Boston Marathon - race report

Short story
For those folks just surfing the blog waves for the number of Boston Marathon stories.

The weather was the story. Rainy & wet, cold, strong headwind with occasional gusts of close to 50mph. That said, it was Boston so it was fun and I managed to qualify for Boston next year too!

Longer story
For those of you with too much time or just wanting to hear a, “Boston story.”

Friday night
The Boston Athletic Association (baa) sent out a weather warning Friday night. Hey, once the baa has your money, you NEVER get a weather warning email. Anyway, the first paragraph provided a forecast for Monday. A Nor’easter with rain & sleet, possible snow, headwinds gusting to 50mph, and temperatures in the low 40s. The next several pages of the email talked about how to recognize and treat hypothermia. This is just great. I’ve got non-refundable plane tickets, expensive hotel reservations, and my girlfriend already has plans to party in Houston without me. Am I really going to get on a plane to Boston on Saturday morning?

Saturday
The early morning flight was on time, and naturally arrived in Boston early…about 45 minutes early…lots of ultra-light runners on board. Normally, I go to the Expo and buy a patch for my jacket. This was my eighth Boston and a $6 patch is a lot better than a $90 jacket that I’d hardly wear (We have about 7 days of winter in Houston). This time however, I bought a hoody (sweatshirt with a hood) to commemorate what was expected to be a very cold & wet day on Monday.

Saturday night at the Union Oyster House is an annual tradition. Spent an hour or so at the oyster bar running smack with the shuckers (Sox & Astros always come up), ate some cold water oyster, chowda, & beer. Then lobster for dinner. I really do love Boston on the Saturday before the marathon.

Sunday
The Sunday weather reports were scary…Nor’easter blowing trees down and beach houses inland. Talk of canceling the race was heard but only as a matter of conversation. After all, it is the 111th Boston. No doubt that the ballgame at Fenway would be cancelled.

The pre-race pasta party at Government Plaza on Sunday evening was another indication that Monday’s race was going to be….err, ah, exciting. To get to the food, we were shuttled through a huge circus tent to protect us from the rain, wind, and cold. Did I say windy? Forget carrying an umbrella…unless you wanted to fly to Hopkinton via Mary Poppins Airways. Once inside though, it was typical Boston Marathon fanfare; jugglers, music, noise, pasta of course, and beer. Dessert? Oh, that was outside. Yep, there’s nothing like finishing a nice pasta dinner, bundling back up, and then heading out into the cold, windy night for some ice cream.

Got back to the hotel and spent at least an hour laying out all the possible combinations of clothing to wear during the marathon. I settled on long sleeve tights, leggings, two pair of gloves with chemical hand warmers, knit cap.

Monday
The walk to the Park Plaza Hotel to catch the bus was not too bad. A bit of rain, lots of wind, and of course, cold. My company provides two coach busses that take us to Hopkinton so we get a huge break on transportation and comfort. Not only is the ride better than a big yellow school bus, but there is a bathroom on board. Oh yea! A bathroom on a bus that takes over an hour to get to Hopkinton is priceless. Did I mention that I was rooming with my running buddy Fred? Although the busses were filled up with company employees, I managed to get Fred on the bus. I think he appreciated the above amenities.

Last minute changes to the wardrobe selection. The weather was probably not going to be as bad as everyone thought. I settled on a LS tight shirt, hat, one pair of gloves (with chemical warmers), and some thigh length shorts. Got lucky as that was about the perfect attire for me.

The marathon
As is my custom for the Boston Marathon, I brought my cell phone. Several of my running buddies in Houston take a half day off work to watch the marathon. It’s always a lot of fun to call them and provide real-time race reports along the course. After the first call while in the corral, I made 3-4 other calls. Also, this year, I took a few pictures…a few at Wellesley of course.

The marathon went very well with no back pain at all. Amazing what anti-inflammatories and pain medication can do ;) I ran at a fairly steady pace throughout the race and finished with a 3 minute positive split (ran the second half of the marathon 3 minutes slower than the first half). Given that the Newton Hills (including Heartbreak Hill) are in the second half, I consider that an accomplishment.

Oh yea, the BoSox game was delayed...not cancelled.

Post –marathon
After the company party at the Park Plaza hotel (where I was forced to give away over 30 beers…but that’s another story), Fred and I met a bunch of other Houston runners at Grill 23. Any steak after a marathon is excellent but Grill 23 steak is absolutely the best! Thanks Wayne for making those reservations.

Am already thinking about next year.