First of all thanks to Julia and Joe for hosting the "bagel brunch". I
had my nephew and his friend along and they were both talking about what
a nice group of people the DRS was. I'm so glad I made it there and put
some faces on the names. Yes, Julia's buns are worth the trip ;>)
Short version: I successfully completed the Boston Marathon in 5hrs and
18 minutes.. on a very hot day! It appears that I followed the motto
from my old San Francisco DSE club... "Start Slow and Taper Off".
Long version: Many hard months of training had gotten me to Boston and
there I was lying on the grass in the Athletes Village in Hopkinton.
With me was my nephew Nick, who has long wanted the two of us to be
there at the starting line. Nick's goal was to run the race in
3:10....which would qualify him for next years race, while mine was to
finish in 4 hours. As we lay there, Utta Pippig, came on stage and
congratulated all of us, she said that this was going to be a hot day
and that we should be careful and to remember that by qualifying
and being there we were an elite group of people. As I look back, I
should have realized that with it being close to 70 degrees at the noon
start, I should have scaled back my expectations before the start.
The entire race from the Athletes Village, to the starting corrals, to
the frequent and fully stocked aid stations, to the finish area, was the
best organized race I've ever participated in.... perhaps the 109 years
of practice had something to do with that :>)
As advertised, the race started on a downhill and I was very conscious
of NOT going out too fast. I was planning on averaging 9 minute
miles.... the first couple of miles were around 9:30 and I was
comfortable with that. I drank at every aid station, so don't think I
ever got dehydrated. I managed to keep a decent pace through mile 9
where my wife Sandy and family were waiting for me... It's such a treat
to see people you know along the course and this was no exception. When
I went through mile 10, the heat must have started taking it's toll...
as my mile splits started to take longer than 10 minutes.
I reached the half way point in 2 hrs and 10 minutes, and I knew it
would be long day but things still seemed under control. The cheering
from the women of Wellsley college was a real boost. Many had signs,
like "Kiss Me if you Love Oregon"... I was tempted to stop, but passed
up the opportunity.
My running buddy Paula had made a sign for me to wear on my shirt that
said "Andy". It's quite an experience to be running and have people all
along the way call out your name as they cheered you on. There was more
than one time when a group of people would start a chant... "Andy, Andy,
Andy..." it still gives me goose bumps.
Between the hills and the heat my pace was slowing down....it was the
damnedest feeling trying to figure out what was going wrong.... but it
was simply that I couldn't pick up the pace. The times continued to
slip till I was running 12 and 13 minutes miles. It was around mile 23
that I was beginning to wish I didn't have my name on my shirt....as I
wanted to hide somewhere. There were people every step of the way
cheering/yelling at me. Here it was, over four hours into the race and
they were still out there.
I considered pulling over to a aid station and bagging it... but I
talked myself out of it as I was determined to finish the race. Between
miles 24 and 25 I actually walked some, but the spectators urged me
back into running (if you could call it that). At one point, three
spectators came out on the course and ran with me, shouting
encouragement. I was wondering what Sandy and family must think... I
was over an hour behind my expected time!
Turning the last corner and seeing the finish line was very emotional.
YES, I was going to finish. They even called out my name as I crossed
the line. The quest was over! As I wobbled along after the race, I
heard Sandy's very welcome voice....
I've omitted the splits as they are quite ugly... but to give you an
idea of how ugly, the last three miles were.. 16:41, 17:09, and 16:35!
Epilogue: On one hand, I was very disappointed with my time.... it
took me over an hour longer than expected. In retrospect, the heat
was the culprit... I could have bailed out several times, but I
persevered and am glad that I now have my Boston finishers medal. It's
just a piece of metal, but it definitely means a lot to me. It's taken
some reflection, but I remember the words of Utta Pippig before the race
"by qualifying and running the Boston Marathon, you've done something
special". I have no regrets.
Oh yes, my nephew Nick, ran a 7 minute pace for 24 miles and ended up
in the aid station for over an hour, before finishing. FYI, on Monday
morning, Nick and I switched shirts as I figured (correctly) that with
my old DRS (running against cancer) singlet on, I would get sun burned.
He said several people yelled at him and he met two of you toward the
end of the race.