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Logistics of spectating at Boston? (Read 272 times)


Queen of 3rd Place

    Heading to Boston to cheer on a couple of friends this year, and would really like to be a friendly face in the crowd. One suggestion I've seen in a guide book is to take the Green line to a few points. However, I have also heard that the Green line is a clusterf**k on marathon Monday.

     

    I'm staying near Copley so my other option is just to park myself early near the finish and wait it out. I had family at the finish last year but I never saw anyone even though I was looking for them.

     

    Hell, maybe I should just go to a bar and meet them there.

    Ex runner


    A Saucy Wench

      I do know my friend's husband managed to spectate, run to the train, spectate, run to the train...I think he found her on the course 3-4 times, it was a clusterf**k and he was exhausted.

      I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

       

      "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

      RSX


        I do know my friend's husband managed to spectate, run to the train, spectate, run to the train...I think he found her on the course 3-4 times, it was a clusterf**k and he was exhausted.

         

        Driving and finding someone on the course 3 times would be exhausting also.

        Just B.S.


          I was there in 2010 with a group of about 30 to watch my hubby run, we hired a bus and one of our  friends who

          are tour operators were the guide/leaders. Having access to bus parking areas made getting in/out much easier.

           

          It was a perfect scenario for me. Another lady, fellow and I went out on the bus to drop off our runners (everyone

          else chose to stay in the city and then we walked to the start area. I was at the start line (literally), just kept wiggling

          my way up over about 15-20 minutes  whenever a little space would open up.  Watched most of the runners go and

          then we went back to the bus and back into downtown.

           

          Another woman and I made our way up to the block before the finish line. When we got there it was  about 10-15

          people deep with a little space at the back near the buildings that people were trying to walk thru. It took a long time

          (like 30-40 minutes) to work out way close enough to the sidewalk to see the runners because at the point no one

          was moving anyway, just waiting for the elites to come.

           

          One of our group went by himself and took the train back to the city. He managed to see his wife at one point along

          the route but I got the feeling that it was a lot of work for a few seconds of viewing.

           

          I would go with your idea of getting a spot early near the finish line. Try to get your runners to wear something you

          can easily recognize AND/OR that you have a sign that they can look for.

           

          It is a clusterf**k but a fun one!!


          Queen of 3rd Place

            Thanks, looks like the finish line early arrival is the best plan. My family members just told me that they got to the finish line just before my wave started and that it was already crowded! Wow!

            Ex runner


            Feeling the growl again

              My wife road the T out (green line?) to the farthest stop...I think it's ~16 miles...but just missed my finish.  Of course if you're not running in the 2:30s one would have more time to make it to the finish...but the more crowded train etc may balance it out.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               

                You could also go to Beacon Street before Kenmore Square (near where it crosses the Mass Pike.) It's near the 25 mile mark or just before it. That, for me, has always been a tough stretch of the race and there is usually not much of a crowd there--it's kind of a dead spot between Coolidge Corner and the mayhem that is Kenmore. There have been several times when a friendly face along that stretch would have been a huge pick-me-up. And it's a lot more likely your runner will actually see/hear you there than on Boylston by the finish.

                 

                From there you could walk/jog back roads behind Fenway back to the Copley area and probably be to the family meeting area before your runner even gets there. Just a thought.

                Runners run

                RSX


                  You could also go to Beacon Street before Kenmore Square (near where it crosses the Mass Pike.) It's near the 25 mile mark or just before it. That, for me, has always been a tough stretch of the race and there is usually not much of a crowd there--it's kind of a dead spot between Coolidge Corner and the mayhem that is Kenmore. There have been several times when a friendly face along that stretch would have been a huge pick-me-up. And it's a lot more likely your runner will actually see/hear you there than on Boylston by the finish.

                   

                  From there you could walk/jog back roads behind Fenway back to the Copley area and probably be to the family meeting area before your runner even gets there. Just a thought.

                   

                  That sounds like a great idea. The finish is such a tough spot for someone to hear or see a friend/family member

                  spinach


                     

                    That sounds like a great idea. The finish is such a tough spot for someone to hear or see a friend/family member

                     

                    However, here is a strange anecdote about the finish of Boston marathon.  When I ran it several years ago as I neared the finish I saw there was a mat that on covered about a third of the street maybe 100 feet before the finish.  I figured that mat was to give the announcer some names to read off and so I changed sides of the road so I would cross the mat and hear my name at the finish of Boston.  It wasn't a good day for me and I thought this might alleviate some of the pain.

                     

                    Well my nephew lives in New Hampshire but works in the Boston area.  He didn't know I was running the race but it seems he took advantage of the day off to visit a camera shop right near the finish area and he came out of the shop the exact moment the announcer said I finished and he was able to come over to the finish and we had a unexpected family reunion there at the finish of the Boston Marathon.