uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
Thanks, LtH. That was great. I am glad you made it through your potty experience; those are definitely no fun!
faster than a glacier
Great report. Question: Aren't there quite a few runners in the race who didn't run qualifying times? They raised money for charity or whatever so they didn't have to qualify? Just wondering if that's why he saw people walking and blowing up so much. I thought I had read through sponsors and fundraising not everyone there had run a BQ time
Barking Mad To Run
That was a great report, read every word! Nice photos too! Congrats on your marathon! Even if it was a PW for you, time-wise, sounds like you had a 'full adventure' with it and managed to enjoy yourself immensely, even with the post-race toe cramps, etc.
Dang, you are speedy! I can't even do a half in the time it takes you to do a marathon, lol.
Very enjoyable report!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
LTH - Thanks for sharing your Boston experience and giving us all an inside look into what the day was like for you - very inspirational!! Your report was well written and clearly took a lot of time to write - I definitely am grateful that you did it!! I'm glad that you made it home safely and that you didn't get stuck. Great job!!
But The Smile That I Sent Out Returned With You.
Hip Redux
Correct - if you fund raise for one of the BAA 'partner' charities, you can run with a bib. A lot of people do Boston this way.
Skirt Runner
Thank you for sharing this race report with us! I loved all the pictures (this was a scotty-style RR!) it really made me feel part of the experience! You made great time, even with the photo stops and not having ypur best training cycle... amazing!! Glad things worked out alright and that you are safe!
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
Jess runs for bacon
I would expect that they would be in a lower corral though, so well behind LTH. At least I hope so. If I run Boston for charity next year they better put my slow butt in the very last corral.
But I believe that those runners would not have started with Brad's wave (#1), which is reserved for the faster runners. The charity runners are probably in wave #3, unless they have run a very fast BQ time at some time. In that case, it would be unlikely that they would run as charity runners.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
SheCan
Wonderful report and race! Nice pictures, so glad you've included a lot. It really helps to bring it to the rest of us. I'm glad you had a great time, and got your butt outta there in time. Congratulations to you!
Cherie
"We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. " ---- Shasta Nelson
Chasing Rainbows
Great race report and pictures - I think you did a terrific job of capturing what it's like to run the race. Congratulations!
The obstacle is the path. - Zen proverb
Like the other race reports from Boston, this one was worth the wait.
"This is the payoff for all of those days pounding the pavement when it's 95 degrees or when it's 40 degrees, windy and raining, or when sleet is blown into your face or when you head out the door at 10:00 p.m. because you haven't had a chance to run that day and it's the payoff for doing crap like 6 mile tempo runs and 7 x 1,000 when you'd much rather run easy that day and it's the payoff for the suffering I went through in the last six miles at Wrightsville Beach with the temps approaching 70 and humidity around 100%. This is why I did all that stuff. And I am here."
Nice!
Thank you so much for this RR. I felt like I was right there with you. (Well I sort-of was). I love Boston and will continue to love it despite the horrible acts that were completed last Monday. Great great story and love your pictures. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Running is my mental-Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Having gone through asthma issues by Mile 7 of the LV Marathon and having close to an anaphylactic attack then, it might be a person that had some issue earlier in the race and not necessarily a blow up.
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
Chief Unicorn Officer
I was smiling reading this! You're normally such a tough love, grizzled kinda guy as far as running goes, so it was so fun to see pictures of you and thinking of you TAKING pictures while running. I loved this RR, and the photos. You look great in your jacket!
I do disagree with one statement though! Boston is to marathoners what Augusta and Pebble Beach are to golfers. I'm a runner and I have no desire to do Boston.
Mile 5:49 - 5K 19:58 - 10K 43:06 - HM 1:36:54
Love the RR and pics. That is really good time considering all your stops, problems you had and the lack of proper training. I "ran" my PW in September of the last year in Maui. It was hot and humid and I didn't run at all in months prior to the race. The result was 3:23:03 and I remember clearly that it was not that easy (I did have a fun though).
Terrible part of what happened on that day will always be a part of our memories, but so will be how people of Boston and people around the world reacted to it.
I will steal some of your pictures from the race day. You captured the atmosphere very well.
Did you take the Orange Line to the race from the Forest Hills station ? I did and I remember seeing a guy who looks like you on the train. Not likely it was you since there were obviously runners all over the place.
And a word of advice from this old runner to others. I always carry a small zip lock bag with TP with me for the races.
Hope you can make it back to Boston one day, whenever that would be.
Slow and steady never wins anything.