Howdy Deads, Short version: Gun time: 3:59; Chip time: 3:47. My goal was 3:45. I feel I reached that goal -- given the day. This qualifies me for next year, but I did Wineglass in 3:39, so I'm ahead with that one.

Very long version: I went to Boston in a van with 2 other Morris County Strider members and their spouses and we met even more up there. The club had 16 members starting at the marathon. Most finished slower than they hoped to, but all finished! Since I have a sister in Hudson, MA, I decided to stay with her Saturday night and after Easter dinner on Sunday, return to pre-marathon preps. The first thing we did upon my re-entry to marathon weekend was drive the course. That helped me out a lot on Monday as I was reminded of right where to expect things.

After getting to Athlete's Village Monday morning, I ran right into Patti, from my old running group in Dallas. She was the only member of that group to return to Boston this year and we had arranged to camp out together. During the wait, we decided to run together. I was in corral 13 and she was in 14, along with one of my NJ running buddies - Joyce. So, I said I would wait on the left side until they reached me - before the start somewhere. My shoulders were already feeling the heat while in the corrals and I had just ditched the long sleeve shirt! I knew it was a day to finish, not a day to worry about the time it takes to do so. At least I could fall back on that excuse, if I had to. After the corrals started moving, I stood on the corral fence until Patti reached me. She headed quickly to the port-o-potties right behind us while I watched for Joyce, who had been in line for port-o-potties when we first went to the corrals so they weren't lined up together. When Patti returned, we both were standing on the fence, but never did see Joyce. We decided to start making our way to the start line when we saw the 15000 numbers coming through. For the first time, I was actually running before the start line. And up hill! I didn't appreciate either too much, but I went with the flow.

I had started my watch when I thought I heard the gun, but the clock at the bottom of Grove and Main had a different time than my watch did. This threw me off for the rest of my calculations during the run, but.it didn't matter that much.

We finally crossed the start line and we were off. A mile or two later, I ended up elbow to elbow with another Strider female (Linda), who was running her 2nd ever marathon. Linda, Patti and I proceeded to run the next 8-9 miles together. We would lose each other (and wait somewhat) at water stops, and then get back into pace again in time for the next water stop. Eventually, whoever wasn't getting water would just keep on running in the middle and the others would catch back up. This worked until just after 10 miles. I was skipping more water stops and trying to run more evenly, knowing I really didn't need water every mile. But at the water stop after 10, Linda and Patti didn't catch back up. I never saw them again, although I did go slowly through a couple of the next water stops watching for them. In time, I decided I just had to go on with my run.

My sister Julie was the only family member who could make it to the marathon this year. She planned to see me at mile 7; then again on Heartbreak, and at the finish. We found each other easily at 7, but she had T problems and couldn't get to any other spot before I went by. At 7, she ran along next to me for a little bit. I had my arm around her shoulders so she didn't have much of an option! I pointed out Linda and Patti and was wishing her a happy birthday as I gave her my hat. It was actually new; she had admired it, and she will be walking in a cancer walk in Boston in two weeks, so I thought she should have it for her walk. I didn't expect it to be so wet. Sorry Jules! Our Mom died in April 1998, so this was the first Boston for me without her. I thought about her throughout the course and wished I had put a pink ribbon along with the yellow ones on my jogbra or carried a picture of her, like others had done. She was with me though. She always is. One of the yellow ribbons had my step-brothers' name on it as he is now in Kuwait, and the other had my good friend Thomas' name on it. He has been in Kabul since last October. Two of many that I hope come home safe and soon!

As we approached Wellesley, you could hear the roar before you could see the girls! It seemed that the line of Wellesley Women was longer than ever before! I ran to the outside and enjoyed the festivities.

I was feeling fine through the ½ mark, but was not too impressed that my clock time was 2:05. Since I didn't really know if my watch or the clock on Main/Grove was right, I just mentally deducted 12-14 minutes from my overall time. Ok, not bad. Turns out I ran 1:53:12 according to the website. That's about 3 minutes slower than I did the ½ at Wineglass (my best qualifier last year).

When we started to hit the hills, I dug in deep and tried to make my New Jersey running buddies proud. I am notoriously terrible on hills. They are constantly leaving me behind on the up-hills and I cruise to catch up on the down-hills. I wish they could have seen me! My pace wasn't that fast, but I was easily cruising up the hills and passing people left and right. After we reached the top of Heartbreak, one lady actually thanked me for setting such a good pace for her to follow. Happy to help, I told her!

I occasionally looked for my sister on the hills, but didn't spend a lot of energy in that task. I was very focused on getting the hills done. I figured she would find me if she were there. It didn't impact me that she wasn't there. I knew she was with me in spirit anyway.

The last time I ran the Boston Marathon was in 1996 - the largest field ever. This year felt a lot like that year in terms of running around and between other runners. They were always there and I'm sure I ran a couple tenths (at least) further than the course just dodging people. It never seemed to ease up either.

As I was recovering from the hills, I started thinking about those last few miles and taking stock in what I had left. I was mentally determined to finish strong and my body said it was ok to do so. As you can see from the splits, I wasn't too consistent on my pacing, but once the top was reached, I was able to speed up and keep it there, except for mile 23. With 1 mile to go, I knew that to beat the 4 hour gun time, I would have to run a sub 8 minute mile. I smiled and floored it! As much as I can floor the last mile in a marathon, I guess. When I saw the last right hand turn coming up, if possible, the smile got even bigger. Almost done and feeling great! I charged that last 'hill' before Boylston, took the corner wide (and clear!) and then stayed to the outside hoping for some space. Still had to do some weaving, but.it was a bit clearer over there. Friends yelled my name but since I had my name on my shirt, I just did the thumbs up and didn't look around. I didn't learn it was them until later.

My sister was bummed that she didn't get to see me finish, but more importantly, she and her entourage arrived just in time to see Laura finish. Laura ran for TNT and for her dad who is undergoing chemo for leukemia right now. Laura surprised her dad with her TNT status the night before the marathon and she did great, finishing her first marathon in about 4:27.

For those interested, my splits were...

Average HR 152; Max heart rate 173
Mile Split HR
1 8:21 145
2 8:32 151
3.1 9:23 151 (missed 3 mile mark)
4 7:36 152 (only .9 to get to 4)
5 8:55 154 (Gatorade cups were larger and took longer!)
6 8:24 157
7,8 17:09 157
9 8:35 156
10 8:39 156
11 8:50 156 (looking for Linda and Patti)
12 8:45 152
13 8:54 155
.1 57 156
14 7:39 157 (only .9 to get to 14)
15 8:55 157
16 8:49 150 (great down hill, didn't help my time, but lowered the heart rate)
17,18 18:29 156 (hmmm, must be up hill!)
19 9:05 150
20 9:01 156
21 9:18 159 (Heartbreak - last big hill!)
22 8:20 157
23 8:59 154 (oh no, not that pace again!)
24 8:23 155
25 8:14 160
26 7:47 167
.2 1:40 171

I am now back in NJ and recovering fine from my 27th marathon and I'm ready to go back to Boston next year! I know I could have run faster this year. I was always a good heat runner in Texas and I guess it hasn't totally vanished even though the heat hasn't been too available in NJ lately! However, for the first time ever in a marathon, I've come home with a sunburn that provides more discomfort than the race did to my muscles (yeah for that!!).

Thanks for reading and congratulations to all the other Boston Marathoners!! I've enjoyed reading all of your race reports!

Best regards,
Pam Fales
Boonton, NJ

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