Hi all, I already sent out my little teaser report but now it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty.
It all began 47+ years ago ... (no I won't go into that much detail) Last year, when I decided to go back to Boston, I had thought about trying to run a fast (for me, that is) marathon there. The first time I ran Boston (1998), I had some knee problems beforehand and decided to go slow. It was a lot of fun (especially since I ran most of the way with Teresa, Toads, and Nick Hanson) but I wanted to go a little faster this time. However, the best laid plans, etc, etc. My training has really sucked since Portland last October. I ran Tucson at a controlled pace with Barb B and Ken Myers to get Barb a qualifying Boston time. And, after Tucson, my training really went downhill. So, I knew that a time in the 3:20s was not possible but I had no idea what I should try for.
So, with that in mind, I left Friday evening on the redeye from Portland. The redeye didn't turn out too bad (I managed a few hours of sleep) and I arrived in Boston at 10AM. I hopped the T, arrived at the Marriott and was off to the expo to get my stuff and spend money. While I was there, I ran into Jim Adams, looking lonely at the RRCA booth (not a great location -- Frank Shorter was set up a couple of booths down and there was no line to speak of), and Mike Sheldon (who definitely does look like Dennis Halpin). After the expo, I went back to the hotel to meet up with one of my roomies, my traveling buddy, Jerome Focosi from Spokane. We had signed up for the Duck Tour and we were off. The Duck Tour was a blast (thanks, Mike for organizing it). I met up with some more Deads there and Boston was beginning to take on that great excitement. After the Duck Tour, it was back to the expo with Jerome and then to the dinner. While we were waiting for the train to the dinner, who should come into the train station but Kate Spencer and her non-Dead friend from Chicago, Jennifer. So, we rode the T together to the dinner, without getting lost (of course, the reason that Jerome and I were at the station where we met Kate and Jennifer was that we went down the wrong stairwell at Copley and had to take the train one stop in the wrong direction to get a train going in the right direction -- you know, that we did have to do some extra exploring while we were there). The dinner was excellent -- both the food and the company. I thought it was a much better place than 2 years ago since it was much easier to mingle. There, again, I met up with Deads who I knew and met Deads with whom I have corresponded or read their posts. It is always great meeting Deads in person after communicating with them. They are almost never how you picture them (I'm not mentioning any names). Robin, thanks so much for organizing the wonderful dinner. At the dinner, we also met up with Matt Sissman, our third roomie for the weekend, who informed us that he had gone to Fenway that day and saw Pedro pitch. Needless to say I was quite envious, and we decided, that weather permitting, we would try to go see the Red Sox play on Sunday.
Sunday morning arrived with showery conditions. Jerome and I decided to bag the pre-bagel run and just went to the Bagel brunch. We saw that 2 other guys got off at the same T stop and looked as lost as we did. We went up to them and asked them if they were Deads, and, sure enough they were. One was Eric M. and he knew me "as the Dead who likes to travel". Gee, I didn't know I had such a reputation but if any of you want advice on trips to Europe, I always more than willing to give it (just ask, Donna E). BTW, I'm no relation to Arthur Frommer of the travel books and I don't get any discounts even though I work for a company that produces web travel software. At the brunch we met up with some more Deads, including our own 51st overall finisher, Tim (when I shared a room at Tucson with Tim, I didn't know that I was sharing it with someone who would have their name listed in bold in the Boston Globe list of the top 100 finishers -- I would have stolen one of his socks and asked him to autograph it). Val, thanks for opening your house to us. Unfortunately, we didn't stay that long at the brunch since it was time to try to see the Sox. We grabbed Dennis Halpin in mid-bagel bite and went off. However, Dennis was beginning to fade so he begged out and Jerome and I went off to Fenway in search of tickets. We weren't successful so we just went back to the hotel (after I did a little shopping for Make Way for Ducklings souvenirs -- our daughter Elizabeth memorized the book when she was 2), where I later forced Jerome to watch some of the Blazer game (go Blazers!!!). Then, it was off to another Dead dinner, where we again met up with more Deads and, unknowingly, bought 6 bottles of $5.95 water. The guy kept on filling our water glasses up but not from a pitcher. We didn't know that we were being charged for it so our bill was a little bit of a surprise. But, the dinner was still great. Jim and Donna, thanks for setting this up. Then we walked down to the finish line for some pictures and headed off to our respective hotels.
Jerome and I made plans to go to the Athletes Village with Barb and her friends from Spokane and Kate and her friends from Chicago. Barb and friends were staying at the Marriott and we walked over to the Colonnade where Kate was staying. From there it was a short ride on the T to Boylston to get on a very warm bus for the ride. I had pretty much decided to wear a LS Coolmax shirt with DRS singlet since it was pretty nippy out. It turned out to be a good choice. However, while we were waiting, I was also wearing a sweatshirt, a Tyvek jacket, and a rain jacket, along with warm pants. Did I mention it was cold and windy? Every now and then, the sun would peek out and the wind would die down, making me think that maybe a singlet would be OK. But, then the sun would disappear and the wind would return and that would be the end of those thoughts. The time at the village went fairly fast (though it is not my idea of a lot of fun) and finally around 11:15, we gathered up our stuff and went off to the corrals. We left Kate at her corral and saw Teresa in there waiting for her. Hopefully, the picture I took of them will turn out. Then, Jerome and I walked up to our corral and was looking around for Dennis, when he showed up. Then, two more runners wearing Texas shorts showed up and we were surrounded by Texans.
I was undecided about my pace. I finally decided on the walk to the corral that I would try to run an even pace at around 8:30/mile. It was good to finally have a plan. Suddenly, someone announced over the PA that the race had started and I started my watch. According to my watch, it took us about 2:38 to get to the starting line but the clock was already at 3:09, so my watch was off by 30 seconds the whole race. I ran the first mile with Jerome, but at the end of it, he started speeding up so I wished him well and settled into my pace. As always I was amazed by the crowd support. I later read that the crowd was about half its normal size (495000 versus 1000000) due to the weather but it was still great.
After Jerome took off, I settled into a pretty good pace. I had a couple of early miles under 8 but backed off and tried to keep the non-aid miles in the 8:15-8:30 range (remember that I walk the aid stations). I took a porta-tree break around mile 4, which cost me a little time. But the bad news was that by mile 8, I was having some pretty severe stomach pains/cramps. I had been drinking Gatorade and had a GU packet a little before. I don't know what the cause was but it wasn't fun. Luckily, I found an empty porta-potty right before the 15K mark. The stop cost me 4 minutes with mile 9 taking 12:18. My stomach was hurting on and off and I decided to forego GU and Gatorade the rest of the way, only drinking water. It seemed to do the trick after a few miles. Wellesley was great as usual and I met up with Mike Sheldon (thanks Mike for taking my picture) and Donna C. Donna and I ran together for a couple of miles but I was feeling pretty decent so I sped up a little. I ran the hills in a little over 9 minutes and then settled in for the race to the finish. I was real pleased with my last 5+ miles since I kept an even pace and kicked it in for the last 1.2.
Mile 22: 8:35.52
Mile 23: 8:35.48
Mile 24: 8:33.12
Mile 25: 8:38.88
Mile 26: 8:18.75
Mile 26.2: 1:41.94
During the run up Boylston, I was waving to everyone and soaking up all the energy. I great finish.
Of course, then I hit the post-finish fiasco called Boston. I was thinking back to what Karl wrote before the race about how lots of people complain about Boston but still run it. I agree. The wait at the start is intolerable and the finish area is, by far, the worst of any race that I run. This year it seemed especially bad since we were all shivering. I realize there are a lot of people but there has to be a better way. And the goomies, in a word, suck. But, I know I will race Boston again. After the race, I went to a wonderful dinner with Kate Spencer and her Chicago friends. We had to walk a bit but I really think it helped my recovery. The dinner, wine, and conversation was great.
One thing I realize whenever I return from Dead encounter races is that I never get a chance to talk long enough to everyone. I wish I could have spent more time with all of you. Special thanks to the NEDeads for organizing everything.
As I said above, there are so many things about Boston that one can complain about, but I'm sure I'll be there again. At first I thought it would be 2003, when I'll be 50 (only need 3:30 then). But, on the flight home, I was thinking, well, I am qualified for 2001 so why not do it again?? However, I checked on the dates and its relation to Passover and there is a conflict next year. So, if I run Boston 2001, I would have to end my Passover diet a couple of days early.
Thanks for reading,
marc, who is off to the first Passover Seder and beginning my matzo-loading phase.
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