How has the Boston marathon changed over the years?I’ve run it a few times, including 2022 and I’ll be back in 2023. But what was it like fifty years ago? I had the opportunity to find out from Ken Parker who qualified for his first Boston marathon in 1972 and ran his first Boston in 1973. I hope you enjoy this peek into the Boston marathon time capsule!
The 2022 Boston marathon had 28,604 runners. The temperature reached a high of 54F. The men’s winner was Evans Chebet of Kenya in a time of 2:06:51. The women’s winner was Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya in a time of 2:21:02. The men’s wheelchair winner was Daniel Romanchuk of the USA in a time of 1:26:58 the women’s wheelchair winner was Manuela Schär of Switzerland in a time of 1:41:08
The 1973 Boston marathon had 1,384 runners. The temperature reached a high of 78F. The men’s winner was Jon Andersen of Eugene, Oregon beat out the favorite Frank Shorter with a time of 2:16:03. The women’s winner was Jacqueline Hansen a college student from Granada Hills, California in a time of 3:06:26 beating out the other 13 women.
Race Hotels
Susan – 2023 “The Courtyard (not a fancy hotel) nearest the finish line is $769 USD a night Boston weekend. Too rich for me, so I stay further out and take one of the trains down to the Commons to catch the buses to the start. Regardless of where I stay, I always meet other Boston marathon runners walking around in Boston jackets from past years. The breakfast buffet inevitably runs out of bananas.”
Ken – 1973 “I used to stay at the Boston Sheraton right beside the finish. I was in the Royal Canadian Air Force and the military in Canada covered the cost of hotel and travel for us if we qualified for Boston. You could tell it was a popular hotel for Boston marathoners because there were always plenty of runners walking down stairs backwards in the hotel the day after the marathon.”
Race Swag & Expo
Susan – 2023 “When you pick up your bib you get a technical long sleeved shirt, a laptop sticker, a printed program and various strange goodies from sponsors including a ‘Boston Cream Pie’ flavoured gel from Gu. The race expo has just about every running shoe company, and running gear supplier on site. In addition there is an entire section of official Boston marathon clothing and souvenirs. The ‘must have’ for every first time Boston runner is of course the $125 USD celebration jacket.”
Ken – 1973 “There was no race expo, there was no swag, or celebration jackets, all you got was your bib and a basic cotton t-shirt.”
The route and getting to the start
Susan – 2023 “We catch the buses to the start from Boston Commons. You have to pass through security who ensure you are only carrying the official clear bag onto the bus. Volunteers co-ordinate the bus loading, and you have to show them your bib or they won’t let you board the bus. The bus drops you off at the school in Hopkinton, and you wait outside until your wave is called to the start. There are 4 waves each with 8 corrals. The wheelchair racers start around 9 AM, and the first runners leave around 9:30 AM.”
Ken – 1973 “The race route was the same as it today. We started in Hopkinton. There were buses by the hotel that would take us to the start. Jock Semple, the race director (the same Boston race director who tried to push Katherine Switzer off the Boston course in 1967) used to manage the bus loading and would get quite grumpy if runners weren’t following directions. You had to make sure your bib was visible or you’d be sure to get an earful. Once we arrived at Hopkinton, we would hang out in the gym at the school until it was time to start. The race started at noon. There were no corrals and waves, just one bulk start.”
The cheering crowds
Susan – 2023 “The city really gets behind the marathon. There are 30,000 runners and 40-45% of them are women. Police, firefighters, and military are everywhere keeping runners and spectators safe. Spectators line the entire course cheering us on. I always look forward to the insane cheering at Wellesley and Boston college. If you see anyone in a Boston College shirt, tuck in behind them as you approach the school, they will get extra cheering that you can use to give you a burst of energy. The other runners who get the biggest cheers are usually people who were injured during the Boston marathon bombing and have returned to run the race”
Ken – 1973 “One of the most wonderful things about the Boston marathon is the way the city gets behind it. This was true even in 1973. Even though there were only one thousand runners, the Boston police were out firmly keeping everyone off the course reminding them it was marathon day! Locals would be out on their lawns and on the streets cheering us on. And yes, even in 1973, the loudest cheering section were the college girls at Wellesley (Marathon Monday | Wellesley College) . 1972 was the first year they officially allowed women to enter Boston, and the Wellesley girls cheered even louder when a female runner went by. Some of the male runners would tuck in with a female runner as they went past Wellesley to soak up that extra energy.”
Pacing and Support
Susan – 2023 “Boston doesn’t have pacers, but they do have clocks every 5 km and mileage markers every mile and of course almost every runner on the course is wearing a Garmin. You do get the occasional spectator who yells out ‘you are almost there’ when you still have 10 miles to go, but you know exactly where you are and exactly how far you have to go at any given moment. No need to carry water or electrolytes as there is no shortage of water and aid stations along the course, supplemented by spectators offering beer, coke, freezies, paper towels, orange slices and more!”
Ken – 1973 “Pacing was a little more challenging than it is now. They had timing stations, but they were portable, and instead of placing them at specific distance intervals they would be placed at geographical landmarks along the route like Natick or Wellesley. But even those didn’t help most of us because after the lead runners passed the timing stations, they would pack up and head to the finish. We didn’t have Garmins to keep track of our mileage either, so we mostly relied on the locals who would yell out “10 miles to go.” This could be a little unreliable as inevitably a few minutes later someone would yell out “only 15 miles to go.” There were no water stations either, but the local residents would come to our rescue standing in their front yards with garden hoses. I didn’t care, it was still amazing, because even then it was *BOSTON*!”
The finish line
Susan – 2023 “We all have timing chips on our bibs, and there is a mat ahead of the finish line so the announcers can see your name before you cross and call out names of runners as they come in. In every finish line photo, you can spot runners runner reaching down to stop their Garmins, and within minutes of finishing we can look up our official finish times on our cell phones.”
Ken – 1973 “I had no Garmin, but I did still run with a watch that I would check to see my time as I crossed the finish. Capturing official finish times was a little more complicated. There were no timing chips and mats. At the finish, as you ran across the finish line a volunteer would press a button on the Chronomix timer. The Chronomix would record the time for each runner in sequential order. As soon as you crossed the finish line you were corralled single file into the finish chute which kept all the runners in the order in which you finished so the volunteers could write down our bib numbers in order of finish position. Then the volunteers would map the order of the finishers to the finish times captured by the Chronomix.”
Medals & post race snacks
Susan -2023 “After you cross the finish line you head down the chute where an army of volunteers hand you a mylar blanket, your medal, and an assortment of snacks to help you refuel. Medics with wheelchairs at the ready scan the hoards of finishers in case they need to whisk a woozy runner to the med tent. You stumble out of the secure area to the meeting area or the Commons to meet up with any friends or family and ideally head out for a celebratory meal and drink afterwards. In 2022, I finished in 4:07:03 18420th overall. My time is more than 20 minutes slower than my qualifying time, but I really don’t care, I just finished the Boston marathon!”
Ken – 1973 “There were no finisher medals (Note from Susan: It looks like the first finisher medals were handed out in Boston in 1983, a pewter medal with no ribbon) but we would celebrate over drinks afterwards and the next day the Boston Globe would publish all of the results in the paper. I checked the paper and I ran 3:22:10 placing 541st overall. But to be honest, I was not too concerned or excited about my time, It was a major achievement to run and finish Boston!”
Who are Ken and Susan?
Ken Parker has been active participant in the development of marathon as a mainstream sport and in particular with the development of competitive women’s running which he champions to this day. He was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and coached the OAC women’s running team in Ottawa well into his 80s. This post is the second in what I hope will be a series of posts, as I hope to continue interviewing Ken to learn more about his experience in the marathon space and in particular his involvement with the evolution of competitive women’s running!
Susan aka hockeygeekgirl, got into marathon running in her 40s and was lucky enough to find a great group of running friends who make the long runs more bearable and join her on many a fun run adventure including 6 Boston marathons. If you enjoyed this post you may want to check out her other running posts, everything from race reports, to practical tips on how to make the most out of your Boston marathon weekend, to running disaster stories from runners just like you!
I just completed the 2022 Berlin marathon, my fourth Abbott major marathon. I’ll write a separate report on what you want to know if you decide to run Berlin, this report is about my race!
First you need a bib
I’ve entered the Berlin marathon lottery multiple times to no avail. So, I was pleasantly surprised when Christopher and I received the You made it email! As an added bonus my sister qualified for Berlin so yay group road trip! Berlin is clearly more interesting than most race destinations because all our spouses came along for the ride as well!
Gel trauma
For the past two years I’ve been running with Tap Endurance. I love maple syrup, so a gel that’s basically maple syrup equals happy Susan! But crisis! In 2021, they changed the packaging. I spent the entire CIM marathon swearing at Tap Endurance as I tried to rip open the new packages with my teeth. Throughout my Berlin training, my run-buds listened to me complain and made sympathetic noises when the package finally tore open squirting maple syrup all over my shirt and hands. So I decided it was time to jump on the Maurten gel bandwagon. I ran my last two long runs with Maurten gels. It’s a bit like taking a flavorless jello shot every 6 km so not as tasty, but my stomach didn’t mind, and I no longer spent half my run trying to use my sweaty shirt to wipe syrup off my hands so I decided I was good to go with a new product on race day (what could go wrong?) and ordered the Maurten supplies listed on their marathon fuel guide for my race.
To cheat or not to cheat
Okay cheating is the wrong word, as it’s completely legal, but I have now run a 5 km race and a 15 km race wearing Nike Vaporflys. These are the crazy expensive shoes with carbon fiber plates that wear out faster than regular runners. There are no shortage of articles explaining how these give you an advantage, and I did notice a difference in my 5 km and 15 km races. However…. I generally run in mild stability shoes. All the carbon shoes are neutral, so this means I’d be running in a shoe with a different profile for 26.2 miles… you know what they say about don’t try anything new on race day… I’ll pack my regular runners as well just in case I change my mind (what could go wrong?)
The race expo – Sh*t is getting real
I arrived in Berlin with husband on Sunday a full week before the race so I can play tourist and completely adjust to the time zone. Judy and Christopher arrive Thursday so we meet at the race expo at 5 PM. The expo is in Tempelhof, an abandoned airport with a fascinating history that includes Operation Vittles/ The Berlin Candy Bomber. We walked past the abandoned check in counters, out onto the tarmac and into the hangar for the expo itself, we were wandering around trying to find bib pick up, and finally asked a volunteer who sent us in the right direction. I got a gear check bag with my bib because I did not select the poncho (Berlin is kinda like the New York Marathon you have to choose one of the other). T-shirts are not included with race fee, but I had pre-purchased the finisher shirt so was sent to the pre-purchased clothing area to get my shirt. Now time to enter the madhouse that is the official marathon race shop for some serious spending! The jackets are Adidas and similar style to Boston jackets, but they have a cute little windbreaker that clearly needs to come home with me. There’s also a nice running shirt. There’s the usual fun of scouring the racks to find the correct size. Super glad we got there Thursday night, because some sizes are already in short supply. Once you exit the official gear store you have a lot more space. The expo is located in a hangar so there’s a good amount of room between booths. We spend a pleasant hour or so visiting different vendors before walking back out onto the tarmac for one last photo op with the Candy bomber plane in the background before we leave.
And now for the final touch…
For pre-race throwaway clothes I researched German thrift shops. Christopher and Karin join along with the Piel clan. Christopher and I find our go to pre-race outfits… bathrobes!
While at the thrift shop Christopher tried on a hoodie and when he took his hand out the pocket, pulled out two used masks. Traumatized he went in search of Judy who fortunately had hand sanitizer in her purse (thank you Judy).
Pre-race traditions must be observed!
Christopher and I have a pre-race tradition of walking the last mile of the course, so we meet at Brandenburg gate to scope out the finish area. We locate our names on the hall of fame, and as an added bonus Christopher locates a pretzel and a NA beer. After we walk the last mile we meet up with Judy, Harold, Christopher and Sam. Judy and I find a bear for our traditional pre-race photo!
Scoping out the start area
The printed map in our race kit showing the course, is unhelpful with regards to the start/finish area. It doesn’t show where runners enter, the corrals or gear check locations.
The website and mobile app all direct you to the “interactive map” Well the interactive map shows a bunch of tiny icons that stay tiny even when you zoom in, it doesn’t rotate when you try to display it in landscape, and tapping the icons doesn’t do anything, and there is no legend explaining what all the tiny icons mean. That’s a few too many unknowns for me on race morning, so Trevor and I go off to scope it out in person. We find the runners entrance and family meeting area and we find a giant map of the start area posted on the fence with a legend! Apparently the little coat hangars are gear check. There are two of them in completely different areas (what could go wrong?), but at least I know which tiny icon is gear check now.
The day of rest
Saturday is dedicated to staying off my feet and race prep. According to the Maurten fuel guide I should drink 500 mL of water mixed with my Maurten 320 drink powder. I mix it up, take a swig and OMG what is this stuff! And why won’t it fully dissolve? It’s got floaties in it! It triggers my gag reflex. Still, I am determined to follow the nutrition guide so I take another sip. I do some stretching. I take another sip. I read for a bit. I take another sip. I charge my Garmin. I cut my toenails. I take another sip. I check the hourly forecast (cloudy and 12 degrees at 9 AM). I take another sip. I take a bath. I take another sip. Eventually I manage to drink all of it. I’m dreading the 500 mL of the Maurten 160 I’m supposed to drink tomorrow morning pre-race according to the marathon nutrition plan, but I premix it in an empty Coke bottle and put it beside my oatmeal and bowl for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Time to lay out my flat runner and pack my gear check bag. Now remember when I mentioned I packed my normal runners, just in case I decided not to risk the Vaporflys on race day? Smart right? Well yes, that’s smart if your luggage arrives with you. That’s right, It’s 6 days since we landed in Berlin and our luggage is nowhere to be seen. Our bags arrived in Berlin Monday, but the delivery service is apparently very very slow, and no, you can’t pick it up from the airport yourself. Fortunately I packed the absolute minimum to race in my carry on: Vaporfly shoes, Maurten gels and powder, shorts, compression tights, bib belt, hat, running bra, socks, shirt, arm warmers. I managed to find the German equivalent of Body Glide at a sports store in AlexanderPlatz, I got a new pair of Oofo recovery sandals and some gloves at the race expo, and I’ve bought lots of new clothes in general to get me through the week.
I lay out my flat runner with the Vaporflys. I pack my gear check bag with my new Oofos and I head out to meet Christopher and Karin for dinner at a Japanese restaurant because rice and fish or meat works for me as a pre-race meal. Christopher and Karin arrive a little late because they accidentally went to a different location/same chain, but I amuse myself trying to read the articles in the German version of Rolling Stone magazine and we still finish dinner well in time to get to bed early.
Sunday – Race day!
Berlin is a pretty late start for a major marathon. After copious searching of the marathon app, I finally find an FAQ that tells me specifically: the Elites start at 8:50 AM, corrals ABCD start at 9:15 AM, I’m in corral F so I start at 9:35 AM. I set my alarm for 6:30 so I can have my oatmeal and banana in plenty of time for it to digest pre-race. I even manage to drink my Maurten 160 and refill the Coke bottle with water to sip on the way to the start. Trevor decides to accompany me to the runners entrance. Christopher will meet me on the way. I don my stylish bathrobe and off we stroll.
Where are you?
At least I thought Christopher would meet me on the way. When we get to the designated meeting spot I get a message “I went to the wrong place because I’m an idiot, let’s just meet at the runner entrance”. When I get to the entrance I get another message “I’m at the meet area.” Turns out he’s at the family meeting area. “Lets just meet at the gear check”. While all this is going on Trevor has located a map of the start area with a legend mapping bib numbers to each gear check tent, so at least I know where I need to go check my bag. Trevor gives me a good luck kiss, I enter the start area. I head for bag check keeping an eye our for short port-a-potty lines (the next priority). I get another message from Christopher “At Bag check 26000” . Christopher has literally been getting the run around! Susan took the purple path. Christopher took the red path. Unfortunately, I’m at bag check 25000 which you can see from the image below is nowhere near bag check 26000.
Because I had looked at the gear check tents on the map earlier, I know where he is, so so off I go and YAY there are Christopher and Molly (Molly who I met at the Shamrock Shuffle).
The all important final pre-race pee!
Now that we are united, we all have one thing on our minds… where are the port-a-potties! As I was walking around I scanned the start village for the port-a-potties with the shortest lines. Unfortunately, there are nowhere near enough port-a-potties for this many runners. Not even close. I have never seen lines this bad! Someone said the lines are shorter near the corral, so off to the corral we go. As we walk Christopher scans for water, but no luck there either. I have an old Coke bottle in my pocket filled with water. COVID fears be damned, the three of us share it because we can’t find any other water or electrolytes in the start village. The port-a-potty lines continue to be atrocious. We notice a gap in the fencing where security is letting runners sneak into the woods to pee. We decide we aren’t that desperate…yet. We are almost at the corrals, we notice four garbage trucks along the fence and a few runners sneaking behind the trucks. We look at each other and nod. Behind the trucks are male and female runners squatting or standing as needed. It’s full frontal or full rear view depending on the gender. It’s also a narrow gap between the trucks and the fence so runners carefully step around each other to avoid being hit by an active stream. We do what we need to do and I can now tell you those puddles you see on the other side of the garbage trucks…that’s not water. Laughing we decide before we split up to take a selfie in front of the garbage trucks, and laugh even harder when we realize we are photobombed by a guy coming out from behind the trucks who was doing the same thing we did. FYI, We did find a few port-a-potties near the corral along with urinals for the men right beside the path. Not the discrete hidden behind a wall urinals you see at some North American races, these are just urinals right beside the path. This is Europe people, yes that guy has a penis, yes he needs to pee, get over it. There’s a lot to be said for the practicality of that at times like this.
The corral
Christopher and I are in Corral F. The lady checking bibs at the entrance is highly amused by our bathrobes. After all the complications, we have about 15 minutes until we start. They have a big jumbotron at the front of the corral and they show us clips of Eliud Kipchoge and the lead pack already out on the course. It’s warm enough I ditch the bathrobe right away (foreshadowing #4). We spot the 3:45 pacer but no sign of the 4:00 pacer that Christopher was hoping to follow. I have decided to try and run somewhere between 3:50-3:55 which means maintaining between 5:27 and 5:35/km pace.
We’re off
It’s time to start. Christopher and I walk to the start line together then split up, we need to run our own races. I feel good. I feel rested. It’s crowded for the first couple of km, but that’s not unusual for a big race. I take off my arm warmers right away and tie them to my bib belt, it’s warmer than I expected.
0-10 km
Did I mention it’s warmer than I expected, it’s actually a little humid as well. There are several spots where the road narrows and I get stuck behind other runners, but I’m feeling good. Easily keeping a sub 5:35 pace. Be nice if there were more water stops though.. first water stop is at 5 km, just water. I have my Maurten gel at 6 km as planned. I’m feeling pretty good, our bibs have our names on them. A random spectator calls out “Go Susan this is your day!” The second water stop is at 9 km. This one has water and the Maurten drink. Given the gag reflex it caused me Saturday, I pass and stick to the water. My pace varies from 5:23/km to 5:35/km I’m on track.
10-20 km
Wow this course really is flat! Still keeping pace, a few spots where my Garmin is slightly off, but my splits seem to be solidly on track. Passing lots of runners. Feeling good. 12 km is another water stop so I take another gel. I wish they had the paper cups instead of plastic ones, I’m spilling half the water all over my shirt. Hey look a Canadian flag, first one I’ve seen! Woo hoo Go Canada! At 15 km another Maurten stop, I stick to the water. That sun is getting warmer. A good number of spectators, not many silly signs though. At 17.5 more water, the water stops are busy but manageable. My pace is 5:25/km to 5:35/km still feeling good.
20-25 km
20 km is the next Maurten stop but I’m still sticking to water. Trevor and Karin said they would be at 23 km on the left. At 22 km I meet some guy from Spain, we run together and chat for a bit, both shooting for around a 3:50 both feeling pretty good. We hit the 23 km water stop together and he’s still with me when we meet Trevor and Karin! Hi! Always a huge boost to see family and friends cheering you on the course! Pace is varying between 5:25 and 5:30. Even at 23 km the course is still fairly crowded. Another water stop at 25 km, glad they are getting more frequent!
25-30 km
There’s a fair number of bends and turns, my watch is about 400 m ahead of the km markers so I start following the blue line. It’s not easy given the steady crowd of runners, but it’s manageable. Gels and water are falling into a pattern: 24 km gel, 25 km water, 28 km water, 30 km gel and water. At this point water stops only have tables on one side of the road. Since the Maurten stops only have water at the first few tables you have to spot them and move over quickly. At the 25 km Maurten stop, I overhear a runner who missed the water table and at each of the subsequent tables she’s calling out asking for water to no avail. Since the cups are quite big and always filled to the rim. I’m still holding mine. I’ve had my usual three gulps and was about to throw the rest away, I look over at her and say “If you are desperate, you can take the rest of mine” COVID be damned she needs the water and gratefully accepts the rest of my water. About a km later she catches up to me and says thank you, we chat and run together for a bit. We pass the 27 km marker, “we are on track all we need to is just need to hold this pace for 90 more minutes” she says cheerily! But I’m starting to slow down, the last two km are a 5:40 pace.
30 – 35 km
I take my gel at 30 km and it triggers my gag reflex. I manage to keep it down but that’s a bad sign. Trevor and Karin will be at 32 km. The heat and lack of electrolytes is beating me up, I stop for a short walk, my next two km are slower than 6 minutes. It’s humid, that cloud cover we had at the start is long gone, and I have not been treating this as a warm weather race. There’s Trevor and Karin, great to see them. Trevor’s sign is a huge hit! There’s a shortage of fun signs on the course today. I let Trevor know that the BQ is not going to happen today. At the next Maurten stop I try drinking some of the warm tea (no idea what benefits this has during a run, but clearly I need something other than water) and I manage to take a sip or two of the Maurten. At the 34 km stop I dump water on my head. My pace is now closer to 6:30/km.
35-40 km
I start getting muscle cramps. For me, running at this pace, that’s a sign of heat/salt/electrolyte issues. First my hamstring threatens to cramp, then a couple of foot cramps (which I’m able to run through) but when my calf cramps, I have to stop to stretch it. On one occasion, I smile meekly at the two medics who are sitting right beside the fence evaluating me as I stretch. Clearly I pass the test as the don’t even bother moving in my direction to ask if I need help. I turn on my music to keep myself motivated. The number of people passing me has dropped considerably, maybe I’m not the only one out here hurting. I manage one full km without stopping. I don’t take my gel at 36 km because I’m worried I won’t be able to get it down and keep it down. At around 39 km beside the Mall of Berlin there is a table giving away Coke… OMG yes please! I needed that. I want to keep going the last two km without stopping I really do, but my calf does not co-operate, so I average about 7 minutes/km as I approach the Brandenburg Gate. With 200 meters to go, my right calf tightens again and I start to limp, this will look amusing on the finisher video, but at this point I’m not stopping. At around 100 meters to go, my other calf starts to seize as well. My running style looks a bit like Forrest Gump when he still has the leg braces, but I make it across the finish line! Woo hoo!
The finish
I get my Eliud Kipchoge medal and notice a handmade cardboard sign “New WR 2:01:09” .That’s really cool! Eliud Kipchoge did set a new world record today! Part of my brain notices a single table giving away mylar blankets, I’ll just grab one further up (oh apparently that was the only table giving out mylar blankets, good thing it’s warm). There’s a table with water. No thanks honestly I’ve had enough water today. I focus on getting to bag check where they read my bib and quickly hand me my bag. I collapse on the grass feeling slightly dizzy. I change into my Oofos, and manage to remove the timing chip from my running shoe. Did I mention they use the old school timing chips you put on your shoe? And they don’t give you zip ties to attach them, so you have to tie them onto your shoes and therefore untie your shoes to get them off after the race. After some amount of time has passed, I find the energy to get up and go in quest of food which I also seem to have missed. There are some runners walking around with white plastic bags. I spot a table with white plastic bags near the NA beer tent. Success! I now have the all important free banana along with an apple and some junk foods.
I start wandering to the exit so I can go meet up with Trevor. I can’t see anywhere to return the timing chip, I ask someone with an info flag, she says she can take the chip for me, thank you! I stumble out of the area and make my way to the “i” in the family meeting zone where Trevor and Karin are waiting. There’s a concrete post to sit on and Trevor has a coke for me. Happy Susan. Christopher isn’t far behind and soon the two of us are giving happy but exhausted grins for the camera. I check the online results and see that Judy finished 4th in her age group, amazing! My official time is 4:10:57.
Post-race celebrations
We celebrate at a German beerhall with Una and Todd who I met at CIM and also ran today. We finish the evening with a photo of the runners and a photo of our always important support crew!
Now we just need to pack up for our flight to Barcelona the next morning. Packing doesn’t take long since we still haven’t received our luggage. I give Judy a call to talk about her race, and while we are chatting Trevor gets a message on his phone from the front desk. They have our bags! What! Really! Trevor rushes downstairs and returns with all three of our suitcases!
No BQ today, so, I won’t be running Boston 2024, but I have my luggage back. I’m content. I did just finish the Berlin Marathon, and my 4th Abbott World Major. For whatever reason today wasn’t the race I hoped for, I don’t think the Vaporflys messed me up, maybe I underestimated the heat and humidity, maybe I screwed up my nutrition, but maybe (none of like to admit this possibility) I was just undertrained, you never know for sure. It’s all those little mysteries that cause the strange addiction to the marathon distance. If it was easy and you always knew what was going to happen, it wouldn’t be such an achievement when you do run a good race. If you are thinking of running it, check out my (coming soon) practical Guide to the Berlin Marathon for the nitty gritty details a runner will want to know. If you enjoyed this you may want to check out my practical guides to various marathons, training tips, and other fun run related posts.
I’ve often said, half the battle of marathons, is getting to the start line. Boston 2022 was a stark reminder of that reality!
The training…
Go me! I did real hill training for this cycle +10 points (thanks for the company Judy)
Not only did I buy kettle bells but I used them to get in some regular strength work +10 points (listen to your Physiotherapist, right Richelle?)
Made sure to have fun running by going to Chicago to run Shamrock Shuffle +5 points (thanks Molly & Christopher)
Cut my long run short the day after the Shamrock Shuffle, because I was just feeling lazy -5 point
Realize all that good food in Chicago + pandemic, I am a full 10 lbs heavier than I was just before COVID. – 5 points
Hard to believe I did 3 long runs on the treadmill (the weather was that bad) +10 points
Uh-oh ran out of musicals and concerts on Youtube to motivate me when running on the treadmill, weather sucks, skip at least one long run completely -10 points
Yikes! Sidewalks were so icy I had to walk for an entire km -10 points (+20 points to Terry and Harold for waiting for me, so I didn’t just go straight back to the car and bail on the run completely)
Post-Chicago, managed to drop 2 lbs before race day +1 point
Getting to Boston…
Sorry Air Canada, we are allowed to drive across the US border now +10 points and save $$$$
Sweet! No COVID tests required if you are fully vaccinated +20 points and save $$$
Ottawa is in a 6th wave of COVID, with a record number of COVID cases, turn into a hermit for 14 days before we leave -10 points
Whoah, that’s a serious line! Easter weekend Boston means everyone is cross-border shopping, and the NEXUS lane isn’t open -10 points
Why are we stopped on the highway? A truck caught fire and they had to close a lane of the highway in Vermont – 10 points for us, -100 points for the poor truck driver
Why are we stopped again? Three more lane closures in Vermont because they are picking up litter -30 points
What can I say, depending on my mood I pick different beverages, so yay! the New Hampshire liquor outlet gives me a chance to buy my go-to non-alcoholic gin, a four pack of canned bubbles, and some great scotch +10 points
Despite all the delays, we made it to the expo before it closed Friday night +10 points
Oooh! Boston marathon running tights +10 points -$50
That’s cool, after the expo closes, the fan fair is still open and there is no line to get a free custom badge on your Boston jacket + 20 points
Oooh they also have a really nice hoodie at the fan fair +10 points -$50
The hotel reception has awesome “welcome runners” signage and super friendly staff, and unlike the downtown hotel rooms, our room is spacious, has a view of the water and it’s sunset +10 points
Hotel bar has decent food +10 points
My husband hid Easter candy in my luggage +5 points
Marathon weekend…
Thanks to my awesome sister Judy we snag an invite to the 261 get-together, maybe we can meet Katherine Schwitzer, lots of cool, passionate women at the event, free smoothie and oooh nice bracelet, singlet and arm warmers +10 points -$75
Fun, but no sign of Katherine Schwitzer, so can’t get our jackets signed -2 points
Find this guy in the Boston Commons, +10 points
We make a donation and he asks if we’d like to request a song which results in me accompanying him to Sweet Caroline +5 points
Find Yvonne and Pat immediately afterwards and convince them to come back so we can all sing Sweet Caroline +20 points
Desperately need new jeans and there is no Lucky jeans in Ottawa, but there is one in Boston, oooh and a nice jean jacket too, I’ve been looking for a jean jacket +10 points -$90
Hotel is cheap but too far away to have time to go back before supper -5 points save $$$$
Need something to do until supper. Stand in line to visit secret store hidden behind a Snapple machine (no really it’s a thing, not a very well kept secret though) +10 points for being cool enough to find this store
Still got time before supper so visit the Christian Science library which has a 30 foot high stained glass globe of the world you can walk inside +10 points for finding new weird things to do in Boston!
After trying a Unitarian, Baptist, and United church realize dinner is in the Italian district and there must be a Catholic church here where we can light a candle for a friend’s mom who recently passed. We did leave a prayer request for a few friends and family who are either dealing with loss or dealing with other challenges at the big church on Boylston as well (worth going inside, quite beautiful). Take a moment to appreciate being healthy. Can’t score points for that, just take a moment and appreciate it and say a little prayer for someone.
Dinner with Run K2J members and friends, the dish that fell on the floor was not Judy’s supper, Pat has big balls, the owner has big Italian hair, and they were nice enough to do separate checks +10 points
Amazing location for a shakeout run Sunday morning along the beach, 2.5 km of shoreline +5 points
Stop to write Run K2J in seashells +5 points
What the F****? Turnaround and start running back to the car, 300 meters in my upper back start to spasm causing considerable pain and preventing me from running at all -50 points
Oh SH****! Walk all the way back to the car, and have Yvonne and Judy do the shoulder checks because I can’t turn my head without considerable pain -20 points
Panic! Spend the next hour freaking out and asking Yvonne (who is a PT), and Christopher (who has had back spasms) what the heck I can about my back +10 points
Fortunately I packed Advil +20 points
Fortunately our hotel room is big enough I can lay out my yoga mat and go through a 60 minute gentle yoga class +20 points
Fortunately the guy at the hotel bar is great company, and it’s just me there for lunch, and he tops up my wine for free, +10 points
Stoned on Advil and free wine I feel up to going into town for the team photos at the finish line +10 points???
Confusing my family, I spend the family zoom call from lying on my yoga mat using my yoga tune up balls to roll out everything connected to the back muscle that is messed up +10 points
Controlling what I can, I go to bed carefully positioning pillows to be kind to my back +5 points
Lie in bed thinking, damn I can’t return the jacket because it has a custom patch on it. If I can’t run, how far can I actually walk before they kick me off the course? How long do I have to walk to feel I earned the right to wear the jacket?
Marathon Monday…
Well my back is no worse now than it was when I went to bed, so time to break out the stylish zebra bathrobe and head to the start with Judy and Yvonne +10 points
Wow, dropping off bags at gear check and getting back to the buses was crazy slow -10 points
Holy cow our bus driver is cruising, we passed at least 10 other buses +10 points
Whoah! we are at the back of the bus and at this speed really feeling those bumps -10 points
Bwahahaha! That last bump triggered my Garmin to say I reached my step count for today +1 point
Yikes! they are calling Wave 3 to the start and we haven’t even got to a port-a-potty yet -5 points
Score! I still remember where the shortest port-a-potty lines are located +20 points
I forgot my sunscreen, and the sunscreen dispensers are all empty -10 points
Found one dispenser with sunscreen and a huge crowd of people around it but manage to get a tiny bit for my face and Judy’s shoulders +5 points
I guess I’ll find out soon if my back is better, hello corral 5
Pretty happy with the name bib I made so people can say “Go Susan” +5 points
Cross the start line, start running, every km I manage to run is one less km to walk
The race
Wheeee I do love the downhill at the start
Maybe I’ll start counting the uphills as a way to distract myself
That’s one hill
“Go Susan” – excellent, the name bib is working
That’s two hills
“Go Susan you’ve got this”
That’s three hills
Wait that’s the 5 km mat, I ran 5 km, my back is okay, I think I’m running a marathon today, woot!
High five all the people!
“Not far now, Susan” – dude I’ve barely started that’s cruel
Oh how I wish I was on the other side of the road where they have a giant Will Smith carboard face for runners to slap
“You can do this Susan!” – from a little 8 year old girl I was giving a high five, okay THAT was awesome
I have totally lost track of the number of hills
At this point I think the back will be okay!
Oh wow, there was so much news about Spencer the dog that you can’t even see him so many runners stopped and surrounded him to take pictures
“Looking good Susan” – so sweet when spectators lie and tell us that
Santa Claus!
Diane hi! great to see you, you are running faster than me have a great race!
“Susan! Susan! Susan”
Oooh there’s Karen ahead of me, she’s having a good race, I won’t catch her she’s pulling away
Big Bird! Was Big Bird there last year? I feel like he was but I can’t remember
20 km mat which means must be time for yes, Wellesley college and the scream tunnel
I miss having Jonathan on the right hand side in his CBC shirt after Wellesley cheering us on
“Oh my god there she is we found her, Susan, Go Susan, you’ve got this Susan!!!” – from a total stranger, okay that made me laugh
Yvonne? shouldn’t you have passed me a while ago? oh stomach issues, yikes! Go Yvonne Go! Bye Yvonne
Hi Diane good to see you again, just in time for… ‘dramatic sound effect’ the Newton hills.
Okay the first hill is a long one, I know this, I got this
It really is long!
I’m going to keep running beside Diane, hope that works for her but it’s helping me on these hills
“Go Susan”
Second hill, this one is nice and short, is this actually one of the Newton hills or just a bonus hill
“Go Susan you’ve got this”
Okay now this one is definitely a Newton hill, there are three right?
“Susan, Go Susan!
Well this is another hill so at that’s definitely three solid hills in Newtown, but is this heartbreak hill or is there another?
“Woo Hoo go Susan!”
I’m thinking all this Go Susan stuff might be getting irritating for Diane
I Hate Newton! Seriously how many hills are there?
Okay THIS one has a banner at the top saying heartbreak is over, so that MUST have been heartbreak
Diane – look a photographer let’s get a pic!
Boston College has great cheering, but having a guy in a Boston college t-shirt in front of me is causing next level screaming!
Ha! As soon as we got past Boston College the guy in the Boston college shirt started walking
Hey that’s a Run K2J shirt up ahead. That’s Chris!
Who is that tapping Chris on the shoulder, it’s Vincent, Diane’s husband!
That big downhill after heartbreak helped me a lot I’m feeling pretty good for 35 km in I’ve got enough in me to pick it up and catch Vincent
Hi Chris! (who apparently when realizing he would not have a great race decided to get his money back by collecting extra Maurten gels at all the gel stops)
Vincent! Diane is about 20 meters behind you
Diane says run with Vincent, okay.
“Go Susan” wait a sec that’s JR not just a random stranger!
Vincent points out “all the times I’ve run this race this is only the second time I’ve noticed the Citgo sign”
I realize this is the first time I’ve noticed the Citgo sign up close, and I would have missed it if Vincent hadn’t pointed it out
I feel good, I’m going for it
“Go Susan”
I kid you not, my arm is actually getting a little sore from waving back to all the people calling my name.
Hey there’s Karen, Hi Karen!
One mile to go I know this stretch, follow the blue line, go, go
Right on Hereford
Left on Boyleston
That Boyleston stretch is always longer than you think
Cross the finish line of the Boston marathon!
Feel light headed, trying not to pass out -10 points
Wow long walk to the heat sheets -5 points
Oooh cookies in the goodie bag + 20 points
Gyu Kaku complete with smores with my run buds to celebrate +20 points
Thanks to everyone who got me through the training and the race! 21 km into the race all I could think was I never want to run another marathon, but now that it’s over, I’m hoping my 2021 run at California International Marathon will get me a bib for 2023 (1 minute 39 seconds faster than my required BQ ). If not, I’ll be there to cheer!
HockeyGeekGirl 