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1977 Boston Marathon Race Report! (Read 216 times)


King of PhotoShop

    When looking up long past Bostons, I found there wasn't much information out there.  You can find out who won, or the highlights for some years, such as Duel in the Sun, or the year Rosie ran, but not very comprehensive data. So here I told the story of my first marathon, 1977 at Boston.

     

    http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/run-the-1977-boston-marathon-with-me.html/

     

    Although i ran with someone else's bib, there wasn't the degree of social opprobrium associated with running with someone else's number as there is today.  I'm posting this in the odd event there is someone else out there who ran this same year.  Jerome Drayton, a Canadian, won the race, and I recall the big story at the time is that he wore sunglasses all through the race. Who ever thought of that!  Now everyone wears them.  Spareribs

    kcam


      Good story and good luck this year!


      Mmmmm...beer

        Great story, thanks.  That's funny about the sunglasses, I can't run without 'em if the sun is out.

        -Dave

        My running blog

        Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!

        bhearn


          Wow, great story!

            Thats a cool story.  I had no idea about the buses + cars with support along the race, but I assume there were no "water tables" along the course for refreshment...

             

            Buses that will pick up folks for part of the race... Hmm, only folks that still do that are modern day R-N-R Marathons. Smile

            The Plan '15 →   ///    "Run Hard, Live Easy."   ∞

            spinach



              Although i ran with someone else's bib, there wasn't the degree of social opprobrium associated with running with someone else's number as there is today.  I'm posting this in the odd event there is someone else out there who ran this same year.

               

              The odd event has happened.  I was there, I ran it as a bandit when I was a college student in upstate New York.  Thanks for helping to bring back some memories from the race.  They definitely didn't have concern about bandits back then as i was able to take the bus from Boston to Hopkinton and was able to spend some time in the school waiting for the race to start.  It was quite an experience, a lot more fun back then than it was when I ran it a few years ago.

                Spareribs,

                A couple weeks ago, you mentioned my gym running partern (Rob Clark) in your blog ("Why Runners Like Tacos").  I saw your Facebook post to him, saw the promise of the blog post, and then saw your blog the next day.

                I'm guessing you're new to RunningAhead!

                Welcome aboard!

                Best wishes next week in Boston.

                Cheers,

                Brian

                Life Goals:

                #1: Do what I can do

                #2: Enjoy life

                 

                 


                an amazing likeness

                  I'm guessing you're new to RunningAhead!

                  Welcome aboard!

                  Best wishes next week in Boston.

                  Cheers,

                  Brian

                   

                  On the contrary, Mr SpareRibs is a long time RA participant. You can catch him most days in the Masters group.

                  Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                     

                    On the contrary, Mr SpareRibs is a long time RA participant. You can catch him most days in the Masters group.

                     

                    I don't recall his posts before.  Thanks for correcting me.

                    Life Goals:

                    #1: Do what I can do

                    #2: Enjoy life

                     

                     


                    King of PhotoShop

                      KerCan, the Clarks are a great couple.  I met his wife Charisma first when she worked at Starbucks in Coppell, while she was in nursing school, then met Rob at a Half. They have both improved dramatically and are super people, so I am a big fan.  If you see me at a local race, please say hello, and tell Rob I said hi.  I think he just won his division at Rock n Roll.

                       

                      Spinach, that is great to see!  I went to SUNY Albany, then Marist. Where did you go to school?

                       

                      I try to keep the blog posts short but this one ran a bit long.  I wanted to really milk the whole comedy of running my heart out to catch that freaking bus, as i neared it 3 or 4 times but then they would yell at me and pull away. Believe me, it wasn't funny at the time.  Those cadets were great kids.  West Point gave me a box lunch for the bus ride to Boston and got me a hotel room too.  Classy.

                       

                      And yes, I'm usually over on the Masters forum.  I'll be 67 this year.  Spareribs

                      spinach


                        I went to Colgate but I didn't run competitively on the team there.  I ran Boston twice as a bandit, in 1977 and 1978.  1977 didn't go very well for me there, i don't remember how long it took me but it was a lot.  1978 went a lot better and if I were official and if they had chips back then it would have been my PR.  It took me about 20 minutes to cross the starting line and I crossed the finish line at around 3:10.  I then took 26 years off from marathons.  When I resumed running I wanted to atone for banditing Boston and was very glad that my time in my next marathon 3:07 was good enough to qualify in the open category at Boston, so I registered and ran Boston officially again in 2005.

                        wcrunner2


                        Are we there, yet?

                          For those of you more interested in race reports from olden times, I invite you to peruse old copies of Long Distance Log posted on the RRCA site. Links to various decades are at the very bottom of the page. the print isn't great on a lot but they're great reading if you want to reminisce or are curious about that era.

                           2024 Races:

                                03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                                05/11 - D3 50K
                                05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                                06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

                           

                           

                               

                          wcrunner2


                          Are we there, yet?

                            Here's a video of the 1971 Boston Marathon, my second Boston. I'm visible, beard and all, at about the 2:16-2:18 mark as the camera pans the starting line.

                             2024 Races:

                                  03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                                  05/11 - D3 50K
                                  05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                                  06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

                             

                             

                                 


                            King of PhotoShop

                              Thank you so much WC, and Spinach, thank you also.  Great idea for the "atonement."

                               

                              I can't find the stats, but if memory serves me well, there were only about 3,500 runners back in '77.  in '79 I had finally qualified and broke 3 there for the first and only time at Boston, and I was a middle of the packer.  Runners were pretty tough then.

                               

                              I have just one more recollection which at the time pissed me off, but I look back on it now and always laugh.  You know when you go by Boston University you are on a downhill. I forget the mile mark, let's say it's 22 or so.  So these guys are all out there on their lawn with kegs and stuff and their dates, and as I'm plodding along this guy says to his date, "Let's go inside. At this point it's just all the assholes."  Made me feel just super.  Spareribs

                              spinach


                                I have just one more recollection which at the time pissed me off, but I look back on it now and always laugh.  You know when you go by Boston University you are on a downhill. I forget the mile mark, let's say it's 22 or so.  So these guys are all out there on their lawn with kegs and stuff and their dates, and as I'm plodding along this guy says to his date, "Let's go inside. At this point it's just all the assholes."  Made me feel just super.  Spareribs

                                 

                                I liked going past BU.  I was wearing  a Colgate singlet and the guys there were all ready to cheer on a college student and they gave me a beer.  It was well appreciated.

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