Boston Marathon - RunMarathon

I fought hard in the first mile to hold back and stay slow since it's a steep downhill. I picked up the pace a bit on mile 2 and had a few quick miles. I started in my ear warmers, gloves, and a long sleeve T. I threw away the T at mile 2 and the gloves and ear warmers at 3. I settled into a 7:25-30 pace around mile 5 and planned on trying to stay there through the half. Everything felt pretty good here as I had completed the majority of the downhill and was heading to the flattest section of the course. I was satisfied that I had maintained a good yet cautious pace saving some for the harder second half.
1 - 7:46
2 - 7:11
3 - 7:19
4 - 7:11
5 - 7:30
6 - 7:25

Continuing on the flat section of the course I maintained my pace with no real struggle. I did start to feel a little twinge in my right achilles around mile 8 which concerned me a little but I just tried to block it out. Some of the best crowds were through this section, specifically Framingham and of course Wellesley College right before half way. About a mile from the school you could hear this swell of cheering, sounded like Fenway full of girls! As I ran through the girls were screaming holding "Kiss Me" signs. Some guys stopped but I kept going just high-fiving the girls as I ran by. I clocked a 1:37:00 at the half which I was somewhat pleased with. I knew the chances of going 1:33:59 on the back and BQing were not good but I felt like a 1:37:59 to break 3:15 was still doable. The achillis was starting to get worse.
7 - 7:24
8 - 7:34
9 - 7:25
10 - 7:27
11 - 7:24
12 - 7:22
13 - 7:15

After a strong mile 14 and decent 15 I started to struggle a little around 16 even though it was mostly downhill. My legs were beginning to get heavy and I knew maintaining the pace would be tough. After clocking a slow 17 I turned right at the fire station in Newton and the real “fun” began, the Newton Hills. At this point I knew 3:10 was out of the question and 3:15 would be tough but I figured I had 3:20 easy. I think I underestimated how tough they would be at this section of the course and my endurance just wasn’t there to speed through them. Powell was supposed to jump in here but he didn’t show which I assumed was because of the crowds. Had my first 8 min+ mile at 20 and was about to hit Heartbreak Hill.
14 - 7:26
15 - 7:38
16 - 7:32
17 - 7:59
18 - 7:52
19 - 7:47
20 - 8:02

Powell joined me at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill. He got delayed on the train and had to get off earlier. The hill wasn’t as bad as I thought and the downhill after was a welcome break and helped me speed up a little. After that I was pretty wiped. I remember faintly running by the graveyard, fitting for this part of the course, and I remember large crowds around what I assumed to be Boston College, although I was too out of it to notice any of the campus. I was struggling to stay just under an 8 min pace and the right achillis was really hurting at this point, as were my quads and hamstrings. I saw the Citgo sign way off which I knew meant there was 1 mile left, although it didn’t seem to get closer. I finally reached it and realized I needed a sub 8 mile to get under 3:20. I remember turning onto Boyleston and seeing the finish 600 yards away and thinking the crowd was not as loud as I expected. Powell said it was crazy so I assume I was just wiped. I crossed the finish just ahead of 3:20 and raised my hands.
21 - 8:18
22 - 7:38
23 - 8:08
24 - 7:55
25 - 7:50
26 - 7:49

2 - 1:42

5k Splits
5k- 23:00
10k - 22:56
15k - 23:11
20k - 22:59
25k - 23:17
30k - 24:17
35k - 24:40
40k - 24:45

I feel like I ran a pretty good race. I think I could have gone a little bit faster on the front and possibly checked out the Newton hills before the race so I would have known what to expect.

Walk through to get blanket, return chip, and get my medal. Bag check was a mess so there was a lot of standing around. Met up with everyone and walked a few blocks to eat lunch and grab a few beers at Cheers.


The things I would change are related more to training; specifically more cycling and strength training which I think would have helped with my endurance and speed on the second half hills. I also could use to be a little more flexible, that probably would have alleviated the achilis issues.


This race is everything I thought it would be from the organization, the expo, the crowd participation, and the experience itself. I hope I can requalify in the fall and get back next year.