Before getting into running I had of course heard about the Boston Marathon. What I didn't know was that you had to qualify to get a place in it.
In the running world if you get a place you can say that you BQd (i.e. Boston Qualified.)
One year ago I ran the London Marathon and had been hoping to get sub three but didn't quite manage to finishing in 3:03:25. Not bad and I was happy with that.
I also realised that it did mean I could BQ for the following year. Whilst I could, I snapped up a place and was on my way to Boston.
My training had been going well and my coach and I had decided to hold back on doing so many intense weeks and had thought of my training plan as two week blocks rather than weekly. This was working well for me and I felt in good shape ahead of the race.
However; five days before heading to Boston I seemed to pull a muscle in my back and was in agony. Panic!
Being a Sunday I couldn't call on my usual sports massage clinic. I had seen adverts all over London for a new app called Urban Massage. The app was simple. Download it. Search for a therapist and they would be at your house ASAP. I did just that.
Only as "Simon" was on his way to my place did I worry that this could be an "urban" massage and not necessarily the sports massage I was used to.
As he arrived though all was as normal and the massage was not the kind with a happy ending.
That said, I was happy when "Simon" left as my back was feeling better.
However; the next morning it was back to being painful. I saw my usual physio and he told me not to panic and that it would be ok for the race.
I believed him but by Wednesday I was still panicked as each morning it was just as painful as 24 hours before and I was flying all the way to the U.S.A the next morning. How was I going to cope?
I saw him again Wednesday night when again he said it would hold up and if I felt sore after the flight that was completely normal and to chill the fuck out (or words to that effect.)
So, I made it to Boston. The flight was a little uncomfortable but I was feeling ok, particularly after making use of the steam room in the hotel gym every day. The night before leaving I had done 15 minutes on the treadmill and it was fine. Phew. Maybe the professionals knew what they were talking about then?
In all my races I have never been to a city like Boston. The entire city was all about the marathon. Every shop owner, coffee shop worker, Uber driver and bartender were congratulating runners at every opportunity. Signs hung throughout the city showing that the city was "Boston Strong." Plant pots with the same slogan hosting daffodils lined the streets. It was amazing. I had never experienced anything like it. The city was certainly proud to be host to the world's oldest marathon and was defiant in the face of the terrorist attack that hit the race four years previously.
I went to the expo and loved the atmosphere. Leaving an hour later with my race number and my wallet a lot lighter after purchasing swag I was race ready.
I love the city. Over the coming days I enjoyed everything it has to offer as a visitor. I had been before eleven years ago and it was great to be back.
At the expo I had picked up a leaflet for a 5km Boston Shakeout run that would be done the Saturday before the race. I went along to join, again hoping my back would be ok. The group was about 40 people, all super friendly to the English guy on his own.
We ran along the Charles river, did some squats, crossed the river, ran passed MIT, crossed the river again over the salt and pepper bridge back to where we began. It wasn't fast but was just what we all needed to keep our legs turning over ahead of the big day. I now felt confident and race ready.
So race morning arrived. I had planned to have the marathon breakfast at the hotel at 5am. I started with a pot of porridge (one made with hot water in a plastic cup and resembled something worthy of being served to Oliver in the workhouse) but it was sustenance so I ate it. I followed it with a banana and a bagel. Then that was it, all we were allowed. Yikes. I had planned on the buffet being a little bigger so was nervous that I hadn't eaten enough. Luckily I had a couple of my own bananas and a protein bar that the hotel gym had given me so I kept those for the hour before start time and thought that would need to do.
On the hotel bus to Boston Common I was sat next to a guy called Richard who used to be the race director for the London Marathon. Pretty important guy in the world of marathons then!
Once I dropped my bag off I was then onto the yellow school bus for the drive out to the start at Hopkinton. An hour later we were at the high school where we were to wait about 1h 45m until the start time. Fortunately it was a nice morning otherwise that could have been a miserable wait.
As it turned out it went quickly and I was then heading to the start corals. Lining up the volunteer to my left was an English lady called Fiona. She was really kind and calmed my nerves. The national anthem rang out and then we were off.
I knew the race was quite downhill for the first half and that a lot of energy was required for the second half. I took it easy and was pacing about 7m per mile.
I was happy with that. The atmosphere along the way was great. We went from town to town passing through parts of forest, lakes and a few rivers (I think!)
My favourite point was at Wellesley College. I could hear the screaming about 500m before I even saw the crowd. The women lined the right hand side of the street all reaching out for high fives, screaming and with the most creative signs I have ever seen. Many of them had ones starting with "Kiss me...." with variations of "I'm Nasty", "I voted for Clinton", "I'm Single" and "I have a boyfriend". My favourite was one woman holding a sign against her body and it said "Run faster and I will drop the sign." Superb marketing. So much so that it made me cross the street to run next to them and high five them all. No kisses were exchanged.
I looked at my watch as I left them and I had sped up to 6m 20s per mile. Clearly their encouragement was working a little too much.
I slowed down and got back to my usual rhythm.
It was a hot day and so at every mile I had been taking a sip of Gatorade and water (with some water going over me to cool down too.)
I had read between 16 - 21 miles the course was hilly and soon enough we were there. The hills were tough. They hurt. They went on for a while and heartbreak hill at 21 miles deserves its name. I never stopped running but it was clear it was taking its toll as my pace fell to 7m 40s per mile and then for the last five miles into the city despite being downhill did not see my pace recover back to the 7m per mile.
None the less I was enjoying the race and before I knew it I was then in the heart of the city with the loudest crowd I have had the pleasure of hearing. We turned right onto Hereford Street and I heard the crowd screaming "You got this" and "Just ahead onto Boylston".
Just ahead we turned left onto Boylston Street and were in the final street. The screaming was loud. It was amazing. Boston was indeed strong.
I spied Steven in the crowd. I waved and was on to the finish line.
Hurrah! I had done it and without back pain!
Results were:
Time = 3h 7m 29s
Overall place = 2,373 (out of 27,221) placing me in the top 9%
Gender place = 2,176
Division place = 1,498
So an average of 7m 10s per mile which is not far off what I had been aiming for and despite the heat and hills I had managed to get a result I was really pleased with.
Boston will forever be one of my favourite races. Such history and an atmosphere that would hard to be beaten.
Two more amazing stories made Boston a favourite for me.
1) Kathrine Switzer being the first woman to run the marathon 50 years ago and being back to run it this year (with the same race number) and still finishing in an amazing time. Girl Power.
2) Running past the statue of Stylianos Kyriakides who was the grandfather of some fellow class mates at my primary school in Greece. Google his story. It's also amazing and was great to see the statue (admittedly I missed it on race day but I drove back later in the week to specifically see it) after having had him help at our school sports days back in the 80s.
So that was Boston. Steven and I drove the route a few days later so that I could take some photos and remember the start, the rest of the course as well as making me realise how much of the route I didn't recall. He also commented that heartbreak hill didn't seem that bad.
Well of course it doesn't when you're in a Jeep and haven't run the last 20 miles prior to it! He was pulling my leg of course :-)
So Boston, that's a wrap. Thank you and until next time.
i
In the running world if you get a place you can say that you BQd (i.e. Boston Qualified.)
One year ago I ran the London Marathon and had been hoping to get sub three but didn't quite manage to finishing in 3:03:25. Not bad and I was happy with that.
I also realised that it did mean I could BQ for the following year. Whilst I could, I snapped up a place and was on my way to Boston.
My training had been going well and my coach and I had decided to hold back on doing so many intense weeks and had thought of my training plan as two week blocks rather than weekly. This was working well for me and I felt in good shape ahead of the race.
However; five days before heading to Boston I seemed to pull a muscle in my back and was in agony. Panic!
Being a Sunday I couldn't call on my usual sports massage clinic. I had seen adverts all over London for a new app called Urban Massage. The app was simple. Download it. Search for a therapist and they would be at your house ASAP. I did just that.
Only as "Simon" was on his way to my place did I worry that this could be an "urban" massage and not necessarily the sports massage I was used to.
As he arrived though all was as normal and the massage was not the kind with a happy ending.
That said, I was happy when "Simon" left as my back was feeling better.
However; the next morning it was back to being painful. I saw my usual physio and he told me not to panic and that it would be ok for the race.
I believed him but by Wednesday I was still panicked as each morning it was just as painful as 24 hours before and I was flying all the way to the U.S.A the next morning. How was I going to cope?
I saw him again Wednesday night when again he said it would hold up and if I felt sore after the flight that was completely normal and to chill the fuck out (or words to that effect.)
So, I made it to Boston. The flight was a little uncomfortable but I was feeling ok, particularly after making use of the steam room in the hotel gym every day. The night before leaving I had done 15 minutes on the treadmill and it was fine. Phew. Maybe the professionals knew what they were talking about then?
In all my races I have never been to a city like Boston. The entire city was all about the marathon. Every shop owner, coffee shop worker, Uber driver and bartender were congratulating runners at every opportunity. Signs hung throughout the city showing that the city was "Boston Strong." Plant pots with the same slogan hosting daffodils lined the streets. It was amazing. I had never experienced anything like it. The city was certainly proud to be host to the world's oldest marathon and was defiant in the face of the terrorist attack that hit the race four years previously.
I went to the expo and loved the atmosphere. Leaving an hour later with my race number and my wallet a lot lighter after purchasing swag I was race ready.
I love the city. Over the coming days I enjoyed everything it has to offer as a visitor. I had been before eleven years ago and it was great to be back.
At the expo I had picked up a leaflet for a 5km Boston Shakeout run that would be done the Saturday before the race. I went along to join, again hoping my back would be ok. The group was about 40 people, all super friendly to the English guy on his own.
We ran along the Charles river, did some squats, crossed the river, ran passed MIT, crossed the river again over the salt and pepper bridge back to where we began. It wasn't fast but was just what we all needed to keep our legs turning over ahead of the big day. I now felt confident and race ready.
So race morning arrived. I had planned to have the marathon breakfast at the hotel at 5am. I started with a pot of porridge (one made with hot water in a plastic cup and resembled something worthy of being served to Oliver in the workhouse) but it was sustenance so I ate it. I followed it with a banana and a bagel. Then that was it, all we were allowed. Yikes. I had planned on the buffet being a little bigger so was nervous that I hadn't eaten enough. Luckily I had a couple of my own bananas and a protein bar that the hotel gym had given me so I kept those for the hour before start time and thought that would need to do.
On the hotel bus to Boston Common I was sat next to a guy called Richard who used to be the race director for the London Marathon. Pretty important guy in the world of marathons then!
Once I dropped my bag off I was then onto the yellow school bus for the drive out to the start at Hopkinton. An hour later we were at the high school where we were to wait about 1h 45m until the start time. Fortunately it was a nice morning otherwise that could have been a miserable wait.
As it turned out it went quickly and I was then heading to the start corals. Lining up the volunteer to my left was an English lady called Fiona. She was really kind and calmed my nerves. The national anthem rang out and then we were off.
I knew the race was quite downhill for the first half and that a lot of energy was required for the second half. I took it easy and was pacing about 7m per mile.
I was happy with that. The atmosphere along the way was great. We went from town to town passing through parts of forest, lakes and a few rivers (I think!)
My favourite point was at Wellesley College. I could hear the screaming about 500m before I even saw the crowd. The women lined the right hand side of the street all reaching out for high fives, screaming and with the most creative signs I have ever seen. Many of them had ones starting with "Kiss me...." with variations of "I'm Nasty", "I voted for Clinton", "I'm Single" and "I have a boyfriend". My favourite was one woman holding a sign against her body and it said "Run faster and I will drop the sign." Superb marketing. So much so that it made me cross the street to run next to them and high five them all. No kisses were exchanged.
I looked at my watch as I left them and I had sped up to 6m 20s per mile. Clearly their encouragement was working a little too much.
I slowed down and got back to my usual rhythm.
It was a hot day and so at every mile I had been taking a sip of Gatorade and water (with some water going over me to cool down too.)
I had read between 16 - 21 miles the course was hilly and soon enough we were there. The hills were tough. They hurt. They went on for a while and heartbreak hill at 21 miles deserves its name. I never stopped running but it was clear it was taking its toll as my pace fell to 7m 40s per mile and then for the last five miles into the city despite being downhill did not see my pace recover back to the 7m per mile.
None the less I was enjoying the race and before I knew it I was then in the heart of the city with the loudest crowd I have had the pleasure of hearing. We turned right onto Hereford Street and I heard the crowd screaming "You got this" and "Just ahead onto Boylston".
Just ahead we turned left onto Boylston Street and were in the final street. The screaming was loud. It was amazing. Boston was indeed strong.
I spied Steven in the crowd. I waved and was on to the finish line.
Hurrah! I had done it and without back pain!
Results were:
Time = 3h 7m 29s
Overall place = 2,373 (out of 27,221) placing me in the top 9%
Gender place = 2,176
Division place = 1,498
So an average of 7m 10s per mile which is not far off what I had been aiming for and despite the heat and hills I had managed to get a result I was really pleased with.
Boston will forever be one of my favourite races. Such history and an atmosphere that would hard to be beaten.
Two more amazing stories made Boston a favourite for me.
1) Kathrine Switzer being the first woman to run the marathon 50 years ago and being back to run it this year (with the same race number) and still finishing in an amazing time. Girl Power.
2) Running past the statue of Stylianos Kyriakides who was the grandfather of some fellow class mates at my primary school in Greece. Google his story. It's also amazing and was great to see the statue (admittedly I missed it on race day but I drove back later in the week to specifically see it) after having had him help at our school sports days back in the 80s.
So that was Boston. Steven and I drove the route a few days later so that I could take some photos and remember the start, the rest of the course as well as making me realise how much of the route I didn't recall. He also commented that heartbreak hill didn't seem that bad.
Well of course it doesn't when you're in a Jeep and haven't run the last 20 miles prior to it! He was pulling my leg of course :-)
So Boston, that's a wrap. Thank you and until next time.
The blue lines marking the way to the finish on Boylston Street:
Free sunglasses swag from the Expo. Start. Run. Finish. Simples.
The start gun statue. I didn't see this on the day so I am glad I did a few days later!
The city was ready for this:
Race bling:
Boston Strong:
Almost done:
It was great to Shakeout. Boston's beautiful to run around:
The Stylianos statue:
Boston Strong again:
Sidewalk chalk:
The start:
i
