jdsutter), Facebook or Google+.
(CNN) -- Rosa Brooks says "keep calm and shut the bleep up."
The witty Foreign Policy writer is sick of what she calls "self-indulgent vicarious trauma" following the blasts at the marathon finish line in Boston last week, which killed three people, injured more than 100 and set off a manhunt that left an MIT cop dead.
"You don't need to keep changing your Facebook status to let us all know that you're still extremely shocked and sad about the Boston bombing," she wrote last week. "Let's just stipulate that everyone is shocked and sad, except the perpetrators and some other scattered sociopaths."
Part of me loves her piece. It's a worthy critique of the faux-concern and needless commercialism that can grow out of tragedy. But I think Brooks is selling people short by writing that "there just isn't much most ordinary people should do in immediate response to events such as the Boston bombings."
There's plenty to do, as runners have shown in the week since the bombing. Within hours of the blasts, people all over the world were lacing up their running shoes and going outside to run. It's a simple, selfish act. Some did it to clear their heads. Others to process what had just happened to fellow runners and those cheering them on. I did it because I felt like I just needed to do something. And I feel all the more compelled to keep training because of inspirational stories like those of Adrianne Haslet-Davis, a dance instructor who lost her foot in the bombing but vows to dance and run again.
On their own, none of these runs means much. But when people started sharing their stories on Twitter with the hashtag #runforboston, they took on a greater significance. The collective runs started to feel like a form of protest -- a global show of solidarity with victims and a middle finger to violence and its perpetrators. Some runners started raising money for charity or to help with relief efforts. Others, like Becca Obergefell, from Ohio, who started a website for people to log the miles they were running for Boston (more than 4,000 runs have been logged so far), wanted Boston's victims, some of whom were robbed of their legs and possibly their abilities to run, that the world was thinking of them.
Memorial: 'We are Boston strong'
Sutter: Why I'm running for Boston
Perhaps that's childish and naive, but I do think that matters.
That's why CNN iReport is asking runners and would-be runners to sign up to run a race -- maybe a marathon? -- as a show of solidarity with, and support for, the victims of the Boston bombing.
More than 250 people have signed up to run a race. They're from Boston, Ohio, California, Australia and Germany. Some are raising money for charity with an app called Charity Miles. Others are running because of personal connections to Boston, because they felt the bombing was an attack on runners everywhere, or because they were moved by a particular story.
"I refuse to forget what I witness," wrote Andrew Bunyard, 28, who lives near the site of the bombing in Boston. "Let's reclaim our city," wrote Karin Kenney, a 45-year-old from Massachusetts.
"I'd like to show marathon runners and those watching that I'm inspired by so many of them," wrote Jessica Pilkington, a 27-year-old who works in Boston.
"As runners, we are resilient by nature," wrote Megan Biller, 29, from Michigan.
All of them have pledged to run a race as a way to work through the tragedy.
I'd encourage you to join in. I'm going to run a marathon by next April as part of this Run for Boston project. And if you'd like to sign up, you have until May 1 to do so. All you have to do is take a picture of your sneakers and tell us a little bit about why you're running.
Then look for updates. We'll post new instructions and challenges in the weeks ahead. On the one-month anniversary of the bombing, May 15, we're going to ask iReporters to host group runs all over the country and world in honor and remembrance of those who died and were injured in Boston.
Got questions? Feel free to ask them in the comments.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of John D. Sutter.
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CNN iReport
Sharon Berger Cooper, 40, from Parkland, Florida, said the tragedy in Boston made her more grateful for her health and ability to run.
Lauren Germaine, 33, lives in North Carolina but calls Boston home. She hopes to run the marathon there next year.
Kylee Seibert, 27, from Bowling Green, Ohio, says she was inspired by "people running towards the scene" after the blasts in Boston.
Rosalind Cohen-Baruch, 44, from San Francisco, started running to lose weight and feel better about herself. She's running for people who have had that feeling taken away.
Cheering spectators are the only reason Ezra Gonzales-Müller, 35, from Germany, says he can finish a race. "I am devastated that they were targeted," she says. "My heart weeps."
Sean Houston, a CNN employee in Atlanta, says people who helped victims in Boston "remind us of the best of America."
"The bombings reminded me that I have a gift. I have my legs," says Catina Culshaw, 39, from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.
Mark Giannetti, 23, lives near the site of the bombing. "I've been running every day to try and keep my mind clear," he says, "which doesn't quite work."
Jenifer Jagielski, 45, from Sydney, who broke her foot running, says the sport is great because it lets friends and family members share ups and downs together.
Deborah Kara, 26, who lives in Saudi Arabia, says Boston's victims "deserve our full support and cheering."
"I never thought I would say this, but I am going to run that marathon next year," said Karin Kenney, 45, of Massachusetts.
Texan Jennifer Kirkpatrick, 41, plans to run the Dallas Marathon.
Joseph Larramendia, 24, from New Jersey, wants to run to demonstrate how "strong and resilient" Americans are.
John Mulholland, a 42-year-old in Illinois, started a 
Becca Obergefell, 26, from Ohio, 
Beatriz Orozco, 28, from California, likes running for its sense of community -- and because she only has to compete with herself.
"I'd like to show marathon runners and those watching that I'm inspired by so many of them," said Jessica Pilkington, a 27-year-old who works in Boston.
Mishka Shubaly, from New York, has used running as a way work through his alcohol addiction.
"I was left with a surprising anger" after the bombings, said Valerie Szwarc, 47. She wants to qualify for the Boston Marathon to show "good will always outweigh evil."
Chris Gorman, 31, is raising money for charity while he runs with Boston in mind.
Sara Jane Afshar plans to run every day until the one-year anniversary of the Boston bombing, and she's 
After watching the "completely unreal" events unfold in Boston, New York resident and Boston native Jainen Thayer decided to run "to begin to heal."
Jenny Van Buren, 43, from Ohio, said the Boston bombing only "makes me want to run farther!"
"I run for the support, the spectators and the victims of Boston," said Jennifer Wood, 34, from Syracuse, New York.
"As runners, we are resilient by nature," said Megan Biller, a 29-year-old in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Victoria Bushmire, a 29-year-old in Pittsburgh, says runners all over the world feel Boston's pain.
Katherine Lee, a 52-year-old from Missouri, and her daughter have been to the Boston Marathon before. They're running with Boston "on our minds and in our hearts."
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