Pron8r at Boston (Read 558 times)

Here is my watered-down version of Boston: It was a dark and stormy night. In the distance, a dog barked. Ok, so maybe a dog didn’t bark. But, it was a dark and stormy night. About 3 in the morning the rain was really coming down, and there were some strong winds. How did I know what the weather was like at 3am? Because our room, on the 21st floor of the Marriott, had a leaky window. I woke up to a constant drip, drip, drip, and didn’t get much sleep after that. No matter. I don’t sleep a great deal the night before a marathon anyway. At 7:00, we’re out the door of the hotel and headed to the busses. That, really, was the windiest and wettest part of the day. In fact, we hit some windy spots that literally tore my friend's cheap, Micky Mouse rain cover (purchased on a trip to Disneyland) in half. I told him he looked Goofy in it anyway. I really wanted to take an earlier bus, but I let my running partners talk me out of it. This was both good news and bad news. Good? Well, we stayed in the hotel a little longer, and didn’t have to wait around as long in Hopkinton for the race to start. Bad? The two of us in the first wave didn’t have time to wait around as long in Hopkinton. We got off the bus, headed straight for the POP’s (which had run out of TP by this time ), out of the POPs and headed immediately to the starting corrals. We never even saw the village--or the village people. The weather was, of course, what it was. As has been mentioned by others, it wasn’t that bad. However, you really didn’t know what might be coming later in the race. So, I started with running tights, a cold-weather running shirt, a light jacket on top of that, and a light rain jacket on top of that. The weather did improve as we went along, and I seriously thought (several times) about tossing the rain jacket. However, I knew if I did, it would surely start raining the second half of the race, and/or the winds would pick up when we hit the Newton hills and head more easterly. So, other than just being able to zip up/down, I was overdressed for the day. I didn’t have a specific time goal for Boston, just to run and have a good (enjoyable) time. I hit the halfway point in about 1:44, which was faster that I really wanted. For some reason, the second half wore me out. No excuses (yeah—the sun got in my eyes…), I just wasn’t as ready for the race as I should have been. My legs were tired, and I was tired. Also, I had the worst leg cramps I’ve had in a long time. And I was dying of thirst from about mile 18 to the finish. Normally, I just take a little Gatorade at every other aid station. On this day, I was drinking two cups of water at nearly every station after 18. Somebody said it was because I had crab the night before (you know about crab—that traditional pre-race pasta treat), and crab is very salty. Maybe. I don’t know. At any rate, my time was about a minute slower than last year, but I really enjoyed myself. And, the guy in the pink tutu beat me again this year . BTW--One of our running group stopped at a medical aid tent to get some ibuprofen--which they gave him. However, because it came in a plastic packet, and his fingers were cold, he couldn't open it very easily. Seeing this, they thought he might have something else wrong, and made him stay put for 15 minutes. He was not a happy camper. Oh--I’ m glad they opened the Expo on Friday this year—it was great getting there before the main crowds packed the place. Bottom line--had a great time in Boston, and can't wait to do it again next year! Next—Ogden in four weeks.

I saw the guy in pink tutu. I think he upgraded his pink wand as it looked shinier and with more lace. Great report Don! What other marathons have you lined up for this year?

Great report Don! This was the first Boston report that I have seen for this year, well done on everything - the running and the writing. Claire xxx

Thanks for the great report, Don, and congrats!

Don: I was going to try that Ogdon marathon, but the timing didn't work out for 2 of my friends so we are waiting till October. Thanks for the race report...almost makes me want to try and qualify...put that on my to do list.