Like most of my entries, this one would go best with a nice
cup of tea or coffee, maybe 2 given the length of this entry. Hope you enjoy.
Background:
When I first started running, I NEVER thought I would run a
marathon, then when I started running marathons, I didn’t even consider Boston
at first and eventually I figured, well when I am 80, if I maintain this pace I
just MIGHT be able to qualify, so when my friend Jenna sent me the link to the
B.A.A.’s special application page, I wasn’t really sure I should apply. I knew there was the option to run for a
charity, heck that’s how I ended up in Boston in 2013, cheering on my friends
Elaine and Serena, running their first marathon in Boston while raising funds
for the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge. I had resolved myself to
qualifying…someday, when I was much older…and it was more a dream than a
possibility. It was only after
consistent urging from many of my running friends that I decided that I would
apply and let the B.A.A. be the judge of whether or not I should get the
opportunity to be a part of this amazing event.
On December 4, I received an e-mail from the B.A.A.
informing me that my application had been accepted, and I was invited to
participate in the 2014 Boston Marathon.
Training:
The training for Boston was largely the same as my other
marathons with 2 notable exceptions. All
hill workouts were run downhill with the recovery being on the uphill, my coach
designed it his way so I’d be prepared for the net downhill as well as ready
for the Newton hills. The other BIG
difference this time around…training in a Polar Vortex, many cold..nay FREEZING
cold runs and LOTS of snowy/slushy runs as well. I had a few really tough training runs along
the way and could not have gotten through some of them without the support of
the Slush Monkeys (Andy, Kris, Larry & Rhonda), on more than one occasion,
they mothered/nursed me along until we got to food and coffee and I am so
grateful to them for being a regular part of my training and sharing in the
good, the bad and the downright ugly that was winter 2013/2014!
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| Some of the Slush Monkeys- Couldn't have done it without you! |
Race weekend:
Friday – travel
day:
Sonia, Riana and I drove down to Wayland, MA to the home of
our friends Dave and Elaine, who once again graciously opened their doors and
welcomed us in for the weekend, and they
made sure there was an ample supply of bacon on hand…booyah!! Do they KNOW me
or what?
The ride down was uneventful save for the 1.5 hour wait at
the border, thankfully we had satellite radio in the rental car to keep us all
entertained. I absolutely love road trips with my family and now that the kids
are adults, there are far fewer bathroom breaks, most of which are dictated by
MY aging bladder ;-)
Saturday – the
EXPO:
Got in one last tune-up run with Elaine. I am always impressed by how strong a runner
Elaine is, that hill right outside the front door to start the run, sure has
paid dividends!
Post-run it was time for breakie, featuring bacon of course! Then we headed into Boston for the Race Expo.
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| Dude sending us off |
The whole experience was a little surreal, I remembered
walking through the expo in 2013 with Elaine and being in awe, but knowing that
I was on my way to pick up my own race kit this time, was…frankly a little
overwhelming.
The volunteers are fantastic! They know what this race and in particular
this year’s running of the race mean to so many and they are more than willing
to pose for pics, slow things down and really let you soak in the experience,
in spite of the sheer numbers of runners that they need to get through the
doors.
I took full advantage of this at each of the tables we had
to go through, doing my best to make the most of what will likely be my ONLY
Boston Marathon. I was overcome with
emotion and fighting tears when I was presented with my bib and athlete’s
passport, when turned to Riana to tell her how I didn’t expect that, her
comment was, Really? I was it’s kind of a big deal! True, we all know I’m an
emotional guy, so I probably should have expected it. Thankfully this was not
repeated at each of the tables we visited, the Shirt table was the exact
opposite, HUGE smile and the poster table, spent searching for our names on the
list of runners, once found…HUGE smile again...only the beginnings of the
emotional roller coaster that would run the entirety of the weekend.
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| Patient volunteers! |
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| This is REALLY happening! |
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| Shirt pick-up |
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| Me and Elaine, ready to run Boston! |
After the official tables were all visited, it was time to
head to the expo for some shopping…this is where Sonia and Riana left Elaine
and I and headed out on their own shopping spree.
First stop, official race merchandise. Last year when I visited the expo with Elaine
and Serena, I told them, I wouldn’t try on or wear a Boston Marathon Jacket unless
or until I run the marathon, time to get mine! I still wouldn’t wear the
jacket, I’m not so much superstitious about race merchandise, I just don’t like
to wear it until I’ve done the race, so once purchased, the jacket went
straight into the bag, to be handed over to Sonia until after the marathon.
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| It fits, now back in the bag! |
What are the odds in a crowd as large as the one at the
Boston Marathon Expo that you’d bump into someone you know unplanned? The odds must have been in our favour as I
was fortunate enough to have a quick visit with Coach Ramona, one of the Team
in Training Coaches who was a big part of my first marathon and ran me across
the finish of my second marathon when I was sure I couldn’t take another step…a
good omen indeed! Bonus, Elaine who was raising funds for Team in Training this
year got to meet an amazing athlete and coach who has inspired many over the
years and understand why I speak so highly of her!
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| Coach Ramona!! |
With the shopping done, Elaine and Dave switched it up so he
and I could spend sometime visiting downtown Boston, grab a bite and with any
luck, head over to the Library to see the memorial (gathered from last year’s
finish line).
The walk down Boylston was tougher than I thought it would
be, passing by where Dave and I had been standing and then seeing the
make-shift memorial at the location of the second bomb drove home just how
close we had been and how fortunate.
Many of the horrific memories of that day came flooding back. Dave and I made our way to the memorial and
added one of the Boston we run with you shirts to the cards, flowers and other
tributes. We also made a stop at the
Boylston Street Fire Station to deliver a shirt. Many of the first responders on Boylston
Street that day worked out of that station.
After and emotional day downtown, it was time to head back,
regroup and feed the troops, being in New England, it only made sense to head
out for seafood, great little spot that was both casual and lively and offered
some great eats to boot, good call Dave!
Sunday – chilaxin’
and fuellin’:
Today was about staying off my feet, so I let Sonia and
Riana tour the aquarium on their own while chilled with a coffee and a book and
bought our tickets for the Duck Tours…great way to see the sights and stay off
your feet, although I’m not sure we could trust any of the facts the guide was
providing since he got almost every fact about the Boston Marathon history
wrong (no I did not correct him).
Post sightseeing we headed over to Jean’s (Elaine’s sister)
for an amazing (seemingly never ending) spread of delicious food. One of the
highlights for me (other than getting to visit with Elaine’s family and meet
Serena’s) was walking into the back yard to have Devon (Dave and Elaine’s son)
say “Hey doot”, to appreciate this you have to understand that every visit we
have where Devon and I spend any time at all together, I call him Dude, non-stop
and in between our “DOG BONE” and other shenanigans, I’m sure we drive Dave
almost over the edge J
After that it was back to Dave and Elaine’s for shirt prep
(there’s a fair amount of decorating involved when you’re part of a charity
team) and an early evening for all.
Race day – We’re
running the Boston Marathon!!!
The point-to-point nature of the Boston marathon
necessitates an EARLY rise so that they can bus the 36,000+ runners from
downtown Boston to the start line in Hopkinton.
Elaine and I drove into the city to meet up with Serena, Christina and
Amanda (all of them had run last year’s race and were stopped short of the
finish). There was still lots of shirt
decorating and last minute gear decisions being made (all tested of course),
but we were soon on our way to the buses.
The bus ride to Hopkinton seemed really long., prolly only
about 26.2 miles though ;-) and not nearly as eventful as it must have been for
the folks on the broken down bus we saw along the way, gah stressful! My bathrobe (choice clothing to stay warm at
early morning races and only $5 at the thrift shop, easy to get rid of too,
without interfering with hats or sunglasses) was a big hit, apparently the
first time many had seen this approach J
Makes for some fun photos too!
The start line staging area is more like a small shanty town,
a few tents, a bunch of porta-johns and lots of runners, volunteers, blankets,
garbage bags and anything else you can think of to stay warm and dry as you
wait for the speaker to call out your start corral to get you started on your
walk to the start line.
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| The FAB 4 - Elaine, Christina, Amanda & Serena |
Plenty of time for Team photos and multiple trips to the
porta-johns (damn you nervous bladder!)
It seemed both like the waiting took forever and at the same
time was over in a heartbeat.
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| Gonna' run the Boston Marathon, but first...let me take a Selfie! |
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| I don't always wear a bathrobe, but when I do, I'm surrounded by fast women ;-) |
Our wave
was called and we started to make our way to the start line, every step a little
voice inside me (ok maybe it burst out once or twice) was saying, OMG you’re
running the BOSTON MARATHON!!!!
The plan for this marathon was to soak it ALL in, take as
many pictures and videos as possible and savour every moment. Well the clock will tell you that is exactly
what we did, my slowest marathon to date, and possibly one of the most tiring.
Elaine’s family and friends, joined this year by Sonia and Riana were at their usual spot at mile 3 in Ashland, where we paused for photos, high fives hugs and cheers before getting back down to the business of running the marathon.
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| Energy transfer |
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| Everybody got in on the huggin' |
Along the way, we saw some incredibly inspiring people, from
the two young women running in memory of their uncle a firefighter who had been
one of the first responders in 2013, was registered to run, but perished while
fighting a fire just two weeks before the marathon to running by Rick and Dick
and the rest of Team Hoyt just a little after mile 24.
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| Team Hoyt |
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| Dick and Rick Hoyt - Simply Inspirational! |
The cheers and the support from the volunteers and the crowd
were like none other I've ever experienced, many of them thanking us for coming
back to run their marathon! More than
once when my legs started to give out, I was lifted by the chants of the crowd,
somehow they keyed in on anyone who seemed to be wavering and collectively
chanted their name, it got me through quite a few rough spots on this day.
All those things you hear about the Scream tunnel at
Wellesley College…TRUE! I shot video with my camera and at first I was trying
to match their screams, but kept gasping for air, so I switched to shouting “Right
on, Right on”, I didn’t realise how long the tunnel was until I watched the
video later that week and heard the number of times I said “Right on, Right on”,
wow! I also wondered why I was so out of
air in spite of no longer shouting along with the women in the crowd…I clearly
got caught up in the fervor of their cheering as I averaged 1 minute faster per
kilometre through that tunnel. Intervals are not a good thing at the 20km mark
of a marathon, this would come back to haunt me later.
Oh and somewhere between Mile 11 and Mile 12, Elaine and Serena made sure to point out this street, no idea why...
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| A finer street there never was! |
Not long after you leave the noise and the excitement of
Wellesley, you find yourself in the roller coaster section of the course, which
eventually levels off only to lead you to the Newton hills, and this is where
my legs began to really feel the effects.
Somewhere on those hills in Newton, my quads shut down, every uphill was
met with searing pain, and I had to walk, I could run the flats and even some
of the downhills, but the ups were just too much. Elaine and Serena were great, they stayed
with me, running the ups, waiting for me to join them and then we’d all get
going again. I am sure they could have
had a much quicker time if they had decided to go on, but I am so grateful to
them for getting me through this marathon!
Dave, Sonia and Riana were waiting for us somewhere on Hereford,
Elaine saw them, I apparently got caught up on the crowd and was on Boylston
before I realised that Elaine and Serena were no longer just a few feet ahead,
beside or behind me…so I pulled over to wait…the crowd must have thought I was
giving up, because I’ve never heard so many people shouting not to give up, not
far now, you can do this…thankfully I didn’t have to endure that for long,
Elaine and Serena caught up to me pretty quickly and we managed to cross the
finish line together.
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| Finishing together! |
All in all it was a VERY emotional weekend, to all of you
who purchased a Boston we run with you shirt, volunteered to help me sell them
at race expo, offset the costs with corporate sponsorship, or who attended the
Boston virtual run, THANK YOU, we raised just over $8000 for The One Fund
Boston to help the victims pay for their medical expenses and you are all a big
part of why I think I was selected by the BAA to run this Marathon. I will never forget, experience of a
lifetime!!
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| AMAZING!! Thank you all! |
