Boston Marathon - RunMarathon

My original goal before seeing the weather forecast was to run a 3:15. My buddy Marc had a PR on this course of 3:19 so I really wanted to beat that. I had run a 3:21 at Houston in January, and completed a 50K at the end of February. Since then I had moved more to a bike focus as I raced Ironman Texas 70.3 two weeks before this marathon. My weekly miles had dropped since the 50K mainly due to shortening my long runs to 10-15 miles but all data on my aerobic runs showed my aerobic HR was still getting better since Houston.

When it was apparent it was going to be too hot for any PR I tried to change my mindset to just run by HR and enjoy the experience. In the back of my mind though I still wanted to see if I could beat Marc's 3:19.

I found myself in the first corral one person behind toeing the line. I had been told by many Boston veterans to hold back on the first 5 miles, it is down hill and very tempting to run fast. When the gun went off I remembered this and tried to keep it slow while many blew by me. After about a half mile my Garmin said I was running 6:50 pace but my HR was still below 140. I decided to dial it back a little and chuckled to myself as many blew by me. I knew I would be seeing some of them later in the race. After five miles my Ave HR had been 142 and ave pace was 7:29. My right foot started bothering me about mile 6 the same place (balls of feet where toes come in) they did during the run during Texas 70.3. I had blamed this on the shoes I was wearing but now new it the issue was more then the shoes. I just put up with the pain and am sure my stride was adjusted a little by this. Now that I was on the flats I thought I'd really see what affect the heat would have on my pace at marathon HR. Much to my chagrin it was more of a rolling flat then Texas flat so I just adjusted pace to keep my HR just below 150. I normally run marathons in low 150's but knew the Newton hills would be tough so I wanted to save energy for them. I had stopped a few times during the first 10 miles to take photos of the crowd and walked a few water stations but was still able to keep my splits below 8:00 until mile 11. I had two more sub 8:00 splits and ended up at 1:40 for the half. With the hills coming and the apparent impact of the heat I knew Marc's PR was safe. I then decided I really didn't care about my time, I just wanted to soak in the experience. I stopped and took a lot more pictures and interacted with the crowd quite a bit. I was wearing my BEEF Team tri top and had a ton of cheers from people yelling Go BEEF. Every time I heard that I would flash them the hook-em horns. I stopped about the top of Heartbreak hill to take some pictures and a guy yelled "Come on Beef" I pointed at him and said just for you I'm going to run, and off I ran for about a half mile or so to the next aid station which I would take increasingly longer walks, each time I got a cheer I would point at the person again and say I'm going to run for you, which always got a louder cheer. The heat had taken it's toll on my and the last 5 miles which were supposed to be downhill were pretty tough, my right foot was killing me, my quads were on fire, and although I thought I was drinking enough gatorade and water I still felt very thirsty. I took longer walk beaks at the aid stations and some in between the aid stations. Stopped by Fenway park and got a spectator to take my picture in front of Fenway too. Got a picture of the turn onto Boylston and then several approaching the finish. I finished at 3:40:31 which was disappointing to me but then after pondering it a bit more became more disappointed that I didn't spend more time in the first half soaking in the atmosphere like I did in the second half.

In the end I was pretty happy after finding out my overall place. I was seeded 9572 with my qualifying time and I ended up finishing 4678.

Make a decision and stick to it before the race. You either run Boston to run it fast or you run it just to enjoy it. It has by far the best crowd of any marathon I have ever been to and next time I run it if I decide I'm just going to enjoy it I will take a real camera instead of my phone and interact more with the crowd. OR.... if I have trained as I should before hand and the weather is cool I will race it and try to beat Marc's PR.

Sat on the curb at the finish because I was feeling faint and drank a warm bottle of water and gatorade recovery drink. Saw one of my running club buddies and chatted with him a bit. Found my family then walked to Quincy Market to have celebratory beers.


88 degrees, right foot problem, not enough long runs/weekly mileage in the 6 weeks prior to the race.


My first Boston, hopefully not my last. This event truly lives up to the lore. The people of Boston treat the runners like royalty before and after the race. They are awesome spectators.