113th Boston Marathon Report
Just use the template…
Somewhere in the first half of the race this year I joked to the guy next to me; “I should just create a template for my Boston Race Reports, because every year it’s the same story…I get caught up in the crowd, go out too fast, fade on the hills and struggle in…”
It is with great pleasure that I relate to you that this year I got caught up in the crowds, went out too fast, faded on the hills and struggled in. All is right in the world.
I’m not mad at the race. It’s not the race’s fault that I over-ate and under-trained. The causality rests squarely with choices I made. The race and I have an implicit contract. I wrote a check I couldn’t cover and the 113th collected the bill.
You might think I should know better. After all this was my 11th qualified Boston Marathon. I’ve had plenty of races to learn my lesson, but I prefer to play this race’s game on its terms! I have run a couple sensible races between Hopkinton and Boston over the years, but somehow that sanity is less fulfilling than taking the thing by the throat.
Did you know that 70% of the runners at Boston are first timers? I think that’s amazing because that means 70% of them aren’t coming back next year. I say this because I know my friends are all serial Boston Marathon masochists. Every year they qualify and every year it either beats them or they beat it.
Either way they want to come back. Even before I limped that last ½ mile chagrined down Boylston I had begun planning how I was going to have to do some serious training this year and take my pride back.
So popular is this race that it actually reached its cap and sold out early this year. When I spoke with Dave McGilvary, the race director, he said they may have to consider changing the qualification standards to keep up with the changing demographics of the runners. I’m ok with that. I think I have more in me and someone needs to challenge me to do better!
I know one of the questions that people ask is how many qualified versus “waver” or “charity” runners are there. Well, according to Dave they try to keep the balance at 80/20. They feel that’s a healthy distribution that allows for the race to support all its partisans and their disparate goals.
Anything the race committee decides to change will bring about plenty of angst, hair-tearing and teeth gnashing. There is something semi-religious about this thing that causes us runners to take a disproportionate emotional stake in it.
But they can’t control that – just like they can’t control the weather - which, by the way, was nice and cool with a decent head wind this year. That’s why I chose to race. You only get decent racing weather at Boston once or twice a decade – so you don’t want to waste the opportunity. If it was a hot or even warm day I would have throttled it back and cruised the course at my leisure. C’est La vie.
Next year I’m going to respect the race. I’m going to train with vigor and I’m going to go out too fast, beat the hills and charge in with a PR!
As promised, especially for you first timers, here is your Boston Marathon Race Report Template. Feel free to use and share in future years…and I’ll see you out there next year.
My Boston Marathon Race Report
By (your name hear)
I was really excited about running the (___th) Boston Marathon this year. I hardly slept at all Sunday night. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive and maybe a little bit scared.
I got up early and got myself out to Hopkinton. The athlete’s village was crazy crowded with nervous runners and it was impossible for me to find (friend’s name here).
All I really had time to do was stand in the porta-john line before the announcers were calling my wave. Since I was in the (corral # here) I had to rush to get my bags on the bus and make my way to the start.
I met some super nice people from (circle one -> Korea, Canada, Texas) and everyone was excited to get going. Once we got in the corrals, I stripped out of my (circle one -> Plastic Bag, Old sweatshirt) and got ready to run.
There was a cool fly-over of fighter jets. The announcers said something I couldn’t hear, they pulled the ropes and we all surged towards across the starting line in one great cheering mass of humanity. The seeding process is so good at Boston we hardly had any delay and were on pace by the time we hit the first downhill.
Everyone warned me not to go out too fast in the first downhill part of the course, but with the screaming crowds and the surge of adrenaline I felt great and couldn’t control myself. I crossed the ½ before I knew it at (your ridiculous time here). I knew this was a little too fast and tried to slow down.
I started feeling a little fatigued in Framingham but the roar of the girls in the “scream tunnel” at Wellesley was so loud! I got my energy back and kept on trucking. The crowds were incredible. They lined the entire 26.2 miles of the course 5-6 people deep screaming and encouraging. I had (your poorly chosen shirt label here) on my shirt and they screamed it at me for the whole (N) hours!
As we started to climb the first hill out of Newton Lower Falls over 128 it started to feel like work. I put my head down took some water and started to struggle. I got through the first couple hills ok but had to (circle one ->walk, slow down, crawl, throw up) a little on Heartbreak as my legs felt like (circle one -> lead, molasses, hell-fire). I was relieved to see the spires of the BC chapel on my right as I crested the hill and started the last 10k into Boston.
Choose one paragraph:
- Once the hills were behind me I settled into a strong cruising pace and brought it home strong. There were some shaky moments around mile 22 but I managed to hold it together. Once I could see the CITGO sign I knew I was close.
- The wheels began to really fall off at mile 22 and I don’t remember anything except flashes of people screaming and the CITGO sign.
- By the time I got into mile 22 my legs were shot, I was dehydrated and hypothermic. I alternated walking and jogging in a painful death-march.
That last 10k was pretty painful and I was really glad to see the turn onto Hereford Street.
I don’t know why Boston is such a difficult course. On paper it doesn’t look anything special, but when you run it you come to understand the way its unique topography takes a toll on runners.
As I came onto Bolyston Street and saw the finish line I began to run as hard as I could. I felt like I was going fast but I probably was barely moving! The clock read (your time here) when I finally finished. I was exhausted and staggering.
The finish line volunteers were great. They made sure I (circle one -> Got to the med tent for an IV, knew where to go, got my space blanket and medal). It was tough having to stop and stand in line after all that struggle and I felt a bit nauseous. They took my chip. (Good thing because I was incapable of bending over!)
I am so proud to have been part of this storied and wonderful icon of a marathon. Boston is the best marathon in the world.
See – I just saved 26,000 people 40 minutes next year! That’s 17,333 hours or 2166 working days! I’m glad I could be of service!
Chris,
Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com. Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners. ChrisRunner@runrunlive.com