The Boston Marathon is the oldest and the most respected marathon in America It lived up to its reputation in 2008. After our flight from Portland and locating our hotel in east bejesus we headed down to see the US Women’s Olympic trials. That was an exciting start to the weekend. Some amazing runners were in attendance. Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first women’s Olympic event in 1984 ran. An amazing feat after 24 years.
Kathrine Switzer, the first women to run the Boston marathon spoke over the PA at the finish. It was amazing event. We were able to enter the Expo after the trials were over. That was the most packed expo I had ever seen. It was all we could do to push our way through the crowd, grab our numbers and go. Next was a pre-race meal. What better place to go than the North End of Boston. We found an amazing place with fresh pasta. The raviolis were killer. Just the thing before a race.
While preparing for the race the next day, suz realized that she had no gloves to keep her warm at the start. I volunteered to donate my new argyle socks to the cause. Fortunately they matched her outfit perfectly. Argyle arm warmers. That is a fashion statement.
We had pre arranged a charter bus to take us to the start. Smart move. It was a mad house at the start. Chilling in a private bus really set us in the right mood for a good race.
My qualifying time put me in corral 4 like a prized cow. It was almost all guys and they looked pretty damn fast. I had better watch those first miles. It is easy to go out too fast. A bit of star spangled banner and we were off. I did end of going out too fast. Those downhills at the start are just so easy. By six miles I was able to back off to my goal pace. I had some little room to slow down on the hills. I had heard about the Wellsley girls and they defiantly lived up to their reputation. It looked like the whole college was out there cheering us on with sighs and banners. They were great. Next came the hills. The hills were Not too steep but some serious rollers. I was happy that I had some room to slow down a bit. Hearbreak hill is just one of many such hills. It does not stand out except for a few extra spectators. Boston finishes up a great. It is mainly downhill into the city with progressively larger crowds. It is really a sporting town. They cheer like no other. My final time was 3:10:58. I hit my goal but did not PR. I am pretty happy with that. Finishing feeling strong and not hitting the wall is a good way to finish the road to Boston.
Now, I just have to figure out the next goal. It looks like 1:23 half marathon will give you guaranteed entry to the NY marathon. Sounds like a good goal to me.
the bug. I could make Boston for sure. I signed up for the California International Marathon scheduled for the next month in Sacramento. It was a great race but I did not perform as well as I had hoped. Wine tasting in a Napa and poor meal planning did not help any. I a great time but finished a couple minute of my Boston cutoff of 3:10. So it was with much anticipation that I signed up for the Arizona marathon in Phoenix. Looking at the calendar, Phoenix was the only real marathon this winter. It would be the only chance I had to make it this year.