CIM, Susan’s quest to BQ

If you are thinking of running CIM and want the low down on what to expect that’s over here in my serious race report. This race report is Susan’s musings on her own race! Mostly to amuse myself but if it amuses anyone else, enjoy!

The quest for a BQ

It’s not that you aren’t fast enough for Boston, you just aren’t old enough! Fortunately, I am old enough and female enough that I have run Boston. But I need a BQ for 2023! Qualifying for Boston is a mixed blessing, once you’ve been once, you want to go back, over and over! Extra fun for a Squeaker like me! (Squeakers are those of us whose qualifying times are at risk of not making the Boston cut-offs)

In February 2021, my Seattle running buddy, Christopher, and I were living the pandemic race drought, and decided for mental health reasons we needed to register for a race we believed would happen in person. Enter the California International Marathon. It’s in December, surely, please, by then we will be racing in person again, pretty please? As an added bonus, CIM has a reputation as a great place to BQ. Book it!

It just so happens I had my marathon PR at Hamilton in 2019, so I also had almost 14 minutes below my BQ time for Boston 2021 registration (I know, I know, hand in my squeaker card but I promise I’ve slowed back down to squeaker status). Because of the pandemic, Boston was a fall race in 2021, and of course it might be virtual like it was in 2020, and who knows if we will even be able to enter the US to run it, but as it turns out, I had a bib for Boston in person in October 2021, 7 weeks before CIM.

Boston happened

Now as an experienced Squeaker I can tell you, you don’t try to BQ in Boston, are you nuts? Boston is a tough course and it’s also a fun race (if any marathon can be called fun) to just run without stressing out over your time. So I figured run Boston, race CIM! My sister and I navigated the COVID border crossing fun and managed to run Boston in person. I didn’t stress over the time, it was great!

CIM Training

So, now I have 7 weeks. 2 week rest, then start training again? Sadly my body had other ideas. Patellofemoral syndrome, and a wicked hamstring cramp did allow me to check two new running injuries off my bucket list but resulted in my first physio visits in 3 years (Hi Richelle!) I ran maybe 100 km total in the entire 7 weeks between Boston and CIM.

Pre-race rituals

I complete my COVID test (come on negative, come on negative, yes!!!!) and Wednesday Christopher picks me up at SFO (that’s San Francisco Airport in frequent flyer speak). All runners have a few important pre-race rituals and superstitions, especially before a marathon. One of our pre-marathon routines is going out for Gyu-Kaku (Japanese restaurant where you grill your own food). The race is in Sacramento which is sadly a Gyukaku-free zone, so we hit one in San Francisco and binged on beef and rice then the most important part. We sacrificed marshmallows to the running gods with a dessert of smores

CIM Expo

We drive to Sacramento Friday and there is a runner doing As and Bs in the parking lot as we pull in. I think this is the right hotel. The plan was to arrive Friday so we can do all the rushing around now and spend Saturday with our feet up! First stop race expo!

COVID is still a thing so we had to book a time for when we would pick up our bibs. To pick up our bibs we need to show our proof of vaccination, the volunteers are wonderful and within minutes we are trying to find ways to spend our money in the expo.

Clearly I need these two t-shirts, and a new pair of compression socks, Yes Christopher you definitely need another pair of Goodr Sunglasses, and yes I know CIM is one of the best places to BQ but I am *not* buying this shirt that would surely anger the marathon gods!

We continue with the usual pre-marathon rituals, we hand strangers our phones to take our picture (selfies in a race expo anger the marathon gods!), we take pictures of random strangers standing in from of banners, holding up their bibs, while friends yell out take off your mask for the photo (ahhh COVID!)

For the first time I look at the course map and I notice the elevation chart in the corner, ooooh I like that!

Around this point Christopher and I start having *the* talk. “So what pace you thinking of running Sunday? ” Don’t be fooled by the casual tone! Somehow you have to extrapolate a race day goal from your performance through 16 weeks of training with paces and performances that varied dramatically and probably culminated in a long miserable 20 mile run at a pace far slower than you hope to maintain for 26.2 miles on race day. It would be nice to run a BQ, and the weather forecast is good, should I? could I? Will the gods allow it? I need a sign!

Then I see the sign, an actual sign, a sign about a bell!

Well that’s it for me, I’m going to try and run a BQ! I want to ring that bell on Sunday. They have pacers for every BQ time, did you see the hill profile on that map? the weather forecast is perfect, F*K it I’m going for the BQ! Tempted by that hill profile, pacers, and weather Christopher also decides to try for a PB.

Laying out the flat runner

Saturday involves a lot of time in my room with my feet up, sipping Nuun, eating chips, watching whatever will pass the time on the hotel TV. Oooh back to back episodes of Christmas bake-off! Then it’s time to lay out all the running gear for race day. I don’t want to be making decisions about which socks to wear at 4:30 AM! a couple of months ago I ordered a shirt and tank from Athletics Canada so random strangers could yell “Go Canada” at me as I run by in US races. I also have my favorite pre-race throwaway bathrobe and some styling zebra pyjama pants from the thrift shop to keep me warm until the race starts.

The start line

The race starts in Folsom, in fact it’s right next to Folsom Prison of Johnny Cash fame. You can see the barbed wire of the prison yard when you get off the bus. After drinking copious amounts of Nuun Saturday all I can think of after we arrive is where are the port-a-potties!!! Fortunately, they literally have port-a-potties as far as the eye can see. Now, I can take a minute to look around the start, don’t trip over the rope between corals…and hey we can actually get back on the bus to sit down and stay warm… what was that crashing noise? Oh that was a runner who did trip over the rope between corals and pulled the fencing down with him. That would be a sucky way to get injured just before starting your marathon. Hmmm, not that this affects me at all but just wondering where do the 3-3:30 hour marathoners corral?

The race

With the limited mileage and injuries, I honestly have no clue how my body will hold out for 42.2 km! I remind myself of Christopher’s rule: Dead Last Finish > Did not Finish > Did not Start. Time to shift the mindset from I don’t “have” to run this marathon, I “get” to run this marathon!

I line up with the 3:55 pace team, make polite nervous conversation with the other runners in the coral, duck under the clothes being thrown over my head towards the fence and we are off! The weather is perfect, let’s do this.

The kms go by, and of course at various points I feel my knee injury is acting up, no wait my hamstring is acting up, but wait it was my right hamstring I injured not my left. So basically I had a pretty normal race experience thinking some random injury was going to sideline my race but each twinge faded away with the mileage.

There are some crowds along the way but instead of hearing “Go Canada” all I hear is “Go Karen!”, endless shouts of “Go Karen Go!”, “Way to go Karen!” “Yay Karen!” Apparently our pacer has a LOT of friends.

Karen starts giving advice on how to run up the hill, and the next hill, and the next hill, wait a second!!! Where did all these hills come from did they not see the hill profile on the map? Fortunately, I had trained for and run Boston so each hill I just kept thinking okay well not as steep or as long as Boston’s hills but wow what a LOT of hills! Anyone who expected this race to be downhill or flat could be in big trouble! (side note Strava says I ran 292 m of elevation in this race, Boston is only 340m of elevation so yeah that was not my imagination it WAS hilly).

Water stops magically appeared at distances like 4.2 miles and 6.7 miles. I crossed a couple of timing mats and called out hello to family members and my physiotherapist letting them know I was still on pace for a BQ. At the half way point I put on my metal playlist to give me an extra boost ( Iron Maiden Run to the Hills wasn’t the first song I heard, but I did get to hear it before the end of the race 🙂 Here are some of the random thoughts that went through my head as I ran:

• I wonder what a random passer by would make of the volunteers constantly yelling out “WATER” “CAFFEINATED” “NO CAFFEINE” “BANANA” for hours on end.
• Okay this new Endurance Tap packaging is hard to open, let’s try ripping the corner with my teeth
• Seriously does everyone know Karen? Why did I even bother with the Canada shirt?
• Oooh Banana!
• 21.1 km to go, I ran 21.1 km last weekend with Terry and it felt okay, I can do this
• “Run like your mother just called you by your first name” okay that’s a good one
• Yay I get to see Karin and Stephane at mile 16!
• got a tiny hole in the top of the Endurance tap gel packet, maybe if I squeeze it like a tube of toothpaste rolling it up from the bottom?
• Yay I get to see Karin and Stephane at mile 20!
• Oh no, missed the banana!
• another hill? wow! they just keep going
• blister on my toe, blister on my toe, oh better now, probably burst and I’ll have a nice bloody sock at the finish
• How miserable was I when I ran my PB in Hamilton.. I’m not that miserable yet keep going
• Oooh banana, not missing it this time!
• I am going to ring that Bell
• New York marathon hurt a lot, I can take this
• I am going to ring that F*** Bell
• I hate the new endurance tap packaging!
• I am going to ring that F*** Bell

We crossed a bridge around 21.5 miles. At this point the pace pack was starting to catch up to runners who had gone out too fast or who weren’t expecting all those hills. It gets flatter after the bridge, but oh my foot is trying to cramp, relax breathe, settle in, 3 miles to go still with the pace group calf is starting to cramp nooooooo not now… 3 miles, I’m so close, but no, I can’t keep up with the pacer I’m going to have to slow down or walk, I slow down the pace group starts to pull away, the change in pace settles my calf and I am able to pick it up and rejoin the pack. 2 km from the finish, I’m tired, I’m sore, but I’m not dying. Time to use up anything I have left and go! That runner I can catch that runner, now that runner, now that runner, “Go Canada!” Hey finally one spectator noticed my shirt. Extra 10 points for passing that runner in the Vaporfly shoes, that runner, that runner, 800 meters to go, Christopher and I walked the last 800 meters, every second I gain here is a better chance of making the BQ cutoff, every second counts, go, go, and then a song comes on my playlist with a wicked fast beat and includes the following lyrics:

Time, got the time tick tick tickin’ in my head
Time, got the time tick tick tickin’ in my head
Time, got the time tick tick tickin’ in my head
Tickin’ in my head, tickin’ in my head, tickin’ in my head
If I, tell ya what I’m doing today
Will you, shut up and get out of my way
Someone ask me what the time is, I don’t know
Only know I gotta go now

Anthrax – Got the Time

That’s exactly the song I needed right now! Straight down the chute fist in the air, I even attempted to do a jump as I crossed the finish. (I got about 2 cm vertical and almost fell over when I landed 🙂

Just keep moving…Medal yes thank you.. just keep moving…Finisher jacket, yes thank you… keep walking… water bottle thank you…. keep walking.. goodie bag thank you… okay now get to the gear check… If any of you have ever seen me after a marathon I am a complete and utter wreck, I hyperventilate, I can barely stand or walk, I cry, seriously the medics always watch me carefully as I go by wheelchair at the ready. I get to the gear check bracing myself to walk past all the tents to the 4000-4500 gear check tent. The volunteer takes one look at me and says “Would you like me to go get your bag for you” YES GOD YES PLEASE! I stop moving. I force myself to try and swing my legs a bit. She comes back with my bag. My angel!

The Bell I must find the bell. I hear it ringing, I slowly stumble towards the bell, past runners, single minded, the bell, I ran a BQ I must ring the bell. Oh crap! all these runners I am walking past are in line to ring the bell! Yeah I cannot spend 30 minutes standing in a line right now. Grass lawn, gear check bag, sweatpants, mylar blanket spread eagle on grass. I’m done. I am so so done.

At some point in the future I did find the energy to get in line 🙂 Totally worth it. Thanks to all my running buddies and my Ottawa running group Run K2J for the helping make it happen

If you enjoyed this race report, check out the rest of my running posts everything from a fun quiz, to running disaster stories, gear reviews, and race reviews.

California International Marathon 2021 Race Report

This post will give you details on what to expect if you run C.I.M. the California International Marathon. This a popular fall race for runners hoping to achieve a Boston Qualifying time. So let’s see how it holds up!   If you want to know how my race went, that’s in a my personal race report.

Where and When is it?

The California International Marathon (CIM) is held in Sacramento, California. If you are not familiar with Sacramento, it’s the state capital and is located about a 2 hour drive inland from San Francisco (depending on traffic). The race is usually held the first Sunday in December and the race starts at 7 AM.

What’s the race route?

The course is point to point so you have to get to the start line. To reach the start you have two options. Option one take a bus. Most buses leave at 5 AM so it’s an early start to the day. Option two, have someone drop you off at a shuttle stop. A shuttle will bring you to the start. One very important advantage to taking the bus is that after you get to the start line you can stay on the bus (and yes you are allowed to get off the bus, go to the port-a-potty and return to the bus). Shuttles go back and forth continuously so you don’t have that option of hanging out on the bus if you choose the shuttle option.

You start in Folsom and basically follow the river to the Capitol Building in downtown Sacramento. The start line is right next to Folsom Prison, yes *that* Folsom Prison, made famous by Johnny Cash. You run through Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, then into Sacramento. You cross a bridge around the 22 mile mark bringing you into Sacramento. You are not running along a river path, you are running on the streets so it’s basically a run through suburbia.

Do take a close look at the last mile. See the little hook at the end? I recommend walking that last half mile before the race so you know what to expect. You will be running along L street, you will pass 10th street where the runners exit from the finish area, you keep going and turn left on 8th street. Then you will see two finisher chutes on your left, the first chute is for the women, the second is for the men. The women’s finish line is a touch further down the chute since you make the turn sooner so they can even out the mileage.

Is it hilly?

Great question! It is a net downhill of 366 feet as you can see from this little picture in the corner of the race map. Doesn’t that look like a great downhill course? Yeah… so let’s dig a little deeper into that.

The Boston marathon is also a net downhill course, in fact Boston has a net drop of 447 feet. I have never heard anyone say Boston is a great downhill race! Net downhill does not necessarily translate to easy downhill race!

What you cannot see in that elevation map are all the tiny ups and downs all along the route. Take a look at the hill profile below that shows up for my race in Strava. See all those tiny ups and downs along the way? This race is not flat! This race does not have long downhill stretches! Don’t be fooled by that smoothed out hill profile on the map. According to Strava I ran 292 m (958 feet) in elevation. Based on my Strava for Boston, the Boston marathon is 340 m (1115 feet) Boston is known as a tough hilly course! Let’s be clear, CIM is easier than Boston. None of the hills in CIM are as long or steep as the Newton hills and you don’t get those big nasty hills in the second half like you do in Boston. At CIM you are constantly running light rolling hills. But, if you go in expecting downhill and flat you are in for a shock. Do your hill training and you will be fine. I actually liked the rolling hills because it allowed me to use different muscles (full disclosure: I ran Boston 7 weeks earlier so I just kept thinking oh well these hills are easier than Boston)

If it’s hilly why is it known for Boston qualifiers?

That’s a great question! First of all lets dig into their Boston qualifier reputation.

According to the race program they have a higher number of BQs than the Erie marathon, or Tunnel marathon both of which I know are popular for BQ attempts. Erie has the advantage of being one of the last races before Boston registration opens and had 1302 finishers in 2019, and the Tunnel marathon is famous for it’s downhill but is generally less than 1000 finishers. CIM 2019 had closer to 7500 runners so bragging you have a higher number of BQs isn’t really an indication that an individual runner has a better chance of qualifying at CIM.

What I find more interesting is according to the race program they have a higher percentage of BQs than Grandma’s marathon, Philadelphia, OR Chicago. Conveniently I have run all those races so I can compare them to CIM based on my personal experience. All of them are great races! Chicago is flatter than CIM and Chicago has better crowds (it is one of the world Abbott majors after all!) but Chicago has a lot of twists and turns and forget using your Garmin to pace in Chicago, the skyscrapers really mess up your Garmin. Philadelphia I remember as being similar difficulty in terms of hills but has this out and back on the second half with very few crowds to cheer you on and is very exposed so you can get strong headwind for a solid 6 miles. I think Grandma’s was flatter than CIM, and has good crowds near the finish, but the first part of the race the crowds are a pretty thin.

Would a few twists and turns or a few less crowds really make the difference? On their own probably not, I think one of the biggest reasons CIM rocks the BQ is the weather! How many times do you obsessively check the forecast pre-marathon praying that rain will end before the race starts, or that the heat won’t arrive until later in the day? I had the bad luck to run Grandma’s in 2016. The high that day was 84F (29C) suffice to say I did NOT run a personal best that day. I had a friend who ran Chicago 2007, the year they ran out of water because it was so hot the early runners used it all up trying to keep cool. The year I ran Philly, the temperature was good, it was a little windier than I would have liked, about 14 mph as a headwind uphill from mile 14-20 (still got a PR and BQ, as I said, those are all great races and you could BQ at any of them on the right day).

Take a look at the weather conditions the last 5 years for CIM

• 2021 Low 38F/3C High 60F/16C partly cloudy winds 5 mph
• 2019 Low 51F/11C High 62F/17C partly cloudy with drizzle winds 8 mph
• 2018 Low 39F/4C High 53F/12 C partly cloudy winds 4 mph
• 2017 Low 44F/7C High 58F/14C clear winds 2 mph
• 2016 Low 38F/3C High 59F/15C clear winds 2 mph

Yeah! Seriously I had to go back to 2012 to find a day which could be considered even vaguely bad weather (It rained and the winds reached 20 mph, but temperatures were low 55F/13C high 62F/17C). I couldn’t find a race with highs over 70F! According to researchers the perfect temperature to run a marathon is between 50F/10C and 62F/17.5C. Go back and look at those race day conditions for CIM again. When you are running 26.2 miles the weather plays a huge factor and CIM is the Vegas odds on favorite for perfect race day weather.

Okay this sounds intriguing is it a lottery to get a bib?

CIM usually sells out but it is not a lottery and at least this year (2021) it did not sell out the same day registration opened. That means with a little up front planning it’s a race  you can  do with friends and running buddies.

How was bib pick up and the expo?

Let’s cover the essentials here. Bib pick up was efficient and easy. The race expo wasn’t huge but had all the basics you would want and expect: last minute running supplies like gels and Nuun, CIM shirts, backdrops for photo ops, they do have panels and seating to listen to the panelists. There was also a poster display with details on all the past CIM races.

Did they have enough port-a-potties at the start?

Yes! I am not exaggerating when I say there was a line of port-a-potties as far as the eye could see. So if the lines at the first ones are too long, just keep going until the lines get shorter

Bag check?

As of 2021, bag check is at the finish line, you cannot check a bag at the start. So you need to check your bag Saturday during the day or before you board your bus at the finish line on race day.

Aid stations?

The race had 17 aid stations. All the stations were well supported in terms of amenities. Each had medical, toilets, electrolytes (Nuun) and water. 4 stops had Gu Gels, Gu Chews, and bananas. The last 6 stops had Hylands Anti cramping. They always had the Nuun tables before the water tables. At most stations the Nuun was served in the white & blue Nuun cups, and the water was in white cups which made it easy to spot where the Nuun ended and the water began. At a couple of aid stations they served Nuun in white cups but the volunteers at all the stops did a great job yelling out “Electrolytes” “Nuun” and they were always the first tables so even my running addled mind was quickly able to determine which volunteer had what I needed.

The spacing between water stops was inconsistent and not always on a particular mile or km marker. In a personally prefer having water stops at specific mile markers so that was a small minus for me. But the race absolutely has enough aid stations, and they do get closer together as the race progresses which I also appreciate. You will find aid stations approximately every 2 miles for the first half of the race , approximately every 1.5 miles from 13-19 miles, then approximately every mile from 19 miles to the finish.  In 2021, aid stations were located at miles 2.2, 4.2, 6.4, 8.5, 10.0, 12, 13.6, 15.1, 16.5, 17.9, 19.4, 20.4, 21.4, 22.3, 23.5, 24.5, 25.3 

If you are a runner who wants to be sure you take your gel just before a water stop, watch for the Elite fueling station signs those come just before the water stop and can be a good visual cue for when to take your gel.
One other small complaint, almost all the water stations were only on the right side of the road. I was running with the 3:55 pace group which was a pretty big pack of runners and it was a bit chaotic trying to reach a volunteer to get a cup.  Ideally they would stretch those tables out a bit more or have water stations on both sides of the road.  I did find myself having to mentally “prepare to go in” at every aid station. (Side note the last marathon I ran was  Boston which has aid stations on both sides of the road and has lots of tables stretched out, so that’s the bar I compare all races to). 

So if you are a runner who gets really nervous about hydration timing, you might want to consider wearing your hydration backpack. Unlike many of the big marathons you are allowed to wear hydration backpacks at CIM (at least I assume you were since I saw a good number of runners wearing them).

Volunteers?

Yes they had volunteers and they were amazing and wonderful! THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

Spectator friendly?

If you have a car it’s relatively easy to cheer on your runner at multiple locations and relatively easy to stand somewhere your runner will see you (as always, I recommend making sure your runner knows what side of the road you will cheer from, and at what mile markers you will be cheering). There were thin crowds the entire way and a few spots with some great loud cheering. It’s not New York marathon crowds (let’s be clear I’ve yet to run a race in North America with better crowds than New York), but for a race this size, there are decent crowds cheering you on.

Pacers?

In keeping with their theme of come to CIM being the best place to BQ, they have pacers for the BQ time for every gender and age group. I ran with the 3:55 pace group. 3:55 translates to a 5:34/km pace. Staying around the pacers my slowest km was 5:38 and my fastest km was 5:17 (remember there were hills so that variation is an indication of consistent effort throughout the race). I don’t know about the other pacers, but my pacers were great. Not only did they run a steady pace but they did a good job talking everyone through the race, the hills, even suggesting when you might want to take off if you still have something left approaching the finish (for the curious, they suggested stay with the pace team at least until you cross the bridge entering Sacramento which is just past the 21 mile mark).

The finish

Once across the finish line you get your medal and instead of the usual mylar blanket they give you a lightweight jacket with sleeves and a hood which helps you warn up and keeps your hands free. Then once again they go above and beyond. Instead of handing you a disposable plastic water bottle they give you a re-usable CIM Finishers water bottle pre-filled with water. They also hand you a re-usable shopping bag with some nibbles. There was a hot food tent and beer tent, and they also had a race shirt size exchange.

It wasn’t too difficult to find friends as there is open field on the lawn on the capital building.

For those who stayed at race hotels further from the start line there are also shuttle buses to take you back to your hotels.

Race Hotel options

There are three popular areas to stay. You likely want to pick a hotel that is near a bus pick up location.  There are hotels near the finish line (convenient for dropping off your bag check  on race day) and there are several hotels near Calexpo .  One word of warning, if you are hoping to get a late checkout so you can shower post-race before driving home, you may have to pay additional fees and there may be a limited number of late checkouts are available. Clearly the hotels are used to race weekend and the massive influx of runners requesting late checkouts. My hotel charged $50 for late checkout on race day.

Fun ways to celebrate if you do BQ!

This race is so well know for BQs they actually had shirts for sale at the expo that say ” California International Marathon Boston Qualified”. It takes serious confidence to buy that before the race (They do have a place to buy shirts in the finish area as well, I’m guessing that’s when most of those shirts are purchased)

I didn’t buy a shirt (and I did BQ) but…they have a fabulous photo op/ celebration moment at the finish line for runners who BQ. You get to ring the BQ bell. They have the bell on display at the race expo, but of course no-one rings the bell in the expo because they haven’t run a BQ yet. The thought of ringing that bell was actually one of my mantras when I started to get tired in the race. I found myself thinking “I am not giving up, I am going to ring that bell” (full disclosure there may have been a few expletives inserted depending on how I felt at that point in the race).

I was clearly not the only one who became obsessed with ringing the bell, because when I did finish there was a line of 50+ runners waiting to ring the bell. But despite my tired legs it was worth standing in line for 30+ minutes with all the other exhausted but very happy runners waiting their turn to ring that bell. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate a successful CIM!

If you enjoyed this race report check out my other running posts and race reports. Leave a comment if there is additional information I could have shared to help you evaluate this race as a potential destination!

Boston marathon 2021 the Role Playing Game Race Report

Welcome to Boston Marathon 2021  – the newest role playing adventure game.

Due to COVID, Boston 2020 was entirely virtual and just about every other in person race was cancelled. Many of us couldn’t even train with our run buds any more. When they announced registration for in-person Boston 2021, I really wasn’t sure I would ever reach the start line. Only 20,000 runners means tougher qualifying times, the in person race could be cancelled, and I didn’t know if I would be able to enter the United States. Getting to Boston this year has been like a complicated adventure game filled with puzzles, obstacles and setbacks, so that’s how I’ll approach this race report.. as an RPG (role playing game)… will you get to the start of the Boston marathon?

Stage 1 Getting a BQ

Begin your adventure with a wisdom check. Any wise person would realize going to Boston this year is not worth the hassle, so many hurdles to overcome, but if you are thinking of registering then you must have run at least one marathon already so therefore your wisdom score is probably low enough that you may register. If you are in the hospital with COVID when you register subtract 5 from your wisdom*

*We met a runner from India who was in the hospital with COVID when registration opened for Boston, but she had a BQ and she told her husband to bring her credit card to the hospital so she could register.

Roll 3d10 (that means roll a 10 sided dice 3 times), the first roll is the number of minutes, the next two rolls determine the number of seconds for the cut-off. 7, 4, and 7. If you ran your marathon 7 minutes and 47 seconds faster than the qualifying time for your age group proceed to Stage 2 Planning the trip. If you did not, you may register for the virtual Boston marathon or you can end your Boston adventure and choose an alternate marathon adventure.

Stage 2 Planning the trip

You met the cut-off time congratulations!

Book yourself a hotel. Make a wisdom check, if you pass your wisdom check you book a refundable hotel room, if not, do a wealth check to ensure you can afford to risk losing $600-$2500 for those outrageously priced marathon weekend hotel rooms if something goes wrong. Roll a d4 (four sided dice) to determine the number of nights you book. Subtract one from your roll if you failed the wisdom check (people who fly or drive home the day of the marathon are definitely a little crazy*). 

*Mike

We passed the wisdom check and rolled a 3. My sister booked an airport hotel ($150/night cheaper than downtown) for Saturday, Sunday & Monday.

Roll a d6 (six sided dice) to determine travel restrictions to Boston at the time you found out you got a bib.

• 6 you may travel freely to Boston
• 5 you may fly to Boston
• 4 you may drive to Boston
• 3 you may fly to Boston with a two week quarantine
• 2 you may fly to Boston with a two week quarantine in another country before you arrive
• 1 forget it they aren’t letting you in right now, better hope things improve by the October!

We rolled a 5. But it’s April and the race is in October, no doubt the Canadian/US border will be open by then, I’m not flying, that would be expensive and a hassle. Move on to stage 3 Training

Stage 3 Training

Roll a d6 to determine how many workouts you will complete this week. Do a wisdom check. Add 1 hill workout to your schedule if you passed your wisdom check. Do a motivation check, add 1 to your workout schedule if this is your first Boston, or if you are planning to PB at the marathon. Subtract one from your number of weekly workouts if you are just happy to run a race in person again, and don’t really care what your time is.

At the end of each week, complete a training check. Roll a d20.

• 20 critical hit, you had a fantastic training week, you are rocking it increase motivation by two.
• 15-19 training went well, your workouts went well, your motivation increases by one.
• 10-14 you got your workouts done, feeling a bit tired but basically okay continue training as usual.
• 6-9 that one workout did not go well, reduce motivation by one.
• 2-5 something went wrong roll a d10 and check the injury table to determine which body part feels off. 1 Critical miss! You have an injury that prevents you from running next week roll d10 and check the injury table to determine the injury, roll another d10 to determine the number of weeks training lost.

Injury Table

• 1 Toe*
• 2 Foot
• 3 Ankle
• 4 Achilles/calf
• 5 Knee
• 6 IT Band
• 7 Hip
• 8 Back
• 9 Shoulder
• 10 Gash in the head**

*Randy **Judy

If you had an injury, do a wisdom check, if you fail the wisdom check, you are ignoring your injury subtract one from next week’s training check. If you pass the wisdom check you add some stretching, yoga, physio, to your workout routine and continue to train as usual.

Repeat for 10 weeks then advance to stage 4 It’s getting real

Stage 4 It’s getting real

Roll a d6 (six sided dice) to determine travel restrictions to Boston six weeks from race day.

• 6 you may travel freely to Boston
• 5 you may fly to Boston
• 4 you may drive to Boston
• 3 you may fly to Boston with a two week quarantine
• 2 you may fly to Boston with a two week quarantine in another country before you arrive*
• 1 forget it they aren’t letting you in right now, okay now might be the time to start panicking

*We met a runner from South Africa who had to complete a two week quarantine in Namibia to get to Boston.

I rolled a 5. Well that sucks! We were planning to drive, time to look up flights. Roll a d2 to determine flight options.

• 15+ you find a flight that is fully refundable at a decent price
• 10-14 you find a flight that will provide you with travel credits or a reasonable price
• 5-9 you find a decent priced flight but non-refundable
• 2-4 ouch that’s expensive but no real alternative.
• 1 forget it! I’m switching to the virtual race

Next perform a hotel check to ensure your hotel nights line up with your flights.

We rolled a 13 and got flights on Air Canada which can be traded for full travel credit if we have to cancel, but we failed our hotel check because we land Friday night and don’t have hotel for Friday. We pass a luck check and are able to book Friday night at the same hotel we have for the rest of our stay but lose an additional $100 over what we would have paid if we had booked Friday initially.

Once you have your travel and hotel sorted advance to stage 5 COVID testing

Stage 5 COVID testing

You have a flight and you have hotel booked, now it’s time to research the current rules for entering the US. You require a COVID Rapid Antigen test within 72 hours of your flight entering the US. If you are travelling through another country to arrive in the US, do a luck check to determine if you require a different test to enter the country in-transit.

For each COVID test roll a d10 to determine the degree of Q-tip penetration into your nasal passage required to take a sample.

Roll a d20 to determine if your COVID test is negative, add 10 to your score if you are fully vaccinated, add 5 to your score if you wear a mask in public locations, subtract one for every meal indoors at a restaurant, movie, or large public event attended in the past 14 days. If you fail this throw your adventure ends here. If you pass this throw advance to stage 6 fly to Boston.

Stage 6 Fly to Boston

Complete your online check in, roll 2d10 to determine how many minutes you spend figuring out all the documentation you must submit to check in for your flight.

It’s time to fly, but airports as we know are fraught with complications, so for each flight roll 2d10 for wild magic and hope you make your connections and arrive successfully in Boston in time to get your bib**

**Each and every scenario below is based on actual incidents that happened to myself, friends, or family. You know who you are 😊

• 99-00 Everything goes fine
• 97-98 You read all the dire warnings about arriving early during COVID and arrive at the airport before the check-in counters are open, subtract 2 from endurance due to unnecessary lost sleep.
• 95-96 Rain (d10 minutes flight delay)
• 93-94 Fog at arrival airport (d20 minutes delay circling and 50% chance of aborted landing adding additional d20 minutes delay)
• 91-92 Flight crew has worked too many hours (2d10 minutes delay waiting for new crew to arrive)

• 89-90 Mechanical issues with the plane (2d10 minutes delay waiting for repair and sign off)
• 87-88 Small overhead bins (d20 minutes delay as they keep begging everyone to check bags at the gate and everyone ignores them and they have to check all the bags when they board and discover their bags don’t fit)
• 85-86 The seat beside you on the plane is occupied by a 4 year old who spends the entire flight telling you all about his favorite Pokemon in great detail
• 83-84 You have a middle seat between two squabbling siblings, half way through the flight one throws up in the air sickness bag and shows it to his brother  
• 81-82 You get an upgrade to first class
• 79-80 You are in first class but end up sitting next to a bratty 5 year old and have to cut his meat for him
• 77-78 You accidentally board using the boarding pass for the wrong flight causing mayhem because your boarding pass did not scan properly when you boarded and now number of passengers on the plane does not match the number of scanned boarding passes.

• 75-76 You carefully packed your race gear in carry on but your carry on does not fit in the overhead and they check your bag after you board the plane. Roll a d20 if you roll 5 or higher your bag shows up on the luggage carousel.
• 73-74 They lose your checked bags
• 71-72 You open the bag of pretzels and they fly open showering pretzels on your seat mates
• 69-70 You have a 7 year sitting behind you who keeps kicking your seat
• 67-68 You get an exit row seat with extra leg space
• 65-66 You get a seat that does not recline
• 63-64 Flight is overbooked you are bumped to the next flight.
• 61-62 They changed planes, your exit row seat is now a middle seat in the back of the plane
• 59-60 Thunderstorm at arrival airport (roll d20, if you roll a 1 they turn your plane around and fly back to your place of departure and you have to rebook on another flight, otherwise 2d10minutes delay)
• 57-58 You flew Southwest Airlines and they cancelled your flight due to staffing shortages during COVID
• 55-56 Bumpy flight
• 53-54 Smooth flight
• 51-52 Person in front of you reclines their seat so far back their head is in your lap
• 49-50 Short line at security, get an extra drink pre-flight
• 47-48 Long line at security, subtract one from endurance for sprinting to the gate
• 45-46 TSA Pre-check for security, get two extra drinks pre-flight
• 43-44 You have TSA pre-check but TSA pre-check is not open, subtract one from endurance for sprinting to the gate
• 41-42 Long customs line, subtract one from endurance from stress thinking you will miss your flight
• 39-40 Short customs line, get one extra drink pre-flight
• 37-38 Nexus or other express customs clearance, get two extra drinks pre-flight
• 35-36 You have Nexus or other express customs clearance, but the kiosks are not working, subtract one from endurance for sprinting to the gate
• 33-34 The paperback book in your carry on triggers a manual search of your bag at security
• 31-32 You get a pat down because you set off the metal detector
• 29-30 You forgot you had a bottle of sunscreen in your carry on, throw out your sunscreen because it’s a liquid over 50 ml
• 27-28 You get pulled aside for the explosive test on your hands and laptop
• 25-26 You spot another Boston runner at the gate, compare notes on marathons
• 23-24 Strong headwinds (d20 minutes flight delay)
• 21-22 Strong tailwinds (d20 minutes early)
• 19-20 In flight entertainment system has a movie you haven’t seen before and want to watch
• 17-18 You have in flight entertainment system but you only have Bluetooth headphones and can’t bring yourself to purchase in flight ear buds
• 15-16 Gate crew is not ready when you land (d20 minutes delay deplaning)
• 13-14 Dust in the door handle of the emergency exit in the exit row causes the door to emit a high pitched squealing noise, roll d20 to determine if sound stops after you reach cruising altitude
• 11-12 Plane is struck by lightning, no flight delay but add 10 to stress level
• 9-10 Propeller plane and you got the seat beside the propeller lose 5 decibel of hearing unless  you have noise reducing headphones, in which case lose 2 decibels of hearing
• 7-8 A fleet of antique airplanes is landing at your airport (d20 minutes delay)
• 5-6 Spot a celebrity on your flight
• 3-4 Your boarding pass says SSSS roll a d20, if you roll 11-20 you make your flight, roll 1-10 you miss your flight and have to catch the next one
• 1-2 Your name matches someone on the watch list – miss your flight into the US and catch the next one

If you survived the airport wild magic and arrived in Boston in time to pick up your bib advanced to Stage 7 Bib pick up

Stage 7 Bib pick up

Congratulations you have arrived in Boston and hopefully you arrived with your running gear. Proceed to Boylston Street and enter the Proof of Vaccination tent. Roll a d20 to determine if your vaccination is approved by the WHO and you get your runner’s bracelet. If you fail your throw, advance to the COVID test tent and roll a d20 to determine if your COVID test is negative, add 10 to your score if you are fully vaccinated, add 5 to your score if you wear a mask in public locations, subtract one for every meal indoors at a restaurant, movie, or large public event attended in the past 14 days. If you fail this throw your adventure ends here. If you make the throw accept your runner’s bracelet and proceed to the Bib pick up.

Look up your bib number. Roll a d4 to determine the number of people in line in front of you. Take a moment to appreciate how incredibly efficient the vaccination check and bib pick up were this year and don’t forget to thank the amazing volunteers.  Then look down in your hands and realize you are holding your race bib. Let it hit you, get a little emotional, it’s okay. Enter the expo. Roll 3d10 to determine the total amount of money you spend  on official Boston race gear and souvenirs. If you wear a Women’s size Small or Extra Small roll a d20 to determine if they have what you want in your size. Subtract 2 from your roll for every 6 hours the race expo was open because all the other women already bought the smaller sizes. Do a wisdom check to see if you can restrain yourself from buying the Medium because it is too big for you, but you really like that blue windbreaker with the dark blue sleeves.*

*My sister passed the wisdom check and did not purchase the size Medium windbreaker and I was relatively restrained this year only purchasing the Celebration jacket, a long sleeved shirt, two pint glasses, a pin, and a badge.

Roll a d6 to determine the number of hours you spend going to sporting goods shops across Boston because the reduced size race expo does not have ANY running shoes, gels, nip guards, socks, etc… anything you needed for race day will have to be purchased elsewhere, but, if you want a Sam Adams beer they’ve got you covered*

*Did you know there is a Marathon Sports store out by Harvard Square? They didn’t have my size at the Marathon Sports on Boylston.

Advance to Stage 8

Stage 8 Take it all in!

You’ve done all your running around, it’s time to take in the sights, maybe go find a cannoli or some clam chowder. Do a wisdom check, if you fail the wisdom check you eat the cannoli* or clam chowder the night before the race and make a port-a-potty stop mid-race. If you arrived Saturday, go for an easy run Sunday morning along the river or if you are staying by the airport, along the ocean at Revere Beach.

*James

Take a photo at the finish line, then get back to your room and lay out all your race gear. Tomorrow you run the Boston marathon! Advance to Stage 9 Get to the start line

Stage 9 Get to the start line

Get up early, dress up in your best throw away pre-race outfit and make your way to the school bus to drop off your gear check if you don’t have a convenient hotel or generous friend or family member to lug your stuff around. Then begin the walk to the bus, board the bus at the scheduled time for your bib colour. Roll a d20, if you roll a 1 the bus driver gets lost and you arrive at the start an hour later than planned*

*Yeah one of the bus drivers got completely lost on the way to the start, and took an extra hour to get to the start line

Once you arrive in Hopkinton, start walking to the Start line. Stop at the port-a-potties, roll a d10 to determine the number of people in front of you in line. Gain 10 minutes if you are a guy and use the open urinal zone.

Begin to discard your throwaway gear into the clear bags, garbage in the black bags. Do a wisdom check to determine if you do any stretches or warm up. Continue walking to the start line. Take one last photo if you have your phone because with the rolling start, as soon as you reach the start line your Boston marathon is underway! Advance to Stage 10 Run the marathon

Stage 10 Run the marathon

Oh my god, I’m here, I’m running the Boston marathon, there are runners all around me, there are fans cheering, try not to run too fast on that initial downhill. Hey look there’s the Ashland Biker bar. Oh wait, uphill now, but look at that cute Labrador holding the Boston Strong flags. Natick… more hills and there’s Santa Claus at the top of the hill. Framingham, more cheering crowds, more hills. Wellesley another hill and the famous Wellesley college girls scream tunnel but no kisses from the girls this year, I guess COVID has changed some aspects of the race itself. Water stops are soooo well organized, amazing volunteers, and here we are in Newton for even more hills! Lots of crowds to cheer you up the hills, good thing because that first Newton hill goes on and on and on. Boston college has a great cheering section too! Brookline and wait I’m confused is this section flat??? Haven’t seen much of that today, I really should have done more hill training.  Now entering Boston, one mile to go, Right on Hereford, left on Boyleston and it’s time to smile for the camera, you are about to finish the 125^th Boston marathon! The weather was not as hot as forecast you might even PB*

*Stephanie, Rachel

Stage 11 You did it

My feet hurt, my legs hurt, I just ran 42.2 km / 26.2 miles but as soon as I hit that finish line, the 400 m walk to the gear check feels like another marathon. I make it to the exit, my sister Judy is waiting for me, I greet her briefly and inform her when she wants to find me I’ll be collapsed on the grass in Boston commons. This picture was taken at least 20 minutes later because I found the strength to sit upright again 🙂 Congratulations you have completed the 125th Boston marathon!

For more of my race reports, including comparisons of Boston and New York marathons, the practical guide to Boston marathon weekend (pre-COVID), or Boston marathon treadmill settings visit my page of running related posts.