On April 17, I ran my 12th Boston Marathon. This is my favorite race, and I’ll run it every year for as long as I’m still able to qualify.
For the second straight
year, I also did the B.A.A. 5K race on Saturday. For more on that race, see my previous race report. This post picks up where that one left off.
Saturday, April 15
Besides being the day of
the 5K race, Saturday was also the 10th anniversary of the bombing at the 2013
race. April 15 is now known as One
Boston Day. There was a public ceremony in
the afternoon to honor the victims of the bombing.
The Boston Marathon is my
favorite race, but I also enjoy other things about this weekend. It’s an opportunity to get together with
runners from different running clubs who organize meet-ups or group photos.
After attending the afternoon
ceremony, I joined members of the Boston Squeakers group for a happy hour
gathering at Clerys. The squeakers are runners
who, at one time or another, have qualified for Boston, but didn’t know if they
would get into the race. There have been
years when you had to beat the qualifying time for your age group by almost five
minutes to get in.
I joined this group in
2016. That was the only year that I was
on the bubble. I didn’t get a qualifying
time until a few weeks before registration started. I qualified with three minutes to spare, but I
didn’t know for sure if that would be good enough. After registering for the race, I had to wait
more than a week to find out if I got in.
That’s the life of a squeaker. Since
then, I’ve always qualified by a wide enough margin that I knew I’d get
in. I still identify with the squeakers,
however. If you’ve ever been a squeaker,
you can relate to that feeling of uncertainty.
When our happy hour was done,
I stayed for dinner. Then I spent the evening
relaxing at the hotel. I had every
intention of getting to bed early, but for the second straight night, I stayed
up late talking to other runners in the hotel lobby. All weekend, I kept meeting other runners, as
well as their friends and family who came to support them. I also bumped into two friends who came to
Boston to volunteer. They just happened
to be staying at the same hotel.
Sunday, April 16
I didn’t
have to get up early, so I was able to catch up on sleep. I didn’t get up until I could see that it was
getting light outside. Then I did some strength
training exercises in the hotel’s fitness room.
After
my workout, I walked into the North End to have brunch at the North Street Grille. I wanted to try someplace new, and multiple
sources ranked them among the best brunch restaurants in Boston. Where else can you get a lobster omelet with home
fries and raspberry cream cheese French toast?
Sunday
is the day that various running clubs meet at the finish line for group photos. I belong to three clubs that were doing group
photos that day. The first was Marathon Maniacs,
which always meets for a group photo at noon.
This is a big group, and I saw a lot of people I know. I was talking to people for about 20 minutes
before I left.
I had
a couple hours before the next group photo, so I went back to the hotel to start
organizing my clothes for the race. It
was hard to decide what to wear, since I didn’t know yet whether it would rain
during the race.
I went back to the finish line at 2:20 for a group photo with members of the World Marathon Majors Challenge group. This is a Facebook group for runners who aspire to run all six of the World Marathon Majors (Boston, Chicago, New York City, London, Tokyo, and Berlin). I finished this goal in 2016, but I joined the group to share advice with others who are working toward this goal.
The
next photo was with Boston Squeakers. They’ve
been doing group photos at the finish line for 10 years, but I always used to
miss them, because they conflicted with my next meet-up. This year, the picture was earlier.
After
the last group photo, I rushed to Time Out Market for a happy hour meet-up with
the 50sub4 club. Members of this club
have a common goal of running marathons in all 50 states with times under four
hours.
Time
Out Market is a large hall with dozens of long tables in the center, and several
different counter-serve restaurants on the sides. There are also two bars. This was a great venue for our group. It was easy to find a place where we could
all sit together. While I was there, I
had dinner.
I went
to bed early that night and slept well for most of the night.
Monday, April 3
Monday
was race day. The marathon is held on
the third Monday in April, which is a holiday known as Patriots’ Day.
The race
starts in the small town of Hopkinton, MA. Most of the runners get to Hopkinton by taking
school buses that leave from Boston Common.
For the third time, I got to Hopkinton via a motorcoach that left from
the Boston Park Plaza hotel. There are
several motorcoaches that are commissioned by different running clubs. This one was for members of Marathon Maniacs.
A seat on the bus cost $90.
The
bus left at 6:45 AM, so I had to leave the hotel early to make sure I got there
on time. I set my alarm for 5:00, so I
could be ready to leave my hotel on time.
I was staying downtown, so I had to allow time to catch a green line
train to Boston Common. From there, it
was just one block to the Boston Park Plaza.
I left
the hotel before they started their breakfast service, but I had saved my
post-race snack bag from Saturday’s 5K race, so I had plenty of food to eat
while I was on the bus. The trip to
Hopkinton takes about an hour. The drivers
have to avoid roads that are blocked off for the marathon, so they inevitably have
to take a circuitous route into Hopkinton.
When you
take one of the school buses from Boston Common, you get dropped off at the Athletes’
Village, which is set up on the grounds of Hopkinton High School. After getting dropped off, you wait there
until it’s time to walk to the start corrals.
Waiting in the Athletes’ Village can be fun if the weather is nice and
you’re with friends. I still have fond
memories of waiting there in 2012, which was an unusually warm day.
Waiting
in the Athletes’ Village is far less fun if it’s raining, like it was in
2018. Then, you hope you can find a space
under one of the large tents, and you just hunker down and try to stay warm.
The
advantage of arriving by motorcoach is that you don’t have to wait outside in
the Athletes’ Village. Instead, the motorcoaches
all wait in a parking area that’s a few blocks away from the high school. We can stay on the bus as long as we need to,
and there a plenty of port-o-potties nearby.
The only downside was getting to Hopkinton at 7:45, when my wave didn’t
start until 10:50.
The
temperature was in the upper 40s, and I didn’t expect it to warm up much during
the race. By the time I left to head to
the start corrals, it was drizzly. I
wore the same cheetah outfit I wore last year.
I also wore a plastic rain poncho as I walked to the start corrals.
About
five minutes before my wave was going to start, the rain stopped. I made a last-minute decision to discard the
rain poncho. I would’ve kept it on if it
was still raining, but it would’ve been too hot now that the rain had stopped. The rain poncho kept my clothes mostly dry,
but I had to start the race with wet shoes.
Two weeks
ago, I ran the Bratislava Marathon in 4:11:08 on a mostly flat course. I had two goals for this race. First, I wanted to improve on my time from
Bratislava. I didn’t need to be much
faster. I’d be happy to improve by a minute. I just wanted to make incremental progress.
My
second goal was much more challenging. I
wanted to run negative splits. I did
that in Bratislava, but I’ve only done it once before on this course. This course is mostly downhill in the first half,
but has rolling hills in the second half.
It’s tough just running even spits on this course. It takes an incredible amount of discipline
to hold back enough in the first half to actually go faster in the more difficult
half.
In Bratislava,
my average pace for the entire race was 9:35 per mile. Ideally, I wanted to run that same pace in the
first half of this race and then speed up.
That’s easier said than done.
As I
started running, I could feel a slight headwind. Early in the race, the course was crowded enough
that other runners partially blocked the wind.
I was dressed fairly warm, but there was enough wind to ensure I would
never get hot.
The
first two miles are sharply downhill, but there are a couple of spots where the
road briefly turns uphill. Running
downhill, I stayed relaxed. I knew I’d
be going a little fast, but that was OK as lot as I didn’t put any extra energy
into it. On the short uphill sections, I
allowed myself to slow down. I knew my
overall pace would still be fast enough.
The
early miles go through smaller towns, where all the spectators are local
residents. The same people come out to
cheer every year. Near the end of the
first mile, I saw a guy holding up a sign that read, “25.3.” I have no doubt that was accurate. We had 25.3 miles to go.
I ran
the first two miles in 9:14, and 9:13 respectively. That’s a little faster than my goal pace, but
I expected that. Those are the two miles
with the most elevation loss, but I wasn’t excessively fast.
When I
reached an aid station, I was conflicted about whether to drink some
Gatorade. I had made a bathroom stop 25
minutes before I started, but I already felt like I needed to pee again. I drank there, but I decided to only drink at
every other aid station for the rest of the race. I didn’t want to have to make any bathroom
stops during the race. The conditions
were cool enough that I wasn’t expecting to sweat too much.
Starting
with mile three, my goal was to keep my mile times between 9:30 and 9:45. I ran mile three in 9:28. That was just a little bit fast, so I tried
to relax more in the next mile.
My
qualifying time for this race was 3:33, but I’m not currently in shape to run
nearly that fast. Wave and corral assignments
are based on your qualifying time, so I started the race surrounded by people
who were running much faster than I was prepared to run. To keep from going too fast, I needed to
ignore the runners around me and run my own pace. In mile four, I was drifting back in
comparison with the runners around me, but I was still too fast. I ran that mile in 9:24.
In the
next mile, I eased up some more. Now,
everybody was going by me. I apparently
relaxed a little too much. I slowed to
9:54 in that mile. That’s only nine
seconds slower than my target range, but it was 30 seconds slower than the previous
mile. I was concerned about slowing down
that much, so I picked up my effort.
Mile six was the first mile where I felt like I was working to pick up
my pace. I overcompensated and sped up
to 9:02.
I drank
Gatorade at two miles and four miles, but when I got to six miles, I still felt
like I was drinking more often than I needed to. I was feeling the wind more now, so I cut
back to only drinking at every third mile.
In
mile seven, I slowed to 9:47. I kept
missing my target range. Sometimes I was
faster, and sometimes I was slower. It
wasn’t until the 8th mile that I finally got it just right.
When I
wear the cheetah outfit, I always get reactions from the crowd. I also get compliments from other
runners. This year, one of the other
runners remembered seeing me in the same outfit last year. Another remembered seeing me at the New York
City Marathon.
Of my
first 10 miles, only two were within my target range, but my average pace was
OK. It was right at the low end of my
target range. I also felt pretty
comfortable. I felt similar to the way I
felt in the first half of the Bratislava Marathon, and that was a race where I had
the energy to speed up in the second half.
When I
got to the 12-mile mark, I took off my gloves and took my phone out of my fanny
pack in anticipation of the “Wellesley scream tunnel,” which begins at
20K. As soon as I took my phone out, it
started sprinkling. It wasn’t a heavy
rain, but it was more significant than the light drizzle we had before the race.
Wellesley
College is an all-women’s school that’s right next to the marathon route. The students always come out to cheer. There’s also a long tradition of runners
stopping to get a kiss from one of the students. I wasn’t going to stop, but I unlocked the screen
on my phone and took several pictures. I
was taking pictures randomly while I kept running. I took more than a dozen pictures, hoping a few of them would
be clear. It had only been raining for
about five minutes, but many of the students already had umbrellas out.
After
the Wellesley scream tunnel, I put my phone back in my fanny pack. My hands were getting cold, and I regretted
taking my gloves off. I was tempted to
put them on again, but it’s tough to pull them on when my hands are already wet.
Instead, I stuffed the gloves around my
phone, to keep it from getting too wet.
I was
almost to the halfway point. This was
the first of three places where one of my friends was volunteering. When I reached halfway, I looked for my
friend Jody, who was stationed by the digital clock. The crowds were so thick, that I had trouble
spotting her, but she saw me and yelled to me.
I slowed down briefly to wave to her, and she took a picture of me.
I reached
the halfway mark in 2:04:38. That put me
on pace to finish in roughly 4:09, which would’ve been two minutes faster than
I ran in Bratislava. The challenge now
was to run faster in the second half.
I was
just starting the second half when I started feeling larger drops. It was no longer a light sprinkle. Now it was a soaking rain. I really missed the plastic rain poncho that
I discarded before the start of the race.
The second half was going to be cold, but I just had to endure it. I figured it would be about hours before I
finished.
I
immediately picked up my effort. The next
mile was slightly downhill, and I used it to pick up my pace. In the first half of the race, everyone was
passing me. Now, for the first time, I
passed a few runners. I wanted to run
the second half faster, but that wasn’t my only motivation for working harder
now. I also needed to work harder to
stay warm.
I ran
the 14th mile in 9:10. Earlier, I didn’t
want to run any faster than 9:30. Now I
didn’t want to run any slower than that.
I kept
up the same effort in mile 15, but I never noticed when my watched recorded my
split. Now that it was raining, I didn’t
hear the subtle beep, nor did I feel the vibration. I assumed my pace was faster than 9:30,
because my effort was similar to the previous mile.
When I
reached the aid station just past 15 miles, I decided to drink now, so I wouldn’t
need to drink at the next aid station. I
remembered that the next aid station would come during a hill, and I didn’t
want to have to stop on the hill.
As I
got closer to the Charles River, the road turned sharply downhill. I shifted into my downhill racing stride,
taking short rapid steps. That was the
last downhill mile before reaching the Newton hills, and I wanted to run it
fast.
As I
entered Newton, I began a long gradual hill.
I lifted my effort. I wanted to
keep my pace under 9:30, even going uphill. Near the beginning of that hill, I passed the
16-mile mark. I was curious to know how
fast I ran the previous mile, but I missed getting the split from my watch.
The
hill I was on isn’t at all steep, but it’s almost a mile long. I picked up my effort enough that I was now
passing many of the runners around me. Toward
the end of that mile, I was running hard enough that my breathing was somewhat
faster. I was curious to know what my
pace was, but when I got to 17, I once again missed getting the split form my
watch.
After
that hill, the road turns downhill and then levels off. I used that section to recover before the next
hill.
It was
here that I noticed it had stopped raining.
It may have only been raining hard for two or three miles, but my clothes
were soaked, so I was cold for the rest of the race. Later, I would occasionally notice some light
drizzle, but it never rained hard again.
At
17.5 miles, I made the right turn onto Commonwealth Avenue and ran by the
Newton Fire Station. This is the beginning
of the second hill. It’s steeper, but
not too long. I really attacked this
hill. I was passing other runners again
here. The hill was just a little bit
longer than I remembered, and I couldn’t keep up the same pace all the way to
the top.
After cresting
that hill, I used the downhill to pick up my pace again. I ran this downhill hard enough that I briefly
started breathing faster. That was the
only time I was breathing hard while running downhill.
I was
anticipating seeing my friend David, who was volunteering in Newton. He was stationed by the clock at 30K, but I
got mixed up and looked for him at 18 miles instead. As a result, I never saw him. I also missed another split, so I didn’t know
how well I kept up my pace. I felt like
I was running strong, so I was reasonably confident that I was at least keeping
my pace under 9:30. Still, it was
frustrating not knowing for sure.
The
next mile was rolling. It had some small
undulations, but nothing that I really think of as a hill. Ahead of me, I spotted a runner who had
passed me earlier in the race. He’s a
much stronger runner than I am, so I was surprised that I was close enough to see
him. By the end of that mile, I realized
I was gaining on him. That gave me more
confidence that I was running strong through Newton.
When I
finished that mile, I once again missed getting the split from my watch. That was five consecutive miles that I didn’t
know my pace. It wasn’t until after the race,
when I downloaded the data from my watch, that I discovered how fast I was
going. I ran those five miles in 9:06,
8:34, 8:55, 8:52, and 8:40 respectively.
I felt strong, but had no idea that I was running that fast.
In
mile 20, I reached the third of the four Newton hills. This one isn’t that tough, but I ran a
measured effort here. I wanted to make
sure I would still have plenty of energy for the last hill. When I finished that mile, I finally saw my
time. I ran that one in 8:52. I still didn’t know my times from the
previous five miles, but running this one that fast gave me a lot of
confidence.
The
last significant hill on the course is Heartbreak Hill. This one starts out fairly easy, but gets
steeper about halfway up. Having run it
several times before, I knew exactly how long it was, so I was able to ration
my energy well.
After
Heartbreak Hill, the road turns downhill, but only briefly. Then there’s one more small rise before the
21-mile mark. I really wanted to know
how fast I ran that mile. I knew I
wouldn’t hear or feel my watch recording my split, so I kept looking at my
watch. I looked at 20.95 and 20.97. Then I got distracted. When I looked again, it was already
21.03. I missed getting my split for the
sixth time out of seven miles. After the
race, I learned that I ran that mile in 9:16.
Now, I
was almost home free. The rest of the
race has a downhill trend. There are a
few small hills, but nothing significant.
As I ran past Boston College, I had a nice long downhill segment. I shifted into my downhill racing stride and
picked up speed. I ran that mile in 8:36.
In the
next mile, the road leveled off a bit. I
throttled back my effort just a bit to make sure I wouldn’t run out of gas
before the end of the race. Near the end
of that mile, there are some tracks in the street. I always pay close attention to my footing
going around the turn, to make sure I won’t trip on the tracks.
After
the turn, I entered Brookline. Wellesley
College, Boston College, and Boylston Street have reputations for great crowd
support, but the people of Brookline really turned out. The crowds here really kept me pumped up.
I ran
mile 23 in 8:59. My total time so far
was 3:33 and change. I did a quick calculation
and realized that if I kept up the same pace for the last 3.2 miles, I would
run negative splits by six or seven minutes. Both of my pre-race goals were in the bag now,
so I set a more ambitious goal. My
fastest race so far this year was the Las Cruces Marathon in early
January. I couldn’t remember my exact
time in that race, but I knew it was 4:03 and change. At the pace I was going, it was going to be
close, but I had a realistic shot at beating that time.
With
5K to go, I thought back to the 5K race I ran on Saturday. I imagined myself needing to run that same
course now, but at a pace that was about a minute per mile slower. That seemed manageable.
My
friend Mary was volunteering at 24 miles.
By the time I got there, I was so focused on my pace and effort that I
forgot to look for her. I also wasn’t
paying enough attention to my watch to see how fast that mile was. It didn’t really matter that much. I was going to run the last 2.2 miles as hard
as I could regardless.
The
most iconic landmark on the course is the giant Citgo sign across from Fenway Park. I usually see it at least a mile before I get
there. This year, it was such a gray day
that I didn’t notice it until I was only half a mile away.
It’s
easy to tell when you’re approaching the 25-mile sign, because you see the 40K
sign first. There’s also a small hill there
as you cross a bridge over the freeway. That gave me a heads up that it was time to
start paying attention to my watch. I
ran mile 25 in 8:55.
When I
reached the Citgo sign and Fenway Park, I had exactly a mile to go. It’s painted on the street too. I looked at my watched and realized for the
first time that I was definitely going to beat my time from the Las Cruses
Marathon.
Shortly
after that, I ran under a bridge that was painted with the words, “Boston Strong.” After running under that bridge, I was on the
section of the course that’s also part of the course for the B.A.A 5K
race. I had run this section of the course
just two days earlier, so it was fresh in my mind. The road dips down as you run under Massachusetts
Avenue. Then you have to come up a small
ramp. Sometimes I struggle with this
ramp, but not this year.
After
making the right turn onto Hereford, it’s slightly uphill for two short blocks
before the final turn onto Boylston. I ran
a measured effort on Hereford, but poured it on when I got onto Boylston.
As
soon as you turn onto Boylston, you can see the finish line in the
distance. There was so much mist in the
air that I could barely see it.
I ran
hard to the line and finished in 4:02:21, easily beating my time from Las
Cruces. I ran negative splits by a huge
margin. After running the first half in
2:04:38, I ran the second half in 1:57:43.
In spite of the cold rain, this was one of my favorite Boston Marathon experiences. I love how strong I felt in the second half of the race. It took me 12 tries, but I finally paced myself well on this course.
The
Boston Marathon finisher medal is something I always treasure. Other races have new designs every year, but
the Boston medal has the same classic design every year. There are small changes in styling, but it’s
always the logo of the Boston Athletic Association.
As I
continued through the finish area, I encountered a volunteer who was having trouble
getting a mylar blanket turned to the reflective side. This blanket was twice as long as it was
supposed to be. He asked me if I minded
getting a “double wide” blanket. That
worked for me. I was freezing cold, and the
more blanket I could wrap around me the better.
There were other volunteers with tape to help hold it in place.
As I
kept moving forward, another volunteer handed me a food bag. I took it without thinking. As I kept walking, it occurred to me that I
really didn’t need it. I already had
plenty of water back at the hotel, so I didn’t need any water or Gatorade. I also didn’t need any food. It was already after 3:00. By the time I got back to the hotel and got
cleaned up, it would be close to dinner time.
I didn’t want to eat anything now that would spoil my appetite for
dinner. I also didn’t need to save any
food for Tuesday. I was getting a free
breakfast at the hotel and then I needed to fly home.
I made
my way to Arlington Station, which is the closest T station after the finish
line. When I got into the station, I
found out there was no inbound train service on the green line, because of a
disabled train that was tying up the track.
I had to leave that station and walk four blocks to get to the nearest
station on the orange line. By the time
I got there, my hands were so cold that they turned completely white. I have Raynaud’s Syndrome, so that’s a common
problem for me if I get too cold.
I tried
a couple times to give away my food bag, but I wasn’t finding any takers. Finally, after boarding a train, I saw a
woman with a young boy. I asked her if
her son would like some snacks. She
happily accepted the food bag. I didn’t
need it, so I was glad to give it to someone who could use it.
After getting
back to the hotel, I took a long hot bath.
The color came back to my hands, but my fingers felt tingly at first.
Now
that I was done running and my hands were finally working, I could use my phone
to track some of my friends who were running.
Three of them were running the Boston Marathon for the first time. Of those, one was finishing her journey to run
marathons in all 50 states. They all finished. One of the friends I was tracking is a veteran
of this race, but he was injured, so he had to walk most of the race. He didn’t know if he would be alle to finish before
they shut off the clocks. He did.
When you’re
running the marathon, you don’t get to watch the elite runners on TV. I had to wait until after the race to see who
won. I was curious to see how Eliud
Kipchoge did. He’s the world record
holder, and he’s set course records at several races, but most of those were
races with flat courses. I was curious
to see how he would do on this course. Apparently,
this course was challenging for him.
Kipchoge came in sixth. The male winner
was Evans Chabet, who also won the race in 2022. The female winner was Hellen Obiri. Minnesota native Emma Bates was the first
American woman.
Jody was
one of the friends who was staying at the same hotel as me. When Jody got back from volunteering, we went
to dinner at Night Shift Brewing. They
were offering free pizzas to marathon finishers. Shortly after we arrived, I saw two other
friends arrive, so the four of us ate together.
Three of us got free pizzas for running the marathon and Jody got a free
pizza for volunteering.
Tuesday, April 18
Tuesday morning, I saw several
other marathon runners who were walking uncomfortably. I felt fine.
I didn’t have any sore muscles or other aches and pains. I’m feeling pretty optimistic about my running. Earlier in the year, I had a few setbacks,
but I’m finally able to train consistently, and my race times are improving.
When I got to the airport, I
saw lots of other runners wearing Boston Marathon gear and/or finisher
medals. I had a chance to talk to a few
runners I had never met and hear about their race experiences.
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