Notes
Split time of day time diff min/mile miles/h
5K 10:18:32AM 0:18:24 18:24 5:55 10.14
10K 10:37:02AM 0:36:53 18:29 5:58 10.08
15K 10:55:31AM 0:55:23 18:30 5:58 10.08
20K 11:14:00AM 1:13:52 18:29 5:57 10.09
HALF 11:18:01AM 1:17:53 4:01 5:54 10.18
25K 11:32:31AM 1:32:22 14:29 5:59 10.04
30K 11:51:20AM 1:51:12 18:50 6:04 9.9
35K 12:10:17PM 2:10:09 18:57 6:06 9.84
40K 12:29:13PM 2:29:05 18:56 6:06 9.85
Finish Net 12:37:27PM 2:37:19 8:14 6:03 9.94
I’ve really been struggling what to put in the race recap today in light of Monday’s attack. How do you find the right balance in reflecting on a day of running, something that is trivial in comparison to individuals who have been killed or those who have been significantly wounded? Looking at some of these aftermath pictures online is just horrifying as they present the attack in a brand new light from what was shown on tv. The idea of adding a race recap here is not to diminish those victimized or to be insensitive to those who’s days ended in tragedy. Rather, it’s important to also remember all aspects of the day, both negative and positive. To ignore the accomplishments would further take away the meaning of the day.
Monday started off as a day full of hope and great expectations for so many runners, families, spectators, and volunteers. Many were reaching for personal bests, the goal of just completing a marathon, cheering on a family member, or being a key component of helping the day run smoothly for everyone. It seemed like a perfect day out in Hopkinton and continued through on the way into Boston, it’s terrible that it had to be ruined by someone looking to harm others.
The 2013 Boston Marathon was a milestone for me. I grew up in the Boston area and watched the marathon on tv every year as a kid. I always dreamed of running the Boston Marathon. Although I did track in high school (with mediocre to above average results), I was never in a position where I thought I would qualify for Boston. Back in 2007, I met my future wife and learned that her brother and friend had run Bay State / Hartford marathons years earlier. Being slightly competitive, I decided that I could finally throw down the gauntlet and run a marathon. At this point, I hadn’t really run much in the previous 7 years other than maybe a handful of 5K’s that I may have run off of 2 weeks of training. I signed up for and ran the Hartford Marathon that fall of 2007, probably on 30 miles per week over an 8 week training cycle and didn’t even know what to expect. I ended up running 3:17, which to me was kick-ass as I figured I would be somewhere above 3:30. Unfortunately I killed my form over the last 5 miles of the race (I hit the wall hard) and whatever stride I created for the last stretch left my knee and foot in pretty bad pain. Any attempts to run over the following two weeks were met with sharp pains, and I elected to stop running for the winter.
Over the next couple of years, I would be off / on with running, maybe putting in a month or two of 3 days a week of running, followed by another half year of laziness. Finally in 2011 my brother called me up to say he was doing a Warrior Dash in his hometown of Amesbury with his brother in law and wanted to see if I wanted to join. I figured this would be a good opportunity to start running again so I started to run 3 days a week averaging 3 to maybe 7 miles at a time. I remember struggling to keep 7:45 – 8:00 paces on many of these runs. By June, with a month to go before the “Dash”, I decided to commit to running and reached out to SRR to join the track workouts. Not being the outgoing extrovert, I didn’t know anyone, but quickly found groups at my then pace to jump in for the workouts. SRR is definitely a very welcoming crowd. By late July / August, Tom Breider convinced me to sign up for Bay State marathon, which I hadn’t even considered running another marathon at this point. I figured this was as good chance as any to run a marathon again and I finally made the call to register. I started off with a goal of 3:10 (would be a 7 minute PR) and figured maybe if I were lucky, I could aim for the BQ of 3:05. Over the next couple of months I was able to improve my race times (got my 5K down to a 18:45, 10K down to a 38:00) and by the time Bay State came around, I pulled off a 3:00:04 marathon. Missing the 3:00 mark by 4 seconds didn’t even bother me, the idea that I would ever be able to qualify for Boston just blew me away. I was pumped that I managed to pull it off. I never thought in my life that I would run a 3:10 or even the stricted 3:05 qualifying time. It just seemed out of the world to be able to qualify for Boston. Unfortunately the revised Boston registration process meant that my October 2011 Bay State Marathon time would not get me into the Boston marathon until April 2013. As it turns out, I missed out on the 90 degree scorcher in 2012 as a result.
Over the next year and a half, I ran two more marathons being able to drop my qualifying time further. Two years ago, I never would have imagined hitting any of the PRs that I am hitting now, nevermind going sub 2:40 in a marathon. I guess it doesn’t matter where you plateau, just keep pushing and you’ll probably amaze yourself at where you end up. Without a doubt, SRR is what helped get me to where I am. I thought Jon May was crazy at the Andover x-country race when he told me that I could pull off a 2:45 marathon one day. At that time, I had only just done the PR of the 3:00 flat.
April 15, 2013 was my first chance to run the Boston Marathon. A concept that seemed so foreign for me to qualfy for growing up and so out of reach was finally here. I took the SRR bus out to Hopkinton, spending most of the morning with Culla, Simon, Kieran, and a few others enjoying the pre-race camaraderie and the mild sunny temperatures. Surprisingly out of every marathon so far, I felt the most relaxed this morning despite the early alarm to catch the bus.
The walk to the starting corral definitely got me more and more pumped for the race. Interestingly enough, we all talked about how organized the race was with bags everywhere for discarded clothing and trash. Now the thoughts of discarded items seems like it would be a challenge going forward, which is a shame.
After departing from Culla and Simon, wove my way up towards maybe 5 rows back in corral 1. Just an amazing feeling standing there. It was a long winter of training. I was able to get at least 6 weeks of 80+ miles, fighting through freezing cold and whatever precipitation mother nature threw at us. As an accountant, January and February are just miserable times for me, where I basically was working 7 days a week with Monday – Thursday getting home anywhere from 9:30 – 11:00 at night. Basically it would be a 5 AM wake up call, morning run, shower, work, then home to bed. Just exhausting. Training for Boston is tough enough with the weather, work just compounds the struggle that much more. Monday was now my chance to see the results of these cold / tired training runs.
I was a little nervous now, as I usually am before every race, but at the same time excited for the race to begin. Everyone warned about going out too fast for this race, so I decided that I shouldn’t worry about having people blow by me during the start of the race, if I run smart, I can pick up the ground later. My goal for today was to run 6:00 miles. An arbitrary goal, but easy to do the math and not overly aggressive based off the pace charts. It was my first Boston and I didn’t want to blow up by being too aggressive. As it turns out, I still managed to let adrenaline get the best of me during the opening miles averaging a 5:55 pace over the first 5K. I wasnt paying much attention to pace except to ensure I wasnt going completely out of control. Instead I was just following the pack of runners that seemed to be around my pace.
The crowds out on the course were just amazing, mile after mile. Most of my training runs were on the latter part of the course, but the last two years I took part in the marathon course training run, so I at least had some idea of what to expect on this part of the route. I locked into pace and spent most of the timing enjoying the crowds and scenery while the miles just seemed to tick off. Just before the halfway point, I passed my parents in Wellesley and got a burst of energy. Around mile 15, I passed some coworkers going down the final hills of Wellesley. I could now start to feel the wear of the marathon beginning to build. I knew the next 11 miles were not going to come easy.
As expected, the climb over Route 95 felt tough. I knew however that Liz would be waiting for me just around Newton Wellesley Hospital, so having that motivation helped keep me pushing just a little further. Crowds during this stretch just by 95 were amazing and once again got another burst from passing Liz. Next goal was to make it to the 30K mark to see the SRR crew. Before that, the hill past the firehouse sapped another bunch of energy. At this point, I don’t think I was able to average sub 6:00 pace for any remaining 5K stretch. The hills didn’t destroy me, but I definitely fell several seconds off pace. I didn’t have anyone pull away from me which was a good sign though.
I don’t know what to say about the SRR water stop other than the fact that they put every other crowd to shame on the course. They were LOUD and once again gave me a much needed burst. Having them give up their morning to cheer us on the course was just amazing and they went all out for us. I picked up my stashed water / shot bloks and prepped for the next round of hills. From the firehouse on is a stretch that we trained on quite a bit, so I knew what was to come ahead. My goal was to be strong on the hills (note I don’t mean be stupid and attack them recklessly) and be stronger on the backsides of the hills. Again, I made up ground going up the hills, but my energy was becoming more and more sapped.
By the top of heartbreak, I knew the worst hills had been conquered, but there’s still 5 miles to go plus a few more elevation gains to go up. Passing BC, I knew it would only be another mile before I come up to my brother (it was great having support spread throughout the course, it really gave me something to push towards). However as I passed the cemetery, I began to feel my legs begin to cramp up. I had tried to get the right balance of shot bloks and gatorades, but must not have gotten enough into my system. I was careful with my form and not to go too hard so that I resort to walking. I knew it was going to be a thin line the rest of the race.
Making the turn towards Chestnut Hill Ave, I took the hill conservatively and knew that I still have 4+ miles to survive. Found my brother turning onto Beacon and just felt burned by this point. I knew I was in survival mode now and the focus was not to give up any more of my pace. The Citgo sign just seemed to taunt me off in the distance. I eventually came across the sidewalk that destroyed my knee on March 9th just past the 24 mile mark. I acknowledged the spot and glanced at my knee, knowing I was lucky to escape merely bruised (albeit it was pretty nasty at the time and still not fully healed). I was nervous the days after it happened hoping that my marathon dreams weren’t shot for this season. The rest of the race just felt like a blur. I made the climb up towards Kenmore and while the crowds were great, I felt like hell. Each clock on the road was just another round of math in my head to figure out what would be possible at this point. I figured anything less than 2:37 would be a challenge given my condition and I just didn’t want to give up on keeping my 6:00 overall pace.
The stretch on Comm Ave from Kenmore to Hereford just seemed to fly by, despite the climb coming back up from the Mass Ave underpass. Turning onto Hereford, I knew the finish was in striking distance and I could hopefully manage enough energy to coast in the rest of the way. My legs were still on the verge of cramping and I didn’t want to tempt fate too much such that I would have to resort to walking. Turning onto Boylston, I knew it was just one last straightway. What I didn’t expect was for this stretch to seem so far away. The finish line just seemed to linger in the distance forever. I felt like I was running in quicksand as the finish line approached. Finally, at 2:37:19, I crossed the finish line. It was a mix of emotions, joy in finally running my first Boston Marathon and once again pumped that I was able to hang on for another PR. I hung around the finish line for a few minutes, seeing Alex White, Joe Navas, Pickleseimer and a few other locals finish their races. Alex and I made our way through the finishing chute, while Alex continued to play up the crowd with enough energy that he could have run a few more miles.
It was a lot of fun wandering through the finishing chutes, just taking everything in and talking to friends who also finished. I was pretty sore by this point, so I did something new and opted for the post-race massage. Went up to the SRR hotel room at the Park Plaza a few minutes later and saw the rest of the crew that had finished. Hung out for a few, showered, then went downstairs to MJ O’Connors with Liz and met up with my brother. Told Culla to meet us down there.
Not sure how much later it was, but after feeling a nice high from a PR marathon, especially being Boston, Liz pointed me to the tv behind me which had the headline of explosions in Boston. We quickly realized the camera was now on the finish line, which had zero runners coming through. This was a time that it should be packed with runners completing their 26.2 miles. Couldn’t get a hold of anyone on my phone. Finally Culla came down, then later Tim/Erin/Anthony.
Wont forget this day for a long time. So many positives (first Boston, PR, amazing crowd support, amazing volunteers, seeing friends finish their marathons) were unfortunately overshadowed by an attack on our city. Luckily those that I know were found to be safe, but still devastating to hear about those who weren’t as lucky.