112th Boston Marathon - wish I hadn't missed 111 of them (Read 961 times)

I wish all you guys could get the coverage we do, around here it turns into MTV about a week before Patriots Day but the M stands for Marathon. Runners get to be rock stars for a week, it’s pretty cool. KV Switzer (the first woman to run Boston with a number) was a commentator and picked Tune before the race because she is “feisty” and will “pull everybody along and make it her race”. Her fellow commentators were skeptical because it was her first time on the course, but she was spot on. My sister knows the guy who runs the Sixth Mile Pub in Framingham, which oddly enough is located at the six mile mark. We decided to take advantage of his generous invitation to hang out with access to a nice breakfast buffet, warmth and restrooms. Sorry the pictures kinda suck, I was using an old digicam with a crappy LCD screen. The sun was strong enough to make the display pretty useless, so I was pretty much shooting blind. Here’s a rather desolate shot of the street as the first of many State Police cruisers approached. He’s just ahead of the first wheelchair entrant, and there is still no clock yet! That guy was moving so fast I didn’t get a shot of him. We kept waiting for the next one to roll into view, but there wasn’t anybody. The favorite had already opened up a commanding lead six miles in. A truck pulled up and two clock commandos set up the clock and tore off down the course just ahead of a mini parade. You could tell somebody important was coming. Race officials? Celebs? Politicians? Turned out the occupants of the shiny new Saturn two-seaters were the top three finishers from the Olympic trials. Unfortunately they are passing before you can read the signs on the doors. They need to send another car ahead, or put a sign on the cruiser announcing their arrival. I kept looking at the time on the clock, and I knew it was wrong. I asked the guy running the water stop “whose time is that, the men’s?” He said “no, it’s the women’s.” I told him it couldn’t be right, and he got on the phone. The elite women came roaring up, and the clock displayed 16 or 18 minutes at the six mile mark! Don’t think so. Mr Water Stop was PISSED. I zoomed and lucked out (remember I’m pretty much shooting blind…) Here’s your winner looking good. Elite buttocks. Team Hoyt and the women's Masters winner approach... If you want to get a peek at the World’s Strongest Dad, you better keep your eyes on the course. Dick is damned fast, and you can see why in this shot. This guy’s got some serious legs. Mr Water Stop’s call brought the scooter at the front of this pic. The guy hopped off, plugged in a control module, corrected the time displayed and roared off toward Boston. I wonder how many were off initially? Company across the street had tents and tables set up in the parking lot with refreshments. One by one the employees sauntered out to enjoy the sunshine and cheer for the runners. A bunch of them were wearing yellow “Scott’s Fan Club” t-shirts, and it was pretty obvious when Scott finally reached six miles, the crowd went wild. Note to Daddyo and our other friends from the Great White North: a smaller subset of the group decided to break into "Oh Canada!" every time they saw a shirt with a red maple leaf. Here comes the main event, check out the size of the press truck compared to the pickup for the women. A couple of shots to show the massive waves of humanity that go by. Keep in mind that this is six miles in, and it’s still really crowded. My souvenir. James (my sister’s friend) saw the sign as I went back into the bar to catch the elite finishes. He was eyeing it and it only took me a second to realize it would look great on a wall in the bar. I headed out the door and jogged halfway to the finish before I could find another. With a pristine sign in hand, I headed back for a well deserved Sam Adams and the nailbiting women’s finish. The men’s race was anticlimactic, but no less amazing. Pity that we have to wait an entire year, it’s a fantastic experience.

Thanks BD. If I knew you were going to be there I would have run it this yr--glad I didn't you may well have coaxed me to stop at the 6 Mile Bar. Nick

Thanks for the pictures! I loved the ones of Dick and Rick Hoyt who have been a real inspiration to me and the reason I started running again. Truely a remarkable story. For those who don't know the story here is a great link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnrLv6z-mM .

Thanks for sharing! It's fun just to see other people running!

I watched the entire coverage on WBZ channel 4. They did a great job with it, even during commercials they had the race still on the screen.

#12 Woman? With those legs, she could probably squat 400lbs. Geesh! Whatever supplements she is taking, I want some!

Great pictures BadDawg!

You're going to make it.