Race Report: Night Marathon

On May 16, I ran the Night Marathon in Luxembourg City.  Most of the races I’ve done in Europe have been held on Sunday mornings.  This race is held on a Saturday evening.

Luxembourg is a small landlocked country, bordering Belgium, Germany, and France.  The official language is Luxembourgish, but French and German are commonly spoken.  Road signs are mostly in French, and I noticed that most of the restaurants have menus in French.

Thursday, May 14

I arrived in Amsterdam on an overnight flight from Minneapolis.  This was my first arrival in Europe since they began implementing the new Entry/Exit System, which uses biometric data instead of passport stamps.  I was worried about long lines, but I was lucky to get to the arrival hall when there wasn’t any line at all.  I needed to use a kiosk to scan my passport, face, and fingerprints, but that only took a few minutes.

I got to Luxembourg City around 10:00.  Public transportation in Luxembourg is free.  I caught a bus right outside the airport terminal and took it to the stop that was closest to my hotel.

I quickly learned that passing showers can come at any time.  It was sunny when I left the airport, but it started raining hard just before I got off the bus.  I had an umbrella in my suitcase, but I didn’t want to hunt for it in the rain.  I walked to the hotel as quickly as I could with luggage, but I was soaked by the time I got there.  After that, I never went anywhere without having an umbrella handy.

I stayed at the Best Western Plus.  I chose this hotel because it’s close to a tram stop, making it easy to get to and from the race venue.  I was within a mile of the old town.

It was much too early to check in, but the rain had already stopped, so I left my bags at the hotel and went into town to do some sightseeing.

I booked a walking tour for Friday, but I was on my own for sightseeing on Thursday.  I avoided visiting sites that I knew I would see on my walking tour.  Instead, I walked to some of the old fortifications in the Alzette river valley.

Luxembourg City is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers.  Overlooking the Alzette valley, you can see the remnants of a series of fortifications that were built centuries ago.  At one time, Luxembourg City was one of the most heavily fortified cities in Europe, but many of the fortifications have been destroyed or removed since the late 1800s.

After walking to the old town, I went out to a viewpoint that was high above the Alzette River.  Looking across the valley, you can see the remnants of Fort Niedergrünewald on the hillside.

From the viewing platform, I was able to take an elevator down to the bottom of the valley.  My next stop was this gate, which used to be part of the city wall.

I crossed the river on this stone arch bridge.

From the bridge, I had this view of the river.

I saw a similar gate on the other side.

As I worked my way along the east bank, I came to this Romanian Orthodox church.

There were two forts I wanted to see on the east bank of the river.  The first one was Fort Obergrünewald.  To get there, I had to hike up a steep trail.

I continued past Fort Obergrünewald to reach Fort Thüngen.  This fort has been restored, and it’s now a museum which describes the history of the various fortifications in the city.

On my way back down into the valley, I stopped at this viewpoint, to look back across the river.

When I got back to the old town, I was overdue for lunch.  Thursday was Ascension Day, which is a holiday in Luxembourg.  Most of the restaurants were closed, so I had to walk around a while before I found a restaurant that was open.

I had a filling lunch.  Then I walked back to the hotel, where I was able to check into my room.  Then I tried to take a nap.

On the first day of an overseas trip, I usually force myself to stay awake until nightfall, and then I crash.  I usually adopt an early-to-bed, early to rise schedule.  Because my race was an evening race, I wanted to sleep late and stay up late.  I didn’t think I could do a late night on that first day without a nap.  As it turns out, I wasn’t able to fall asleep while it was still light out.

After resting in bed for a couple hours, I got up and took a shower.  Then I was able to function again.

I went back into the old town and wandered around looking for a place to have dinner.  It wasn’t easy.  Most of the restaurants were closed.  The ones that were open were so busy that you needed a reservation to get a table.  A few had outdoor seating, but it was 50 degrees, and I wasn’t dressed warm enough for that.  I eventually found a nice Italian restaurant that was open, but surprisingly wasn’t busy.

When it got dark, I was finally able to get some sleep.

Friday, May 15

After breakfast, I did a workout at the hotel.  Then I took a tram to the expo.  The expo was held at an exposition center called Luxexpo – The Box.  It was located in Kirchberg, which is the modern business district.

I arrived just as the expo was starting, so it was crowded.  Packet pickup was in one part of the building.  A different part of the building had exhibitors.

In the afternoon, I took a free walking tour, where the tour guides work for tips.  The meeting point was next to a tram stop, making it easy to get there.

We started at Place de Metz, which is home to Luxembourg’s first bank.

Next, we crossed the Adolphe Bridge, which is a stone arch bridge dating to the 1900s.  From the bridge, we had views of the Pétrusse valley.

After crossing the bridge, we followed the northern edge of the river valley, which is also the southern edge of the old town.  Our next stop was a plaza with a war memorial honoring the fallen heroes of the two world wars.

We continued to the Cathedral Notre-Dame of Luxembourg.

Our next stop was another war memorial, but this one was dedicated to victims of the holocaust.

We entered the old town, where our next stop was a statue dedicated to the Grand Duchess Charlotte.

As we continued into the old town, we saw the Grand Ducal Palace.

Our guide pointed out places we might want to visit later on our own.  One was Place Guillaume II, which is the largest public square in the old town.

Our guide also pointed out restaurants where we could try local food and beverages, as wells as restaurants of historic importance, such as the old fish market.  Our last stop before leaving the old town was Luxembourg’s oldest church.

Our last two stops were scenic overlooks.  From one, we had a view of the Alzette valley.

From the other, we had a view of the Grund neighborhood in the Pétrusse valley.

I had skipped lunch, so after the tour I was hungry for an early dinner.  I walked back into the old town to look for a place to eat dinner.  It wasn’t a holiday, so all the restaurants were open, but the first few I tried didn’t open until 6:30 or 7:00.  I eventually settled on another Italian restaurant.

Because I had an early dinner, I went out later for dessert, at a restaurant near my hotel.

Saturday, May 16

Saturday was race day, but the race wasn’t until 7:00 PM, so I had an unusual race day schedule.  I slept later than usual, getting up at 8:00 only so I wouldn’t miss the hotel’s breakfast hours.  I ate a larger than usual breakfast.

After breakfast, I climbed back into bed.  I didn’t get back to sleep, but I rested all morning, while digesting my big breakfast.

It was almost lunch time when I finally showered and got dressed.  Lunch was an important meal.  It was my last meal of the day, so I needed to eat enough to sustain myself for the rest of the day.  At the same time, I didn’t want to eat anything too heavy.

There was a breakfast spot around the block from my hotel that served waffles.  That sounded perfect, but when I got there, I saw that all the indoor seating was taken.  I didn’t want to spend too much time on my feet before the race, but I reluctantly walked into the old town.  I had the same experience there.  There were numerous cafes, but indoor seating was limited, and all the tables were taken.

I eventually gave up on finding a breakfast spot.  After doing way too much walking, I went to an Italian restaurant and had pasta instead.  That meal was more filling than I would have preferred, but I had more than five hours to digest before the race.

After lunch, I checked the forecast, picked out my clothes for the race, and reviewed the runner’s guide, so I would know the layout of the start area.

The race started at Luxexpo – The Box.  We were advised to get there by 4:30 PM.  That seemed awfully early, but I needed to take the tram, and I didn’t know how crowded they would be if I waited until later.  It’s a large race, and most people were getting there by tram or bus.  I left the hotel at 4:00, and arrived at the start area about 20 minutes later.

The starting line was outside, but we could wait inside the building, where there was a gear check and real bathrooms.  They had an area inside the building called the Runners’ Lounge.  There were dozens of tables with benches, so I was able to sit down while I waited.

When I needed to get up to use the bathroom, I decided I might as well check my gear bag.  I had a pair of wind pants that I might need after the race if I was cold.  I also had a warm hat and a plastic rain poncho.  I wasn’t seeing any rain in the forecast, so I put those things in the gear bag as well.

The gear check was in the next room.  Once I went into that room, the volunteers wouldn’t let me go back to the lounge area.  It was one-way traffic.  I went outside, walked around to the main entrance, and walked through some long hallways to get back to the lounge.  Then I continued waiting.

The next time I checked my weather app, the forecast had changed.  Now it looked like it would start raining 10 or 15 minutes before the race started.  I regretted putting my rain poncho in the gear bag that I already checked.

I’m using to morning races, where it’s coldest at the start and gradually warms up.  In an evening race, the temperature is gradually dropping.  It was 51 degrees when we started, but the temperature would drop several degrees by the time I finished.  I wore tights to keep my legs warm.  On top, I was wearing a long sleeve polypro shirt with a T-shirt over it.  I expected to be overdressed in the first half of the race, but I wanted to make sure I was warm enough in the late miles, when it was colder.

We had to be in the start corrals by 6:50.  The runners’ guide they gave us had a good map of the start corrals and how to reach the entrance to each corral.  I left the building at 6:30 and worked my way into the corral.

I didn’t have a time goal for this race.  I knew from my recent race experiences that 4:00 or 4:05 was unrealistic.  I wanted to go at a pace where I could enjoy the experience and not blow up.  The time limit was six hours.  I wanted to finish before midnight, which gave me five hours.

They had pace groups in 15-minute increments.  I was planning to start with the 4:29 group.  I knew they were starting in the same corral, but I couldn’t find them.  Between the marathon, the half marathon, and the relay, there were 18,000 runners.  There were thousands of runners just in my corral.

Ten minutes before the start, the wind picked up, and it started raining.  In addition to my other layers, I was wearing a Tyvek jacket.  I was planning to take it off and tie it around my waist before we started.  Instead, I decided to keep it on as long as it was raining.  I unzipped it in front, so it wouldn’t cover up my race bib.

In the start corrals, we were packed in like sardines.  The bodies around me sheltered me from the cold wind.  After crossing the starting line, there was enough room between runners that I could feel the wind.  Even with all my layers, I was cold.

The first five kilometers were through the Kirchberg district.  In the first kilometer, we snaked back and forth.  Then we finally turned onto a street that took us toward the city center.  There was enough water on the street, that I could feel cold water soaking through my shoes.

Looking ahead to the west, I could see a break in the clouds.  I was cautiously optimistic that the rain wouldn’t last for too much longer.

When I’m cold, I have a subconscious tendency to run faster.  Ideally, I would’ve started at a pace in the 10:20s.  Instead, I ran the first mile in 9:20.  That wasn’t a sustainable pace, so I tried to tell myself to relax.

The next mile was even faster.  I had to make a conscious effort to slow down.  The third mile was 9:38.  That was better, but it was still too fast.

After about five kilometers, we reached a section with a few turns.  Instead of running on pavement, there were places where we were running across plazas paved with tiles.  The tiles were wet, so I had to be careful.

Crossing diagonally through one plaza, we had to run between some metal posts.  The runners around me were weaving around them haphazardly.  Everyone was taking a different line.  Another runner bumped into me and almost knocked me down.

In the fourth mile, we crossed the “red bridge” over the Alzette valley.  I couldn’t tell if it was still raining.  I didn’t feel any drops, but the streets were wet and my clothes were wet, so it was hard to tell.

As we came off the bridge, there were huge crowds on both sides.  Some of the spectators were holding signs made from cardboard.  The cardboard signs didn’t appear to be wet, so I concluded the rain had stopped.

I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.  It’s tough to do that while running.  It’s even tougher when the sleeves are wet.  I was forced to slow down.

At this point, we were making a loop though a small city park.  We were on a narrow path.  I slowed down as I was trying to tie my jacket.  Faster runners were bumping into me as they tried to get by.

At about 7K, we ran through a large plaza and then crossed over the tram tracks near my hotel.  The next several kilometers were through a neighborhood just north of my hotel.  I had not previously explored this neighborhood.

I didn’t like this part of the course.  We had good crowd support, but the streets were too narrow for so many runners.  Also, there was an insane number of turns.

This part of the course was also slightly hilly.  There were no steep hills, but some streets were slightly uphill and others were slightly downhill.  Whenever I was running uphill, I started to get hot, even without my jacket.  I was forced to slow down to keep from overheating.  After averaging about 9:30 per mile in the first four miles, I slowed to about 11 minutes from mile five on.

Runners doing the half marathon had signs on their backs saying, “21K.”  Runners in the marathon relay had signs saying, “Team Run.”  The runners doing the full marathon were the only ones with no signs on their backs.  At least 90 percent of the runners around me had signs.

Between 13 and 14K, we ran near my hotel and crossed the tram tracks again.  Then we ran through a different section of the same city park we had run through earlier.  After leaving the park, we ran through the old town.  There were huge crowds of spectators in the old town, and they made lots of noise for us.

As we ran through one of the large squares, I saw too large inflatable arches.  One said, “21.”  The other said, “42.”  This is where the races diverged.  After the split, it was far less crowded, but faster runners were still bumping into me as they went by.  That got really annoying.

It was in the old town that I first noticed a change in the lighting.  There wasn’t as much natural light.  It wasn’t dark yet, but the street lamps started to turn on.

At 16K, we left the old town.  I started to feel a cold breeze.  I no longer had to worry about overheating.  Soon, I would have to worry about getting cold, even with all the layers I was wearing.

The next 12 kilometers took us on a circuitous route through neighborhoods to the west of the city center.  It was the first time I saw these neighborhoods.  I found them to be disappointing.  The crowds were thin here.

In the next mile, I sped up by about 30 seconds.  I didn’t make a conscious effort to speed up, but I was no longer making a conscious effort to go slow.  As it turns out, that mile was a fluke.  In the next mile, I slowed down to 11 minutes again.

At the halfway point, I was on pace for a time in the low 4:40s, but I knew I’d actually be slower than that.  The first half included four fast miles at the beginning when I was running faster to try to keep warm in the cold rain and wind.  There wouldn’t be any miles like that in the second half.

The sky above us wasn’t dark yet, and it was dark enough at street level that we were dependent on the street lamps.  Now, it really felt like a night race.  Sometimes we would run through a small park, and there would be shadows.  I had to pay closer attention to my footing.

By 25K, I had noticed that my watch was way off.  I was getting splits from my watch almost half a mile early.  There were numerous turns, and we were sometimes running through parks with heavy tree cover.  I’m sure those two things played a role.

I was getting weary now.  My pace got slower.  Now it was almost 12 minutes per mile.  At 27K, I told myself I only had 15K to go.  At 28K, I told myself I was two thirds done.  The remaining distance seemed manageable, but I was worried about what was coming.

Up until now, there were uphill streets and downhill streets, but the grade was always gentle.  There was nothing that actually looking like a hill.  I knew there would be real hills later, and I didn’t know how I would handle that.

Just past 28K, we crossed the Adolphe Bridge over the Pétrusse valley.  Under the roadway, there’s a lower level for cyclists and pedestrians.  I had walked across this level earlier, but it was different running through here at night.  It was brightly lit.

As we came off the bridge, we went down a ramp that took us down into the Pétrusse river valley.  As we ran under the Adolphe Bridge, I knew we would eventually have to climb back up to that level.  That was one of the hills that I knew was coming.

There wasn’t as much light down in the river valley.  There were shadows, so I couldn’t always see my footing.  Sometimes, I could feel a rough patch of pavement that I never saw.  That made me nervous.

For a while, the path we were on leveled off.  Then we started descending again.  It was scary how low we were going.  All I could think of was how much we would need to climb later to get back out of the valley.

Despite those concerns, this was actually my favorite part of the race.  It was the most scenic part of the course, and running it at night was eerie.

You could never run through here at night on your own.  There were places where the only light was from portable lights set up by the race organizers.  Without those, some sections would be completely dark.

We ran under another bridge, and it towered way above us.  I had trouble imagining climbing up to the level of that bridge.  Then we went under the next bridge, and I could see runners crossing the bridge.  We eventually needed to get way up there.

At 30K, we were as low as we would go.  We were right next to the river, and I could see the water.  We were only about five feet about the river.

The next kilometer was level.  Then, as I reached the 31K sign, I could see the start of the climb.  The first part was steep enough that the runners ahead of me were walking it.  I kept running, but at one point it didn’t seem like my running was any faster than walking.

The path we were on briefly leveled off.  Then we turned onto a road and starting climbing again.  This part wasn’t as steep.

We left the road and turned onto a brick rampway with switchbacks.  Then we got back onto city streets.

I knew we weren’t done climbing yet, but it was easier from here.  For the next two kilometers, we were going uphill, but only slightly.  The rest of the climb was really spread out.

We came around a turn, and I suddenly recognized where I was.  We were running through Place de Metz.  That’s right next to the Adolphe Bridge.  I was both amazed and relieved when I realized that we were done climbing.

We were on the south side of the river for another kilometer.  Then, at 35K, we began crossing the bridge that would take us back across the Pétrusse valley.  At 36K, we entered the old town again.  Now everything was lit up and colorful.  The crowds here were fantastic.  They were making all kinds of noise.  It was after 11 PM.  This was the Saturday night party crowd.  If the Pétrusse valley was my favorite part of the race, this was my second favorite part.

On most streets we had good footing.  In a few spots, there were cobblestones, but they were well-lit, so I could see my footing.

Between 37 and 38K, we crossed the “red bridge” again.  Coming back through Kirchberg, we took a different route than before.  I knew there was one more tough climb ahead.  Before the race, I was talking to a runner from Germany who did this race last year.  He said this climb wiped him out.

As soon as we were off the bridge, we turned and left the roadway.  We were climbing up to higher ground.  This climb was steeper than the previous one, but there was less total elevation change.

There were lamps on the side of the trail, but there were still shadows.  At one point, I accidentally went off the trail and into the grass.

Suddenly, the lights around me went dark.  I could see lights ahead of me that were still on.  I couldn’t see the trail, but I followed the runners ahead of me until I reached the lights.

Next, we ran through a tunnel.  I wasn’t sure what was above us.  Maybe it was a building, or maybe we were running under a hill.  After the tunnel, we came back onto the same street we had left earlier.

I was puzzled.  We had climbed and climbed, but we never came back down again.  How could this be the same street?  The only explanation is that this street was noticeably uphill.  When we ran it in the other direction, it seemed flat.  The early miles must have actually been downhill.  That explains why I was going fast in the early miles, even as I told myself to slow down.

With about 3K to go, I reached a beer stop that I think was an official aid station.  The beer they had was Diekirch, which was one of the race sponsors.  On one side of the road, there was a guy holding up a sign that said, “4.8 %”.  On the other side, there was a large sign, saying “Diekirch.”  As I took a cup, the guy handing it to me pointed to the sign.  He wanted to make sure I knew what I was drinking.

We were running right next to the tram line now.  As we passed a tram stop, I looked to see which one it was.  It was the stop for the European Parliament building.  I knew there were at least a few more stops before Luxexpo.  Looking for tram stops gave me a better sense of how much farther it was.

When my watch read 25 miles, I had to remind myself that the distance was misleading.  What I really wanted to see what the 40K sign.  It wasn’t even in sight yet.

At 40K, we left the road we were on.  We were right at a tram stop, but I couldn’t see which one.  I was hoping it was the last stop before Luxexpo.  It soon became obvious that it wasn’t.  We were on side streets for a while.  Then we turned onto a narrow path through the woods.

I was cold enough now that my hands were getting numb.  When my watch read 26 miles, I guessed that I actually had more than a kilometer to go.  Then I saw the “41” sign.  I looked at my watch.  It seemed like I would break five hours, but not by much.  As I continued, I realized my math was off.  I was thinking I had one kilometer to go, but it was actually 1200 meters.  I wasn’t going to finish by midnight.

With about 500 meters to go, we were running through a parking lot with metal barriers on each side.  I got too close to the barriers and tripped on one of the supports.  In daylight I would’ve seen it, but at night it was easy to miss.

I tumbled onto the pavement.  Another runner stopped to help me up.  I resumed running, but with far less enthusiasm.

Both hands hurt now.  I was wearing gloves, so I didn’t scrape them as badly as I would have otherwise.

The finish line was inside Luxexpo – The Box.  As I entered the building, I was immediately enveloped by warmer air.  That felt really good.  I just had to make a few turns withing the building before crossing the finish line.

I crossed the finish line in 5:00:56.  I was disappointed to be slower than five hours, but mostly I was happy to be done.

A volunteer handed me my finisher medal.  Then I went around a corner and into a different part of the building.

This room was the one where I checked my gear bag.  I retrieved my bag, but I didn’t even try to open it.  My hands were too cold to untie it.  I stopped long enough to put my jacket on.  Then I went to the next room, which had post-race food.

There were bananas and various protein bars, cut into small slices.  This was the only food I would eat before going to bed, so I made a point of eating enough to tide me over.

From that room, I could only go outside, but after leaving the “runners only” area, I re-entered the building.  I recognized the hallway I was in, so I knew I how to get back out to the main entrance.  Along the way, I stopped at a bathroom, so I wouldn’t need to stop at the port-o-potties outside.

Sunday, May 17

After the race, I needed to take a tram back to my hotel.  Ordinarily, the trams run from 4 AM to midnight, so leaving after midnight would be a problem.  On the night of the race, they had extended hours.  There were trams every seven minutes until 2:30 AM.

I boarded at the beginning of the line.  I was able to get on the next tram.  I was even able to get a seat.  Then more people kept piling in, until there wasn’t even room to stand.  As we reached other stops, there were people who wanted to board, but there was no room for them.

They have monitors that show which stop we’re at and the next few stops.  With all the people in the way, I couldn’t see the monitors.  At one point I asked the person standing next to me which stop we were at.  She struggled to remember the full name of the stop.  Then she said, “before the red bridge.”  A minute later, I could see that we were on the bridge.  Mine was the next stop.

Getting from my seat to the door wasn’t easy.  It helped that several other people were getting off at the same stop.

I only had to walk about a block to get to my hotel, but I had to wait for the light to change before crossing a street.  As I waited, I started to shiver.

Inside the hotel, I continued to shiver as I was waiting for the elevator.  I wonder what the other guy waiting for the elevator thought of me.  He didn’t appear to be a runner, and I’m sure I was a mess.

When I took off my gloves, I was relieved to see that I didn’t have any scrapes on my hands.  My gloves protected them.  When I took off my tights, I could see an abrasion on the outside of my right knee.  If I wasn’t wearing tights, it would’ve been much worse.

I took a hot shower.  I needed that to warm up more than I needed it to rinse off the sweat.

I needed to cool the room down before I could get to sleep.  As soon as my hair was dry, I opened a window.  Within 10 minutes, the room was five degrees cooler.  I closed the window and tried to get to sleep.

It was 2 AM when I went to bed.  It was probably 3 AM by the time I relaxed enough to fall asleep.

I woke up a few times.  The first two times, I got right back to sleep.  The third time, I noticed it was light outside.  It was almost 8:00, so I got up.  I wanted to get down to breakfast before it got too crowded.

Surprisingly, there were only a few other people in the breakfast area.  The previous two mornings, it was packed, and there was always a line for the coffee machine.  I got the impression most of the other guests at this hotel were business travelers, rather than runners.  I’m guessing very few of the business travelers stayed over the weekend.

I waited until after breakfast to take a shower.  Then I did my best to stretch my tight Achilles tendons.

After doing all my stretches, I did some strength training.  Those exercises helped to loosen me up, but my Achilles tendons were so tight I could barely walk.

I spent the first half of the afternoon at the hotel.  Then I walked into the old town for an early dinner.  I went to a restaurant recommended by the guide of my walking tour.  It’s across the street from the Grand Ducal Palace, and they serve traditional Luxembourgish food.

As luck would have it, I left the restaurant just in time to see the changing of the guard ceremony at the palace.  It’s a brief ceremony, so I easily could have missed it.

I turned in earlier than night, so I could catch up on sleep before a long travel day.

Monday, May 18

I flew home on Monday.  My flight to Amsterdam wasn’t until 10:25, so I was able to eat breakfast at the hotel before walking to the bus stop.  This time, I had my umbrella handy.

Walking to the bus stop and through the airports, I found that walking was already much more comfortable.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  5:00:56

Average Pace:  7:08 per kilometer (11:29 per mile)

First Half:  2:20:47

Second Half:  2:40:09

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  13

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  585

Countries:  59

Race Report: 2026 Flying Pig Marathon

On May 3, I ran the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.  It’s the third time I’ve done this race.  It’s a large well-organized race, but it’s also whimsical.  They really lean into the pig theme.

Friday, May 1

We flew to Cincinnati Friday afternoon.  Our hotel was downtown.  We chose not to rent a car, because parking would have been too expensive.  Instead, we took a taxi from the airport and walked to everything.

After checking in at our hotel, we walked over to the expo.  This race has large expo.  It’s like the Boston Marathon used to be, several years ago.

Besides my race bib and T-shirt, I got a beach towel.  I could have picked up a poster, but I don’t have a place to put it, so I skipped that.  There were also vendors giving away free stuff.

The timing of this trip was unfortunate.  Deb came down with a cold earlier in the week, and she still didn’t have much stamina.  We did a lot of walking around at the expo.  After that, she wasn’t up to walking anywhere for dinner, so we had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

Saturday, May 2

When Deb tried to shower, she couldn’t get any hot water.  She called down to the front desk, and they told her she needed to run the water for a long time before it gets hot.  After 30 minutes, the water was still only room temperature.  Before breakfast, we went to the front desk, and they gave us room keys for a different room.

The marathon wasn’t until Sunday, but there were shorter races on Saturday, including a 5K, a 10K, the Flying Piglet races for kids, and the Flying Fur race for dogs.  I didn’t run any of these races, but Deb volunteered at the Flying Piglet events.

The Flying Piglet races were held at Smale Riverfront Park.  I went with Deb to the park, to help her find the volunteer check-in tent and the Flying Piglet area.  Then I went back to the hotel to move all our stuff into our new room.  In this room, I was able to get hot water, but I had to run it for a while.

I went back to the park in time to see the last few Flying Piglet races.  When Deb’s volunteer shift was done, we went to lunch.

Everyone knows my favorite food is pizza, but I’m also a big fan of Cincinnati-style chili.  For lunch, we went to Skyline Chili.  There was a location about three blocks from our hotel.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the hotel.  Deb was tired after being on her feet all morning, and I didn’t want to spend too much time on my feet before the marathon.

For my pre-race pizza, I went to a place across the street from our hotel that had an asparagus pizza.

Sunday, May 3

I have a consistent pre-race routine, which includes taking a hot bath or shower and doing some stretches.  I got up extra early, knowing I would have to run the water for about 10 minutes before it got hot.

The marathon started at 6:30, near the riverfront.  The start area was about half a mile from our hotel.

The temperature was in the low 30s.  I expected it to warm into the low 50s by the time I finished, but it was going to be cold for the first half of the race.  I dressed much warmer than I normally do.

While I was still in our hotel room, it seemed like I was dressed awfully warm.  When I got outside, I immediately questioned whether I was dressed warm enough.  It was freezing.

I arrived in the start area about 20 minutes before the race.  I saw insanely long port-o-potty lines, but I had used the bathroom just before leaving the hotel, so I didn’t need to go again.

I saw a convenience store that was open, so I ducked inside to get out of the cold.  There were at least a dozen other runners there.  It was nice to get out of the cold, but soon I needed to line up for the race.

When I signed up for this race, I was hoping I could get my second Boston qualifier in Ohio.  The course is hilly, but I’ve qualified here before.  I knew it was possible, but I would need a good race.

I came into this race with a string of poor results.  In March, I had three races where I struggled in the late miles.  In each case, it was hot, and I was pushing an ambitious pace.

In April, my results were even worse.  I ran three marathons in a span of nine days.  I blew up badly in Albuquerque and Newport.  The Boston Marathon was just two days after Newport, and I felt like a train wreck before the race even started.

Obviously, that didn’t give me a lot of confidence going into this race.  It’s possible that all my recent struggles could be blamed on hot conditions and/or insufficient recovery.  Still, I questioned whether a Boston qualifying time was a realistic goal.  The last thing I wanted was to have another race where I went out fast and blew up.

All week, I was worried about catching Deb’s cold, but it seemed like my immune system was fighting it off.  I never had cold symptoms, but there were mornings when I felt weak and/or tired, despite getting plenty of sleep.  That had me questioning whether I was really at full strength for this race.

If this was any other race, I would have started at a conservative pace, so I could finish comfortably.  This wasn’t just any race.  I’m trying to finish my second circuit of Boston qualifiers in every state, and Ohio is one of my remaining five states.  For that reason, I felt like I should at least test the waters.

Everything at this race is pig-themed.  Instead of corrals, they have pig pens.  I was assigned to Pig Pen C.  I thought this one was for runners with estimated finish times between 4:00 and 4:10, but I was mistaken.  That was actually the range of times for Pig Pen D.  I lined up in the middle in the pig pen, thinking I would be surrounded by runners starting at a similar pace.

The time I needed for a Boston qualifier was 4:05.  That’s an average pace of 9:21 per mile.  Ideally, I would’ve started with a pace group, but they didn’t have a 4:05 group.  If I wanted to start with a pace group, my choices were 4:00 or 4:10.

I looked for those pace groups, but I didn’t see them.  The only pace group I saw in Pig Pen C was the 3:45 group.  I later learned that the 4:00 and 4:10 groups both started in Pig Pen D.

In the first mile, I ran at the pace of the runners around me.  I was surprised how quickly we got up to speed.  The start wasn’t as congested as I thought it would be, although there were some choke points before the end of that mile.

Near the end of the first mile, we crossed a bridge over the Ohio River into Kentucky.  The first half of the bridge was uphill, but it wasn’t a big deal.

I didn’t know how fast I was starting until I finished the first mile.  I was a little bit slower than a Boston-qualifying pace, but not too much.  Rather than try to speed up, I kept running with the people around me.  The second mile was faster, most likely because we were already up to our pace, and there wasn’t any congestion.

Right at the beginning of mile three, I turned and started up the ramp to a bridge.  This was the first hill that was big enough to slow me down.  I kept my effort consistent, rather than trying to maintain a consistent pace.

I fully expected that mile to be slower.  I knew there would be bigger hills, so I assumed a Boston-qualifying time wasn’t in the cards.  When I finished that mile, I was surprised to see that I was only about 10 seconds behind schedule for a BQ.

While we were still on the Kentucky side of the river, I saw a runner trip and fall on the pavement.  All the runners close to her immediately stopped to help her up.  I’ve fallen during races so many times that Deb always says she wants to put me in a bubble.  In fact, the last thing she said when I left that morning was, “Bubble!”  That was my reminder to always watch my footing and look for patches of rough or uneven pavement.

Toward the end of mile four, I had to climb a ramp up to the bridge that would take us back across the Ohio River again.  I took this hill the same way as the previous one.  I maintained the same effort, and I accepted that I would be slower.

The mile four sign was right at the top of the ramp.  Surprisingly, I was still within striking distance of a Boston-qualifying pace.  I was only 12 seconds behind schedule.

As we came off that bridge, we entered downtown Cincinnati again.  I started to notice that I was no longer keeping up with the runners around me.  I didn’t think I had slowed down.  When I finished mile five, I saw that I actually sped up.  Apparently, everyone else sped up more coming off the bridge.

We came back into downtown on 3rd Street, but then we turned onto Vine Street.  The first block on Vine Street was uphill.  I had walked up this hill twice on Saturday, so I knew it would slow me down.

Shortly after that, we ran past Fountain Square.  At this point, I was only a block from our hotel.  Had I known the course came this close to where we were staying, I would’ve suggested to Deb that this would be a good place to watch the race.

Through the first five miles, I had been close to a Boston-qualifying pace.  Because of the hill on Vine Street, mile six was about 25 seconds off the pace.  That’s when I knew for sure that I would never make up that time.

The toughest section of the course comes after leaving downtown.  The next two miles were a steady uphill grind.  I didn’t worry at all about my pace here.  I just kept moving at a pace that wouldn’t break me.  I was more than a minute per mile slower now.

Now that I knew I wasn’t going to run a BQ, I focused on my secondary goal, which was to finish the race comfortably.  That proved to be difficult as well.  I’ve really struggled on hills lately, and this long uphill section took a lot out of me, even at a slower pace.

As I finished mile seven, a pace group caught up to me.  It was the 4:00 group.  The only reason I was ahead of them up until now is because they started farther back.

It was still uphill for most of the next mile.  After that, the next two miles were rolling.  My pace wasn’t any faster there.  I needed a couple miles to recover from the long uphill section.

When we were at the highest point on the course, we came out to a spot with a good view looking down across the river.  I was tempted to take a picture, but I didn’t want to take my gloves off.  My hands would get cold instantly.

By mile 10, we had reached a nice long downhill section.  My pace improved here, but I never got back to the pace I started.

I was just past 11 miles when I saw another long hill up ahead.  I remembered seeing this hill on the elevation profile.  Thankfully, it was the last major hill on the course.

Another pace group caught up to me on this hill.  It was the 4:10 group.  Their target pace was pretty close to the pace I was running in the early miles, but they were in a different pig pen, so they started later.

I ran with them briefly.  I was having a nice conversation with the leader of that group, but I couldn’t keep up their pace going up a long hill.  I had to let them go.

When the road turned downhill again, I was able to catch up to the 4:10 group again.  I was right with them when we reached the halfway point.  My time for the first half was roughly 2:10.  The 4:10 group presumably ran the first half in 2:05, so they must have started about five minutes after I did.

Presumably, this group would also run the second half in 2:05.  To stay with them for the rest of the race, I would have to run negative splits by five minutes.  That seemed unlikely.  With effort, I could keep up with them, but that effort wouldn’t be sustainable.

I enjoyed my conversation with the 4:10 pacer, so I kept up with the group for the next three miles.  After that, the pace got too tiring.  I had to let them go and continue at my own pace.

With about 10 miles to go, I reached something called the Bacon Station.  I’m not sure if this was an official aid station or just a large group of well-organized spectators.  They were handing out cups with small pieces of bacon.  In the past, that’s something I would have gone for.  Lately, I’ve been trying to eat healthier, so I skipped the bacon.

At other points along the course, I saw people handing out jelly beans, Girl Scout cookies, pickles, and pretzel sticks.

Now that I was running on my own, my pace was almost a minute per mile slower.  I probably stayed with the 4:10 group too long.  Their pace tired me out.

The second half of the race is the flatter half, but there were still uphill and downhill sections.  They just weren’t steep.  Some miles felt more tiring and others felt easier.

With about seven miles to go, I made a bathroom stop.  I probably could’ve held out until after the race, but I thought the remaining miles would be more comfortable if made a stop now.  I was wrong.  When I resumed running, my legs felt stiff.  It was tough to get back into the same rhythm.

It was much warmer now than it was when I started.  I was dressed for the colder temperatures, so I was worried about getting too warm.  I was grateful when I started to feel a cool breeze.  That kept me from overheating.

There was a place where people were handing out nerf basketballs, and there were a few hoops where you could try to make a basket.  Apparently, I can’t make a basket while running.  I completely misjudged the shot.

In the late miles, I was sometimes running with other runners and carrying on conversations.  Inevitably, those conversations ended when I could no longer keep up the other runners.

One of the nice things this race does is give special bibs people can pin to their backs if they’re running their first marathon.  In the late miles, I saw dozens of runners who were doing their first marathon.

With about four miles to go, I noticed we were following a bend in the river.  Looking to my left, I could see downtown buildings in the distance.  That made the remaining distance more tangible.  I just had to keep making progress around the bend.

I hadn’t been paying much attention to my pace.  When I finished mile 23, I noticed that my pace was now slower than it had been on the long uphill section from six to eight.  I can’t honestly say that I was finishing this race comfortably.  I wasn’t blowing up as badly as I did in my last three races, but the late miles were still tough.

With three miles to go, the breeze got stronger.  Now, I was actually getting cold, despite all the layers I was wearing.

In my previous three races, I had to take walking breaks in the late miles.  I was slowing down, but I was still able to run the whole way.  With a mile to go, there was a small hill.  People in front of me were walking the hill, but I was determined to keep running.  As I reached the top of that last small hill, I could see the downtown buildings in front of me.

With about half a mile to go, we turned a corner and ran closer to the river.  Now, the wind was stronger.  I was colder now than I had been before the race, but I only had a short distance to go.

I crossed the Finish Swine in 4:32:55.  I was disappointed to see that I was slower than 4:30.   I knew I slowed down in the last 10 miles, but I didn’t realize I had slowed down that much.

As usual, they had a two-sided finisher medal.  One side showed the front of a pig, and the other side showed the back.

Finish line food included pizza, and it was nice and hot.  After being cold in the last few miles, it felt good to eat something hot.  We also each received a bag with pre-packaged snack foods.

I had seen two friends at different points during the race.  I bumped into one of them again in the finish area.

When I got back to the hotel, Deb and I ate the rest of the post-race snacks.  That was most of our lunch, but Deb also went out and picked up smoothies.

In keeping with the pig theme, I had a post-race beer at a place called The Blind Pig.  For dinner, we opted for the hotel’s restaurant again.

Monday, May 4

Our flight home wasn’t until late afternoon, so we were able to have a leisurely morning.  Deb still had a cold, and I had tight Achilles tendons, so neither of us felt like doing much walking.

We had to check out by noon, so we left for the airport earlier than we really needed to.  We had lunch at the airport, where there's a Skyline Chili in the food court.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:32:55

Average Pace:  10:25 per mile

First Half:  2:10:01

Second Half:  2:22:54

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  12

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  584

Race Report: 2026 Boston Marathon

My previous post was a race report for the Newport Rhode Races Marathon.  This post picks up where that one left off.

Saturday, April 18

After driving from Newport and returning my rental car, I walked across the street to the Hilton Park Plaza Hotel, where I stayed for the next three nights in Boston.

On marathon weekend, it’s tough to find a room at any of the hotels that are close to the finish line.  I was able to get a room at this hotel by booking through a travel company called Fit 4 Adventure.  I learned about them from a friend in the Boston Squeakers group.  They always have a large block of rooms at this hotel.

Hilton has a loyalty program called HHonors.  Because I booked through a third party, my reservation didn’t include my HHonors number.   When I gave my number to the guy at the front desk, he saw that I have Diamond status with Hilton, and he immediately gave me two water bottles and asked if I wanted a chocolate chip cookie.  He was then apologetic that there weren’t any larger rooms available.  The room I booked was the smallest type of room.  He wanted to upgrade me to something larger, but nothing was available.

The important thing to me was getting into a room right away.  I had driven from Newport in the same clothes I wore for my marathon that morning.  After two hours driving in sweaty running clothes, I was eager to take a shower and change into clean clothes.

When I was ready to venture out, I stopped by the Fit 4 Adventure desk to check in with them.  Besides hotel rooms, their package included several options, such as a pre-race pasta dinner, city tours, bus transportation to the start of the marathon, or post-race massages.  I didn’t book any of those things, but they gave me one of their T-shirts.

Boston Marathon weekend is always a social occasion.  On Saturday afternoon, I always go to a meet-up of Boston Squeakers.  We met for a couple hours at Time Out Market, which is near Fenway Park.  Going there, the trains were crowded, because most of the people on the trains were on their way to a Red Sox game.  After our meet-up, a few of us went to dinner together.

Sunday, April 19

I know a few good breakfast spots in Boston, but it was drizzly, so I ate breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant.

Sunday was the last day I could pick up my race packet.  As usual, the expo was held at the Hynes Convention Center.  Lines can be long, so I made a point of getting there when they opened for the day.  There was a long line to get into the building, but the line moved fast.

Once inside, there were different routes through the building depending on which wave you were in, or if you were just there to attend the expo.  It was a lot of walking, but the packet pickup process was efficient.

I didn’t spend a lot of time at the expo, but I made a point of stopping by the Marathon Tours & Travel booth.  I learned about a couple of new tours that are in the works for next year.

When I left the expo, it was starting to rain again.  I went back to the hotel and did a strength training workout.  There’s large fitness center under the hotel, and hotel guests can use it.

The finish line is always a popular place for people to meet and take pictures.  Marathon Maniacs always has a group photo in front of the finish line at noon on Sunday.  When I left the hotel to go to the finish line, I was pleased to see that the rain had stopped.

After that group photo, I was talking with friends until it was time for another group photo with the Boston Squeakers.

It was starting to rain again, so I found a nearby place where I could get a bowl of clam chowder.

The other group I always meet with on Sunday is the 50sub4 Marathon Club.  They also meet at Time Out Market.  I saw several familiar faces there, and I also met a few new ones.

For dinner, I went to Night Shift Brewing at Lovejoy Wharf.  They have Detroit-style pizza.  This has become my favorite pizza place in Boston.

All day I had been finding walking around town to be uncomfortable.  My feet were sore, and my Achilles tendons were tight.  I tried to stay off my feet, often taking the “T” instead of walking, even if it was only for one stop.  In spite of that, I still put in about 11,000 steps on Sunday.

Monday, April 20

Monday was race day.  For the last several years, I’ve been getting to the start in Hopkinton on a motorcoach chartered by Marathon Maniacs.  The bus loads right outside the Hilton Park Plaza, which is why it was so convenient to stay there.

The race has several waves, with start times ranging from 10:00 to 11:21 AM.  I was in one of the later waves, but we all needed to be ready to leave Boston at the same time.  The buses started loading at 6:15, and they left at 6:45.

It was a chilly day.  When I boarded the bus, the temperature was in the 30s.  My wave didn’t start until 11:01, and by then the temperature would climb into the 40s.  I don’t think it ever got up to 50.  It was also quite windy.  In conditions like these, I wear tights.  This was a day to wear the cheetah outfit.

The bus ride to Hopkinton took about an hour.  After we got there, I had about two hours before I needed to leave to walk to the start.  That’s a long wait, but we were able to stay on the bus in relative comfort.

Most people get to Hopkinton on school buses that pick them up at Boston Common and drop them off at the Athletes’ Village at Hopkinton High School.  They wait outside, rain or shine, until it’s time to walk to the start corrals.  There are hundreds of port-o-potties in the Athletes’ Village, but with tens of thousands of runners, the lines get long.

Club buses like ours park about a quarter mile away at Edward J. Hopkins Elementary School.  We had a few dozen port-o-potties, but there were far fewer runners at the elementary school, so the lines were short.  There was also a bathroom on the bus.

For the last several years, the race has been divided into four waves of roughly equal size.  This year, there were more waves, with fewer runners in each wave.  There were six waves, not counting the earlier starts for elite athletes and athletes with disabilities.

I was assigned to wave five, which was the last wave of time qualifiers.  The sixth wave included runners who got into the race through some other method, such as a tour group, a sponsor, or a charity.

At the appropriate time, those of us in wave five left the elementary school to walk to the Athletes’ Village at the high school.  From there, we had to walk about a mile to get to the start corrals.

In the past, everyone followed the same route to get from the Athletes’ Village to the start corral.  This year, they had two different routes, depending on which corral you were in.  Runners in corrals 1-4 of each wave took the new route along Church Street.  Runners in corrals 5-8 took the traditional route along Grove Street.  I assume they did this so we could get to the appropriate start corral quicker and with less congestion.

Each route went past a parking lot with additional port-o-potties, so we could make a last-minute bathroom stop on our way to the corrals.  I was in the corral three, so I was taking a different route this year.

My friend Jolene, who was on the same bus, was also in corral three, so we walking to the start corrals together.

After my race on Saturday, I felt like a train wreck.  I wasn’t even going to try to run at a fast pace in Boston.  Instead of starting the race with a time goal, I planned to go at a slow pace and stop to take pictures.

The start is sharply downhill.  I didn’t try to race it, but the downhill start made it easy to get started.  I wasn’t going as fast as the runners around me, so I was getting passed by most of the other runners.

Right at the one-kilometer mark, the road briefly turns uphill.  I was tempted to walk this hill, but I didn’t want to be the only one walking.  I ran it, but I slowed down significantly.  Even still, it was tiring.  Everyone was passing me on this hill.

Mile two was similar.  It’s mostly downhill, but there’s a brief uphill section.  Again, I took the uphill section slowly, but it still felt tiring.

My pace for the first two miles was faster than 10 minutes, but only because they were downhill.  Starting with mile three, my pace was between 10 and 11 minutes.

My cheetah outfit made me easy to spot.  A few friends who started farther back greeted me as they went by.  First, it was Kristen, then Erin, and then Jeff.  I also got shoutouts from random strangers.  A few people told me I had the best outfit.

The next several miles had a gentle downhill trend, but they were closer to being level.  I did my best to run a pace that wouldn’t tire me out, although I was tired anyway.  I felt like this race was just a continuation of the race I ran on Saturday.  I had no energy at all.

The weather was fickle.  It was mostly cloudy, with a strong wind that was mostly at our backs.  Occasionally, the sun would come out, and I would briefly feel warm.  At other times, there would be a strong wind gust, and I would get cold.  A few times, I felt raindrops.  Fortunately, there was never any persistent rain.  Cool weather with a tailwind is something people dream of at this race.  It’s the first time since 2011 that it’s happened.

I never noticed this before, but every one of the early miles has a brief uphill section, even though the overall trend is downhill.  I found myself getting tired on every small rise, even though I wasn’t trying to maintain my pace.

In mile six, my pace slowed to 11 minutes.  I had expected my overall time to be slower than it was on Saturday.  Now I knew for sure.

In mile eight, I finally decided to walk an uphill section.  There’s a guy who always watches the race dressed as Santa Claus.  Since I was walking already, I took my phone out to take a picture of him.

To use my phone, I had to take off one of my gloves.  In the short time my glove was off, my fingers started to turn white.  Because of that, I didn’t take as many pictures as I had planned to take.

The runners in my wave all had race bibs with green backgrounds.  By now, I started to notice that I was surrounded by runners with orange race bibs.  Those were runners from the last wave.  They started about 20 minutes later, but the faster runners from that wave had caught up to me by now.

I was drinking at every aid station.  Starting with mile two, they had aid stations every mile.  It was a cool enough day that I didn’t need to be drinking that much.  After nine miles, I made a bathroom stop.  After that, I cut back to only drinking every other mile.

In mile 12, I needed to take another walking break on a short hill.  Then, in the next mile, I reached Wellesley College.  I chose to walk all the way through the Wellesley “scream tunnel” so I could take pictures of the signs.

That mile took more than 12 minutes, but it included a long walking break.  Then I ran the rest of the way to downtown Wellesley.

I reached the halfway point in 2:26:20.  That was already 20 minutes slower than my last race, and I knew I would only get slower in the second half.  For the past three years, I managed to run negative splits on this course, but that’s hard to do.  The first half is much easier than the second half.  This year I was struggling, so I knew I’d slow down on the tougher sections.

In mile 14, I brought my pace back down under 12 minutes.  As I started mile 14, I noticed a change in my gait.  I was still running, but it was more of a shuffle.  It felt like it was somewhere between running and walking.

Sure enough, mile 15 was slower.  That mile was slightly downhill, and I didn’t take any walking breaks, yet it was slower than 12 minutes.

Halfway through mile 16, I reached a half mile section that’s sharply downhill.  That enabled me to bring my pace back down, but only temporarily.

At the end of that mile, I crossed the Charles River and entered Newton.  This is where the race gets tough.  There are four noticeable hills in Newton.  In the past, I’ve taken pride in being able to run strong on these hills.  This time, I needed to take walking breaks.

The first hill is the most gradual, but it’s long.  I didn’t think I could run the whole thing, but it’s too long for me to walk all the way.  There’s an aid station right at the beginning of this hill.  I slowed to a walk while drinking a cup of Gatorade.  Since I was already walking, I walked a bit farther.  Then I forced myself to run.

I could only run so far before I needed another walking break.  I paced myself up the hill by running until I needed to walk and then walking just long enough to recover.  I ended up taking five short walking breaks on that hill.

After reaching the top of that hill, I was able to run until the next one.  The next hill is at 17.5 miles.  It starts right where we make a right turn in front of a fire station.  This hill isn’t as long, but it’s steeper.

The hill started out gradual, so I ran until the grade got more tiring.  Then I walked the rest of the hill.  It was longer than I remembered.  Perhaps it just seems longer when you’re walking it, because it takes so much longer.

Because I walked so much on the hills, miles 17 and 18 both took more than 13 minutes.  Mile 19 was mostly downhill, and I was able to bring my pace back down, although it was still slower than 11 minutes.

The next mile had another hill, but it’s the easiest of the four hills in Newton.  I had hoped to run it, but I still needed to take a walking break.

When I reached the 20-mile mark, I was almost to the beginning of Heartbreak Hill.  On this hill, I needed to take multiple walking breaks again.

After heartbreak hill, there’s a short downhill section, followed by one last uptick in the road.  I had to walk that too.

I was almost to the 21-mile mark.  Now, I was at the beginning of a long downhill section that took me past Boston College.  As long as it was downhill, I could force myself to run.  The next time the road leveled off, I had to start taking walking breaks.  Not counting the “scream tunnel,” this was the first time I had to walk on a section that wasn’t uphill.

I ran the downhill sections, and I did a run/walk mix on the flat sections.  I was past all the major hills, but I was out of gas.

Between 22 and 23 miles, I made the left turn at Cleveland Circle.  There are multiple sets of train tracks in the street, so I always have to watch my footing carefully there.

After that turn, I focused on intermediate goals.  The first one was reaching the banner where we leave Boston to enter Brookline.  Next, I focused on getting to the 23-mile mark.

I did a time check at 23 miles.  This is where I realized for the first time that I would be slower this year than I was in 2016.  That was hard to take.  In 2016, I didn’t run at all in January and February, because of injuries.  When I started training, it was only six weeks before the Boston Marathon, and I was totally out of shape.  I managed that year to finish in about 5:08.  This year was going to be slower, even though I’m in much better shape.

The last few miles were agonizingly slow.  I was now needing to employ the same run/walk pacing on flat sections that I used previously on long hills.  I took frequent walking breaks, but I tried to keep them short, usually walking just 16 quick steps before forcing myself to run again.

At 24 miles, I made another bathroom stop.  By now, the sun had come out, and I was getting warm.  While I was stopped, I took my gloves off.

It was about this same time that I got my first glimpse of the iconic Citgo sign.  Then it disappeared behind the trees.

I was back in Boston now.  In the distance, I could see a small hill.  I recognized it as the place where we come up to a bridge over the freeway.  The 40K sign is right at that bridge.  The 25-mile sign is just a bit farther.

I had to walk up to the bridge, but then I forced myself to run again.  At the 25-mile aid station, I saw my friend Mary, who was volunteering there.  She had read my previous race report, so she understood why I was struggling.  She gave me a hug and told me to finish strong.

Just past that, I reached the one mile to go sign.  Ahead of me, I could see a bridge painted with the words, “Boston Strong.”  I forced myself to run to that bridge.  From there, it’s one kilometer to go.

As I ran under that bridge, I could see the next one.  I knew from past experience I would go down a ramp to go under that bridge.  On the other side, I would need to go up a ramp.  I forced myself to run until the road turned uphill after the bridge.  Then I had to walk until the road leveled off again.

There were two more turns.  As I made the right turn onto Hereford, I knew it would be the last hill.  We only run two short blocks on Hereford, but it’s slightly uphill.  I forced myself to run the first half of it.  Then I needed to walk the second half.

When I made the left turn onto Boylston, I knew I would run the rest of the way.  I could see the finish line in the distance, but it was three and a half blocks away.  I had to run a block and a half just to get to the “26” sign.  Then I just had two blocks to go.

I ran the rest of the way, finishing in 5:16:42.  It was my slowest Boston Marathon by about eight minutes.

As soon as I stopped running, I got cold.  As I continued moving through the finish area, I put on my gloves again.

There were volunteers with water bottles, but I didn’t take one.  I was only a few blocks from my hotel, and I had plenty of water there.  I kept moving until I reached what I really wanted, which was my finisher medal.  This is the most coveted finisher medal a runner can get, with the possible exception of a six-star medal.

Another volunteer was handing out bottles of Gatorade.  I passed on that and kept walking to get to the volunteers with heat sheets.

In the next block, I reached the post-race food.  Most of the food was in pre-assembled bags.  Other volunteers were handing out bananas, but I didn’t need any more food.  The bag already had more than I could eat.  I was disappointed to see that the food bag also had a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade.  After a race where I was usually cold and drank plenty of fluids, I didn’t need that much more liquid.

It was one more block to the end of the finish area, and then another block to get to my hotel.  Before going up to my room, I stopped at the hotel bar.  I had noticed earlier that they had the Samuel Adams 26.2 Brew.  I could think of no more appropriate post-race beverage.

While I was paying for my beer, I set my food bag on the floor.  When I got to my room, I realized I had accidentally left my food bag it at the bar.  I wanted something to eat, but my hands were turning white now.  Before doing anything else, I needed to take a hot shower.  It took a long time for the color to return to my hands.

After getting dressed, I went back down to the bar to retrieve my food bag.  It was still right where I left it.  By the time I got back to my room again it was already 5:30 PM.  I wanted to get some dinner before it got too much later.  Eating some of my snacks now would just spoil my appetite for dinner, so I saved them for later.

I wanted to go to Night Shift Brewing for dinner, but I needed to take the “T.”  That was easier said than done.  The trains get crowded after the marathon.

I needed a green line train that would go at least as far as North Station.  The first train to come into the station would’ve gone there, but the train was so full that it didn’t even stop.  The next train was only going as far as Government Center.  The one after that was going far enough, but it was also packed.  I managed to squeeze on, but with so many trains backed up, it took a long time just to get to the next station.  I needed to go four more stations after that.  Then I had to walk a few blocks in the cold wind.

When I got to Night Shift Brewing, the place was packed.  That caught me off guard.  When I was there on Sunday, the place was practically empty.  It would have taken an hour to get a table.  Around the bar, it was standing room only.  I got exceptionally lucky, and I was able to get the seat of someone who was just leaving.  That was a relief, because I was tired, it was cold outside, and it was getting late to find someplace else.

I slept poorly the previous three nights, but Monday night I crashed hard.

Tuesday, April 20

I flew home on Tuesday.  My flight wasn’t until 11:55, so I was able to take my time getting ready to leave.  My breakfast consisted mostly of post-race snack foods, but I ate real food when I got to the airport.

I had time Sunday morning to catch up on the Facebook posts of several friends who also did the race.  Because of the cool weather and the tailwind, most of them ran fast times.  These were the best conditions I’ve ever seen at this race, but I wasn’t able to take advantage of it.  This is probably the last time I’ll run another marathon on the same weekend as the Boston Marathon. 

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  5:16:42

Average Pace:  12:05 per mile

First Half:  2:26:20

Second Half:  2:50:22

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  11

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  583

World Marathon Majors:  30 (15 Boston, 7 Chicago, 4 NYC, 2 Berlin, London, Tokyo)