The Boston Experience

Hey Kids! I'm back!

Finally arrived back home today and have time and a computer to give my full account of an amazing experience! First, thanks for all of the support and messages of good luck I received from all of the great gO! runners this weekend! Your support was overwhelming and made my experience more than I ever expected! So, curl up next to the fire and get comfortable, because Josh has a story to tell......

April 19, 2010

114th Boston Marathon

My marathon actually started the night before the race on the 9th floor of a high rise just above the finish line to the marathon. You see, I had been suffering from an aggravating sinus infection for almost three weeks that was brought on by allergies and of course had no foresight to see a doctor BEFORE traveling to Boston! So, after persistent and agonizing pain, several puss filled abscesses in my gums (yummy), and a lot of whining, Jamie finally made me go to an urgent care clinic the night before the race. After visiting a one-room, one-man operation, back alley urgent care clinic, I started antibiotics 12 hours before the race. Plenty of time!

The next morning, I was out of bed and on the road by 5:45am with Red Bull and excitement racing through my veins. I arrived at the bus loading area and found 56 buses and a whole lot of runners ready to go. Once on the bus, it was a pleasant 40 minute ride to Athletes Village at Hopkinton High School just down the street from the starting line. The Village felt like a homeless camp in which 23,000 runners tried to find comfort for their 2-3 hour wait. People were laying over every inch of the high school campus. Fortunately, they had massage, food, beverages, etc. there to help fill our time, but it was still an agonizing wait! I found a nice little spot in the sun on the black top to take a nap and got comfortable. At about 9am I headed to the toilet lines only to find myself dizzy and lightheaded. No idea what happened (maybe the antibiotics, maybe the anxiety, maybe just crazy) but weird and alarming all the same. I took care of business and then headed for the buses to drop my morning clothes off to be transported to the finish line. Once done, my "corral" was released from the village to head the .7 mile down to the starting corrals. My dizzy spell started to subside (despite a young kid telling me to "run hard or DIE trying", boy that freaked me out!!) with movement as the excitement picked up. We were placed in 28 different corrals based on qualifying time with roughly 1,000 runners per corral. Once in the corral I struck up a conversation with a young man and within minutes we realized that we both qualified at Cowtown finishing just 45 seconds apart!! What are the odds?! We also finished just seconds apart at Shamrock! After the national anthem and a F-16 fly-by (I gotta get that for Miner's Ravine), the gun went off. We had a 200 yard walk before we actually crossed the start line but because everyone was corralled by qualifying time, you could immediately start running your pace despite the serious congestion. The first 2-3 miles flew by in seconds as we were powered by a downhill start and adrenaline. Once I settled into my pace the experience truly began. Every colonial style town we ran through was like a whole new party. The course was lined 2-3 deep with spectators on both sides for probably 21 of the 26 miles! EVERYONE was out there supporting the run. Kids wanted to give you everything! Water, fruit, bagels, Otterpop Popsicles (which I took), pretzels, beer, etc. They could have shut down every aid station and the runners would have been supported just fine by the spectators! I counted at least 10 keg parties, and countless tailgating style parties going on in the streets. The noise was deafening for most of the run! I ran with the likes of Mario (as in Super Mario Brothers), Dick and Rick Hoyt (Dad and son team in which the Dad pushes his quadriplegic son through many famous events including Boston each year and the Hawaii Ironman), and this year's Boston Marathon poster boy (the guy that just happened to be in the picture chosen to be the marketing icon of this year's marathon). I witnessed my first trampoline train in which 50+ mini trampolines were set side by side and spectators would hop down the train as you ran next to them). I experienced the Wesely Girl's College!!!! You can honestly hear the roar from a mile away. Thousands of college ladies lining the streets literally screaming at the top of their lungs and giving kisses to any willing runner! Passing Boston College was the same! You would think the students were tailgating before the College Football National Championship! The hills of Newton (miles 15-20) were a bit of a slap in the face.... but again surrounded by countless cheering supporters.... so who cares about hills. Mile 20 was not the "wall" like in most marathons as it signaled the end of the hills and the start of the best 10K on the planet. Mostly down hill and possibly the most positive, energetic, thrilling, ride of my life. I ran the last 6 miles with a smile (I never knew you could even smile during the last 6 miles of a marathon). After a quick stop to give Lelsie a hug at mile 24, greetings to my parents at 25, and a wave and a wink to Jamie at 26, I was ready to finish the wild ride. I crossed the line at 3:16 and feeling GREAT! My goal had been to finish in a time I was happy with (sub 3:30) yet not push too hard and destroy myself prior to Ironman St. George on May 1st (stupid me). I managed exactly that. After purposely pacing for a 3:10 finish (just to keep options open) until mile 15, I was obviously slowed by the hills between mile 15-20. Once over the hills I felt good and ready to ramp it back up but decided against it in favor of taking in the moment and not blowing up my legs. Overall, it was the easiest marathon I have run and felt I probably could have gone a lot faster. But this was Boston and I wanted to experience it, not survive it! I was happy as a clam with how I ran it!

The Boston Marathon lived up to the hype (at least for me)!

Thanks again for all the support and next time, we ALL go! Seriously, this is something to experience, no matter if it's as a runner, spectator, or volunteer!

See you tomorrow night!

Josh