Great work! Boston is not a PR race, and it was not a PR day. But you ran a really strong race, a very impressive performance.

If it were me, I would normally look at those splits and think I should have started out slower. But in reality I think that's pretty much how Boston is run. Going against marathon conventional wisdom, you sort of need to bank time early on, because that's when you can get it. You're going to be slower through the hills 17-21, and if it's a warm day, you're going to be slower after that. Even though you like it warm, the heat and humidity must have impacted you.

I'm mostly glad you were able to enjoy yourself. That is a race you really want to be able to soak in. I know a bunch of people who run it every year, and they said the crowd support was amazing even by Boston standards. For me, at least through Wellesley and probably up till around Newton, it was the greatest race experience of my life. There were moments it actually made me a little verklempt. But my memory of the race after Newton is mostly a blur of suffering, which is too bad.

And great pics too. I'm envious - most of my Boston pics were crap. My finish line photo is a much wider shot, where I am just kind of off to the side of the frame. And the shot with the medal, my eyes are closed. 

There is something to be said for smaller fields.