GPS had me running this course @8:49 pace, since it measured the distance at 26.59 miles. That would make some degree of sense, since with all the runners you had to basically follow the roads however they went, and not run from point to point to get the course closer to its 26.2. So from the point of view of my GPS I ran the first half @8:34 pace, the second half @9:04 pace. Yeah, my quads were pretty much blown out by the 2nd half of the race. My goal was to go out at a comfortable pace, and settled in quickly to around 8:45 for the first steep downhill mile out of Hopkington. By the 10k point my pace was down to 8:26/mile, but even then I knew this was not going to be a great race time-wise for me. My pre-race planning DID work out fairly well, in that I had mentally divided the course up into segments, and had specific plans on how to run each segment, but execution was a little lacking due to the quad overload. When I crested Heartbreak Hill at mile 21 they were burning so bad that, despite proper fueling throughout the race, I just had no ability to pick up my pace. Despite all that, still very pleased with my result, in that I qualified for Boston 2016 by over 15 minutes in my age group (65-69). I also saw somewhere that the average time in my age group was something in the 4:20s, so coming in under 3:55 I thought quite an accomplishment. Despite not hitting my goal time anywhere near close, I'm still rating this a good run result.

Try to run this when I'm younger. My time equates pretty well on an age-adjusted basis.

As per the usual after a marathon, hobbled around as best I could. My great support staff, wife and in-laws, had already found me a warm place for me to change, so post-race shivering from the rain and cold was kept to a bare minimum.


Not enough downhill training!!


It's the BOSTON MARATHON. Lived up to its billing. I'll be back!