Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 573 times)

In 2019, I wore throwaway shoes for the athlete's village mud pit, but could not fit my race shoes in my designated clear bag along with the other stuff. So I had them in a separate plastic grocery bag which was not clear. I brought it on the bus and no one cared. The winner on footwear was someone I saw wearing throwaway plastic rain boots.

My logistics at Boston were very simple.  For one thing, the race started at noon back then and I lived in CT.  I drove up with my training partners and we were dropped off in Hopkinton.  Our driver met us after the finish in downtown Boston at the Prudential Center where the race finished at the time.  Hancock didn't pick up the sponsorship until the mid-80s.  We ran the race, had our post race Irish stew, then drove home.  No need for hotels, shuttle bus, drop bags (didn't even know what those were back then).  Also no elite start, no wave starts, no chip timing, no splits, and no aid stations.  And official women runners only in 1972.  No packet pick-up, just get your bib at the HS gym race day morning (bring your own safety pins in case they run out), and no runner's expo.  You all have no idea what you missed out on.  BTW you could enter as late as two weeks before the race just so long as your entry was postmarked by that day.

 

In 2018 they unofficially waived the clear bag requirement - people carried all sorts of stuff up to the start.

 

Knowing it was going to be rough in Hopkinton, and not wanting to spend too much time shopping, a friend of mine bought a wilderness survival kit.  He carried the whole thing up to the start.  It was really useful - lots of hand warmers, space blankets, snacks.  It also had a snake bite kit.

 

Thus, my strongest memory of Boston 2018 is my friend Larry offering a snake bite kit to everyone passing by our corner of a tent in Hopkinton.  Surprisingly (or maybe not), nobody could find a use for it, so we left it under the tent when we walked over to the start.

Snake venom, Hmm I never thought of trying that  Maybe that's why you're so fast!

*removes rechargeable hand warmers from Amazon cart*

a snake bit kit you say? Would some large black trash bags and duct tape be appropriate or awkward? Asking for a friend.

 

I wish I coudl read this stuff on days like today.  Such simple logistics. “Go run with your friends for a few hours then go home.”

 

did they offer participant medals that year or just top 3?

No participant medals.  It was years before any race began to give out those. Not even a t-shirt, much less jackets for sale.  I didn't get my first race t-shirt until 2 years later in my 10th marathon. That was also my first marathon which had aid stations, water, ice, and sponges only, no GUs or sports drinks.  The good old days could be rather primitive.

 

 RP- As I'm sure you can recognize many of the "restrictions" that are put in place after tragedies do almost nothing to prevent future events....they are enacted to make people "feel" safer.  Shit that's why we take our shoes off at airports and wear stupid face coverings.  Unfortunately it takes far too long to rescind these measures and often we're stuck with them in perpetuity  END OF RANT

So much this! Thankfully it's mostly just the US that requires taking shoes off.

Also thank you all for the stories about New York and Boston marathons, it just added reasons why I don't want to run either of them 😁

Steve/Keen/Piwi - I know you are proud of your Strava art. Steve is always out there drawing a nice little house. Keen is drawing large rectangles, and Piwi is out there drawing hearts for his living wife ❤️

However, you have been outdone this time - largest-strava-art-on-record-set-by-french-velociraptor

DK - I have not yet made my mind. As much as I'd love to have a face melting jet at hand for defense, it's not a practical idea until I find a safe delivery mechanism, and also because it could blow back on me. I'm doing some more research, and an internet blogger suggested a Citronela spray, which is apparently as efficient as a pepper spray, but won't have as many issues if it blows back on me, gets in my hands (and then to my eyes). I'm not sure of the legality of that, so more research is needed.

Jmac's Pet Corrector led me to consider just a simple very loud whistle, though I suppose anything that messes up with the dog's ability to smell should be useful.

Even though I really have zero care about the health of dogs, as I find the integrity of my legs more important, there does not seem to be any practical alternative other than loud noises, growling back, saying No in a decisive manner with the deepest voice I can muster, and never turn my back to the animals.

More importantly though, the fact that I never interact with friendly dogs means the only times I see a dog, I see a threat, and that's clouding my judgement quite a bit.

me - I have tested the Altra Lone Peaks today for a T workout. They suck at that pace (as compared to the Escalantes). I'm almost set to wear the Altra Escalantes for my race now, even if I may lose a few seconds here and there on the muddy parts. I feel that the muddy parts where the LonePeaks excel are very short and the Escalantes will do way better on tarmac which is most of the race.

 

And international runners who have to qualify for it!  For me I’d need to run a sub3:23 at NYC whereas with Boston I’d only need a sub3:35.

 

I found NYCM a very pleasant experience, no problem getting a subway to the ferry (stayed in Chelsea iirc) and the ferry to Staten Island was a bit of a novelty, plus the village was great and luckily it was a sunny day. London Marathon is more of a pain…but that’s probably because I commute from Brighton on the morning of the race!

 

Yeah I have the same Q time requirements for the two, you are correct NYCM times are always tougher. Although you can qualify with a half which is much easier—you only need at 1:36. But time qualifiers only take up a portion of the entries, most are via lottery (or via running NYRR events).. Are international runners not allowed to enter the lottery?

One thing is for sure, of the big three US races, Chicago wins hands-down for logistics. So many hotels within walking distance from the start/finish. And the race starts at a normal civilized time, so even if it’s a warm day you can beat the worst of it.