Boston Marathon Fun Run Report
Rather than focus on paces and times, I'm going to focus on experiences. I haven't been training -- rehabbing an ankle injury that I've not been rehabbing enough for almost a year now. So there was no PR in the cards, and honestly I thought 4 hours would be tough given my current fitness. So the only way to not be miserable this race was to throw pace and time out the window, and just enjoy it.
Which I did.
Memories, in race order:
Hopkinton, right after the start, with families out on their lawns, bbqing, drinking, and cheering-on the runners on a very small scale. These people can't leave their house for ~3-4 hours on Patriot's Day, and embrace it.
Ashland, this is where the crowds got more dense. I was desperate to see the statue of Spencer, the official dog of the Boston Marathon, who always greeted runners and famously carried the "Boston Strong" sign after the bombings. He unfortunately passed away, but has had a statue erected in his honour, and other goldens now congregate there on race day. Apparently on Mile 3, and I searched for them, with no luck. The crowds were dense and they must have been hidden. This proved to be my only (minor) disappointment of the day.
I was running in a group/corral that had qualified at my time (3:13), but much faster than my current fitness. I ran comfortably, but at a pace I knew wasn't sustainable. I started to feel the fatigue around 15K, and set a goal to run to the halfway point, and then walk/run from there (which I did).
The towns up to the halfway point saw increased spectator participation, with business signs cheering-on runners.
Then I started to hear the scream tunnel. Oh my. Got to the "Wellesley" town sign and knew what was coming. And it didn't disappoint. It felt like the girls lined the course for a good 500 meters. And they were loud. So loud. Great signs (I posted a video on Strava). I couldn't help but think "how do they scream for 2-3 hours???". I ran about halfway through the "tunnel" and felt like I just had to turn on my phone and record it. So what I recorded was less than half of the experience. It was the loudest cheering I had heard on any race I have run.
But it would be eclipsed later in the race.
Each town got more and more loud on the route. There was one section (between the Wellesley and Netwon, IIRC) which had just huge crowds. Cheering nonstop. Still so amazing to me. Cheering for even 5 minutes feels like work, and these people were doing it for hours?! It was so loud I actually had to clap to "thank" them for being so awesome. Which made them cheer even louder!
One challenge is that after the halfway point, I tried to take opportunities to walk to keep it me in the right spirits. But it felt so terrible to walk while a few dozen people are feet away from you cheering you on. But that got me running more! For future walks I was more strategic and tried to place the walks during lulls in the crowd.
Heartbreak Hill. Heard lots about this going into the race. And I told my wife that I one goal for the race (other than "having fun"): Run the entirety of Heartbreak Hill. It was a grind at that point in the race, but I did it. Once again, the crowd concentrated themselves on the climb (and thinned at the crest) to motivate the runners. I had heard somewhere that the BC students might have beer at the top of the hill for runners (which I had planned to partake in, if given the option), but no such luck. Either way, it felt like an achievement for me to run the hill.
Brookline. My cousin and his wife live in Brookline, less than a half mile from the course. My wife and I had dinner with them the night before the race, and while my cousin was traveling race day, my cousin's wife said she'd be cheering-on the runners and would look for me. Which felt like a good plan, until I saw the crowds of Brookline. There were so many people I was afraid I wouldn't find her.
At one point in Brookline, where I thought she would be, I heard a group of guys yelling "GO BRIAN, KILL IT BRIAN, YOU'RE DOING AWESOME BRIAN!", looking at
me, not some other random "Brian". But my name wasn't on my bib. Took me a second but I could see them looking on a tablet, which I surmised they were using to look up names from bib numbers. But the energy with which they were cheering me -- putting some real oomph into it. Immediately put a smile on my face and kept me running.
After having gone far enough to think I had missed my cousin's wife, I slowed to a walk for a break, and to mess with my handheld which was annoying me. Got it sorted, got back to running, and seconds later I hear a "GO BRIAN!!!!!" and there she was! Recording a video of me, and her neighbours and her were cheering me on. So awesome. Once again, automatically put a smile back on my face.
Which seemed to be a theme of the day -- cheering crowds making me smile involuntarily. How great is that?
Now from Brookline to Boston, the crescendo started. I didn't think the energy could get any higher (way above anything else I had ever experienced before -- not even close), but it just kept getting louder. And louder, and louder.
Right on Hereford. And then left on Boylston.
Oh my. Something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Crowds were packed, right from the street to the buildings behind them (my wife was refused entry because of crowding). I could see the finish down the street in the distance. I was running dead-center on Boylston, and the noise was deafening. I couldn't help but run, and run faster. I was smiling ear-to-ear. And continued to run right down the centerline, with a good 5 meters of space all around me to myself (this is also the most dense marathon -- runner wise -- I have run). Just soaking it in. It was the most incredible 2 minutes of running of my life. I feel like I can't find words to describe it. A thought crossed my mind, from
@SteelCurtain's world major reviews on Strava, about Boston being a little "meh" compared to NYC and London. "HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THIS EXPERIENCE IS "MEH"???", I thought.
I crossed the finish line, got a water, and my medal. Which felt really special -- like the end of a journey -- running once a week, my first 10K, my first HM, my first marathon, qualifying for Boston (never really even thought possible by me), and now finishing Boston, with a medal around my neck.
Made my way through the gauntlet, found my wife, she helped me back to the hotel room, and everything was there ready for me. Snacks, water, towel and shower ready to go, and fresh clothes. She got me into the shower where I soaked my (not ready for a marathon) sore body and then sat down to process the experience.
Afterward,
@SteelCurtain texted to say that "today was really really really special", and that "Boylston is the best finish of all the majors", and now that squared my circle of confusion. The beautiful weather of the day (for spectating -- a little warm for running) created an exceptional crowd, including at the finish.
I normally hold off a day or two to write my race reports, but I wanted to get pen to paper while the memories were the most fresh. Even now, I fear I have left off and forgotten a half-dozen experiences which would have likely individually ranked as my highlight of any other race.
Awesome awesome awesome.