Boston Marathon - RunMarathon

WOW! What a race! The atmosphere, the energy, the ppl! It is an incredible locale, the ppl are just amazing, and I have to admit this is one of the best, if not THE best, races I've ever done!

Boston is a celebration of accomplishment. You've qualified, you're there, now it's time for the icing on the cake.

As you line up in your corral, everyone starts to talk about how they're going to race...Easy at the start, pick it up before the hills, easy hills, pick it up during the last 6 miles...I could hear ppl talking and talking and talking.

When the race started, I just started to run easy. Surprisingly, easy was a 6:20 to 6:30 pace. It almost felt as though you were being pulled along with a current. Almost like a river swim! No effort and you're smoking fast!

The crowd support throughout these miles was amazing. All throughout the course, ppl were lined up along the roads, cheering you on. Honestly, you feel like a rock star out there. The adrenaline would stop pumping after you left one particularly loud and boisterous section (college kids being college kids) and you'd happen on another!

I think I passed the Hoyts around this time, too. I can't be sure, though, as I don't remember, but I was really proud of them for being out there. Everyone was patting them on the back and yelling at them to keep it going. Amazing ppl.

At Mile 13 or so, you start to hear the Girls of Wellesly. HA! They are one loud group! All the guys around me would start to get excited. I saw one guy comb his hair with his hands, and one guy had a piece of gum he stuck in his mouth.

We came upon a small group of girls and I thought, "They're the ones making all taht noise?" I was kind of disappointed. They were loud, but I didn't think there was enough of them to actually be heard from that far away.

Then, you hit the main group. OMG! College girls galore, holding up signs, pom poms, screaming, yelling, jumping up and down....all begging for kisses from the runners. I saw every sign you can think of, from "KISS ME, I'M SVEDISH" to "KISS ME, I'M FLEXIBLE" to "KISS ME, I'M EASY"...The signs were endless! These girls were reaching for runners, trying to kiss them. I just veered off to the middle of the road so that I wouldn't be tempted to get caught and do any kissing. It was so tough, but I thought about that ring on my finger and then it got easy.

The struggle began a little after mile 18...the start of the Newton Hills. By that time, I'd hit the limit of my training. My legs were starting to fatigue somewhat, but the worst part was the bottom of my feet. I really worried I was going to end up with PF after this race. My feet were MISERABLE. The hills were not so bad...until you crested...then you had to run down them. That was a new pain I had not experienced before.

The hills came, then went. My left IT band started to get tight and I knew I was really close to the end of my fitness. I stopped a few times at mile 21 to stretch out my IT band, especially b/c i was starting to feel physical pain closer to my knee. That's something to look at and address this season. As of the time I wrote this report, IT bands were fine, with no pain, but I need to really tackle them.

The worst part of the entire run was upon cresting the last Newton Hill, at mile 21. MY lack of miles was VERY evident by this time and I was just in survival mode...My feet hurt (no achilles pain, though), my quads ached, my hammys wanted to cramp. I just kept thinking, "it's all downhill now" and kept at it. I stopped a few times to stretch out my IT band and instantly I'd be surrounded by parts of the crowd. They'd offer encouragement, telling me motivating things to keep me going. I gave them high 5s as I left and kept at it.

The last mile was the longest mile of the entire race...it was sooooo long, but the crowds were amazing! They were yelling, screaming, motivating, handing out drinks and oranges...They crowds at Boston are the best crowds I've EVER seen.

Crossed the finish line, not caring that I was getting passed left and right by ppl making the final dash to cross the line. My goal was accomplished...finish the race.

Train like I did the previous year when I BQ'd. Training for Wrightsville beach, I was averaging 200 miles a month. For Boston, I didn't even average 90 a month!

Picked up medal, some bites to eat, found wife in the "H" section, then cheered a few ppl that we knew where there.


Lack of training due to achilles tendon injury in January. Although put in a lot of time aqua jogging, it's just not the same as the actual pounding your body takes when you're on the pavement. I can't say that I enjoyed that part of my training much.


The bombings happened about 15 minutes after my wife and I left the finish. I wanted to get back to my room, shower, get dressed, and come back out and eat, drink, and cheer on the rest of the runners. Never happened. While in the shower, my wife screamed for me to come see the news. We sat in front of the TV for the next hour, watching the carnage on TV. The hotel was locked down, so we could not leave, and b/c we were right across the street from the hospital, we could see all the injured ppl getting brought there. Bomb squad, K9, police, firefighters, and media were all over the place.

We ended up hanging out with the other runners that were also stuck there, talking about the race and what had happened.

Really sad and angry about what happened there. It breaks my heart to hear and see that ppl lost loved ones, ppl lost limbs, and ppl got hurt b/c of some crazy, idiot, psychopath decided to bomb a celebration of accomplishment.

That being said, I was really proud of the city of Boston. They really stepped it up and made me think that the terrorist that was trying to instill fear really brought ppl close together to help those in need.