I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's *nothing* to compare to Boston during Marathon weekend. Nothing.

Debbie and I spent Friday in Connecticut visiting with our daughters. Didn't do much other than shop and eat, but we all had fun. Then the two of us drove the rest of the way to Beantown on Saturday morning.

Since we had a bit of time on our hands, we decided to see some of the hysterical stuff on the way in. Stopping in Lexington, we walked around the town where the first shots of the Revolutionary war were fired (the "shot heard round the world") 228 years ago to the day. It's a beautiful town with a town green and churches, just as I had pictured in my mind. We also toured a revolutionary war era tavern and learned quite a bit from the folks who led us around.

Later that afternoon we met up with training partner Dave G., fiance Jill, and friends at the expo. Since it was Dave's first Boston, he naturally immediately started buying the place out of Boston Marathon paraphernalia. Bumped into old buddy and Great Lakes Relay Captain Wayne Z, and a few other friends. But it was so crowded that it was generally hard to find anyone or anything.

Saturday night was the Dead Dinner Encounter at Big City. It was great to talk with so many local and out-of-town Deads that I had only previously known by words. Many thanks to Robin Cain and everyone else for putting it all together.

Sunday morning I ran with more Dead Runners along the Charles River and through Harvard U. Connie Chan and Doug Dodds led the charge. This was as much fun as the dinner. Wayne showed up, as did Brian P. - we ran a good part of it together.

After the run we all went to the Dead Bagel Brunch. Joe Bator and Julia Kim did a marvelous job of feeding and accommodating a whole bunch of folks. Great Buns too!

Then it was back to the expo. By this point, I think Debbie was beginning to get a bit sick of us runners. But too bad I said. We hooked up with my other main training partner, Amy H. Amy is one of the world's top bargain hunters, so it's fun to watch her in action. Both Amy and I were concerned about spending too much time on our feet, so we tried to take it slow however. Our names were right next to each other on the Big Board of Names.

Debbie and I then went right over to the official pasta dinner. Good thing we went early. What a line. Once it got moving, it wasn't too long of a wait however. It was probably worse later. We sat with a group of Michigan runners, including Wayne and Brian. Good to see these only acquaintances again. Doug Kurtis came over and talked with all of us for a while.

On Sunday, Dave, Amy and I rode the Hopkinton bus together and hung out together at the Athlete's Village. I got fed up with the long porta-john lines there however. I had been trying to hydrate since it would be a warm day. And of course that meant many porta-john trips. But those lines! That is my only complaint this year. So I went out of the village in search of other porta-john venues. There were several along the long walk to the start. Joe S. was there as I was heading down, so we got into corral #4 together.

I had intended to line up and run with Amy and Dave. But Joe and I were in the front of the corral, and by the time Amy and Dave arrived, they were only able to line up in back. I thought I'd just start slow and let them catch me so that we could run together. Lesson for next time: DO NOT try to find any other runners after the race has started.

The gun went off and it took me 1:40 to arrive at the "real" start. I thought the first mile would then be very slow, but it wasn't. I did it in about 7:30, which is about what all the others would be for the day. But no Dave and Amy. The next couple miles were a bit faster - it's tough to hold back for those downhills. So of course no Dave and Amy.

By the half-way mark I had given up looking for my training partners. I had settled down to fairly consistent 7:30 miles, enjoyed the wild Wellesley Girls, and was feeling fine, even despite the 70+ degree heat. I think that by loading up on all that h2o on Sunday and Monday morning, and then stopping the drinking 1:45 before the start, and then drinking at every aid station, I had done the right thing. It felt warm, but it wasn't killing me. My chip time was 1:38 something for the first half.

Other than not running with my friends, I had another problem: only Dave knew exactly where Debbie, Jill and friends would be. All I knew was to look for them around the 14-mile mark. I heard a million (literally) people yell "DAN" all during the race, because I was wearing a "Dan" sign. So when Debbie yelled to me I looked around, but didn't see her. At least she saw me.

Dave came by a minute or so later - he and Amy had been running almost exactly the same pace as I, so they weren't catching me yet. They had just separated by a bit. When Jill saw him, she turned around to show him the neat "Go Bubba (Dave's nickname) Go" read t-shirt that she and everyone else had donned. Dave, perhaps delirious from his running efforts, thought she was showing him her back-SIDE. So of course he slapped her butt and merrily kept on running.

Dave caught up with me just as the hills began. We did almost all of the hills together, but then I lost him just as I was getting to the top of the last one. The crowds were more fantastic than ever, and I was still feeling fine. I was trying to keep my mile splits fairly consistent, even considering the heat and the hills. And somehow, I was succeeding. By holding that 7:30 pace (except a wee bit slower over some of the hilly miles), I was passing hundreds, maybe thousands of runners.

I managed to hold my pace to the end, to finish in 3:19+ gun time, 3:17++ chip time. Better than expected. Not my fastest, or even my fastest Boston, but as enjoyable and surprisingly pain-free as any. Where else can an everyday-guy like me be treated like a king by a million plus people? ..... WHAT A GREAT DAY!

Debbie and I spent the next two days in New Hampshire and Vermont. We toured Ben and Jerry's, a maple syrple and cheese making place, a famous gorge, and Burlington. But the weather was lousy, with rain and even snow, so we headed home early.

Now it's time to start *really* training.

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