The Road To Boston, Part 6 – THE RACE!

The Start

Here it is, the time has come! 14 years of running, 12 years of marathons, 5 years of contemplating running Boston and 4 years since my first BQ, I was finally at the start line, in person, for the Boston Marathon!

Running Boston is different than running almost any other marathon because it is a culmination of at least one, if not many more attempts to get there. Because of that goals for the race can be all over the place. Do I want to run it hard try for a PR and BQ again for next year’s race or do I want to not care at all about time and just run along enjoying the race OR do I want to run it hard but not so hard that I am miserable and cranky about it and not able to enjoy the experience?

In the end I made a conscious decision that I would not let anything freak me out and turn my mind dark or pessimistic. I had my first test of that shortly before I took this picture. I had on an almost new pair of Shokz headphones but I lost them when I took off my throwaway sweatshirt a 1/4 mile back and didn’t realize it. I knew I couldn’t go back through the crowd at that point to rummage through a pile of old clothes to find them so I had to decide not to freak out about it and just go with the flow of the race. And it turned out I never missed them.

I also decided I would keep a consistent and competitive pace, try to get under the qualifying time but not push so hard that I forgot to enjoy the experience. The way I thought about it was like this: It’s not the World Series, it’s the victory parade after you have already WON the world series. The analogy isn’t exact, but the mindset is. I was going to love this race, the people, the runners, the environment. I was going to take it in and remember it and I would do that while running a respectable race that would honor the hard work I did to get there.

The Route

Here is a map to give you a sense of place as I talk about certain things. It also has the elevation so you can see that, while it is net downhill, it is NOT a downhill race by any means. It’s a hilly course that just keeps getting hillier the farther you run.

Hopkinton

I didn’t take many pics during the race so I found just a few to give you an idea of what it was all about.

The first thing that surprised me was the actual start. I knew the race was a net downhill race from Hopkinton to Boston but what I didn’t realize was how steep the downhill start was. This picture gives a good idea of it. I mean, it is really quite a downhill, so much so that you feel you need to put on the brakes almost right away. And that is a good thing because even though you can run fast during the downhill portions, especially the first 5.5 miles, it isn’t wise to burn yourself out doing that when you have some serious hills waiting for you between miles 16 and 20.

I went out slow on purpose and I was still pushing up against my race pace limit within a mile.

Here is a picture I took not too long after the start. You can tell we were far enough along for some people to already take off their jackets and tie it around their waists. There is a guy on the far right who not only has a long sleeve shirt on but also has a vest AND a jacket draped behind him. That guy is overdressed. Meanwhile, the woman just to his left is going to have one heck of a sunburn on her right side if she didn’t put on sunscreen, which a lot of people didn’t. Luckily they actually had a sunscreen station on the walk to the start line and I took full advantage of it to make sure I wasn’t baked from 4+ hours in the sun.

Crowds and The Wellesley Scream Tunnel

To be honest, I’ve never been a huge crowd fan. I know they don’t really know me and I know they aren’t really cheering for me and so I often feel almost annoyed by them distracting me instead of helping me. But that has changed since the pandemic. My first big race after the lockdown was the OKC Marathon and the crowd support was off the charts. And maybe it was just a change of heart on my part but I felt like they were out there really cheering for me and everyone. I seemed to gain strength from them in ways I never had before.

The same thing happened in Boston. I was very emotional and happy seeing how many people came out in these small towns to make us all feel empowered, strong and loved as they cheered us on. It really was quite something.

Of all the crowd spots on the route, Wellesley College has the reputation that precedes it. It is said that you can start to hear the screams of the women of Wellesley almost a mile away. That seemed a bit of hyperbole to me but it was not. I knew Wellesley was still quite a ways away when I started to hear something in the distance that just kept getting louder. And loud it was! By the time you turn the corner and see the crowd it is deafening and exhilarating!

I had also heard that there would be a lot of ‘kiss me’ signs but I figured that was most likely something in the distant past, certainly not something happening in 2022 but, once again, I was wrong. There were signs everywhere just like the picture above that said ‘Kiss me’ for one reason or another. Now, if I had run this race 20-30 years earlier, with the mindset I had back then, I would have done some kissin’ but I was 67 years old as I passed by these women younger than my daughters and I just couldn’t see them, or me, thinking a kiss was a good idea. So I did a lot of high fiving and waving and fist pumps as I went by, but no kisses.

Heartbreak Hill

Boston is a net downhill race, meaning the finish line in Boston is lower than the start line in Hopkinton. That is the reason the Boston Marathon can never have a world record, the difference is too great to allow it to be officially considered. Because of that many people get lulled into thinking it just can’t be that hard of a race. But the elevation drop is very deceiving. Like I said above, the first 5.5 miles is almost all downhill. After that it’s not flat but a series of mild up and down hills as you go through the towns.

That is until you hit the town of Newton at mile 16. Then the course goes uphill with a vengeance. These 4 hills are appropriately called the Newton Hills and it’s a critical moment in the race. If you have not reserved your energy the hills will wipe you out. The last of these hills, at mile 20-21 is the longest and it is called Heartbreak Hill.

This picture is not an exaggeration, just look at the straight up vertical lines of the homes in the background if you doubt it. The beginning of the hill is not quite this steep but this is a good portion of it and it will kick your ass if you aren’t taking it seriously.

Luckily I did take it seriously and it only mildly kicked my ass.

My Race Analysis of Heartbreak Hill

Here is a close up of my stats at the bottom and top of Heartbreak Hill. I knew I would slow down on all the hills but especially on the last one and I tried to plan for that. But, as you can see I was actually able to increase my pace as I went up the hill because I took the prior mile stretch of flat ground slower than I could have gone so I could regain my strength.

Just remember, if anyone ever tells you race strategy isn’t important in a marathon, they haven’t run one.

Here the entire race analysis. It says my slowest mile was my first one, but that was because I had to take a pee break. Big races are notorious for failed bladder strategy! You think you have it all out and you get in the corral then you wait around 20-30 minutes until you actually start and next thing you know, you aren’t as empty as you thought you were! Without the potty break my actual running time was similar to all of those first 16 miles. My true slowest mile was Heartbreak Hill and I was ok with that because I planned for it.

One thing to notice if you are a runner. Look at my average time of 9:09 minutes per mile. Do you know what pace you have to run to meet or break 4 hours? 9:09! Then why didn’t I have a 4 hour marathon? Because I didn’t go 26.2 miles. My Garmin watch had me going 26.67 miles. Why is that? Because a race is measured point to point in direct tangents from one corner to another. But in a crowded race it’s almost impossible to run that exact line, thus you run a lot farther than the designated distance. I have run 18 marathons and I think in only one did my watch show a distance shorter than the race when I was done. All the rest had me at 26.3 or more. Those variables are why I always tell my runners they need to plan for and run 9 or just above to assure a 4 hour marathon.

Climate Considerations

Something to note on the stats above. the temperature, humidity and wind were all fantastic for a race. But what those stats don’t tell you is how the weather changed over the course of 4 hours. Yes, the wind was mild for most of the race, but not the last hour. During that last hour (right after Heartbreak Hill basically) the wind turned and started blowing harder and west, meaning it was in my face the last 5 miles. In addition the temp dropped. Not by a lot but the combination of the higher wind, lower temp and just the fatigue of running 20 miles made that last 5 quite a challenge.

As you can see from my race analysis I did slow down a bit over those miles. I was ok with that as well because it was more important to me to enjoy the final miles of the race, take in the huge screaming crowds, high-fiving the kids and waving and thumbs upping the adults along the final few miles. I knew from watching my pace that I would finish with a decent time and maybe even qualify again for Boston in 2024 (which I did, by 57 seconds) and that was enough for me.

Another climate note for runners. If someone says, ‘It looks like great spectator weather’ you are going to be struggling. Spectators like it around 70º, runners not so much.

The Citgo Sign

If you are from the east coast you see Citgo gas stations all over the place. But if you are not you likely will only ever see one Citgo sign, and that is the one you see on the race course. Boston doesn’t have mountains so that sign is sort of like the mountain in the distance to give you an idea where you are. A marathon is approximately 42 Kilometers and you can see the sign there saying 40Km so you know you are close at that point. It’s a very helpful visual goal to reach for at a point at the race when you are hurting and worn down

While I was getting closer my family and friends were waiting on Boylston and already psyched up by the excitement of the race!

Sarah, Chelsea and Jackie whipping the crowd into a frenzy for me!

Right on Hereford, Left on Boylston

Sounds funny to say it, but one of the most iconic statements about Boston are a simple set of directions. “Right on Hereford, left on Boylston.” Everyone who runs Boston knows what this means, it means you are in the final stretch. For almost 26 miles you have made almost no turns, and certainly no sharp 90º turns. But that changes at the end. As you are headed down Mass Ave. you go under an overpass. It’s just a big dip in the road, no big deal. Except there are no spectators due to the underpass and it’s at about mile 25.7. Anything even slightly uphill at that point is hard!

Once you get back up to street level it’s just a hundred yards or so before Hereford is in sight. It is a very short street and then it’s a left on Boylston and the finish line is…is.. Wait, dang if it still isn’t a long way off! About a third of mile off to be exact. Luckily with the adrenaline and emotions pumping it really goes by so fast and before you know it I was done!

Here is my video of making that famous last turn and searching for my family. I sped it up because I was going way to slow to show the whole thing!

Man, I was running fast! hahaha

While I was doing that (and not finding them) they were recording me. Here I am going right by them. I had spied my friend Jim H. who was just about 10 yards past them and was focusing on waving to him.

The Finish Line

And then it was over. I felt completely exhilarated, to the point that whatever fatigue I had disappeared. I was proud of myself and happy and satisfied thinking back on the 5 year adventure it had been to get to this point. Before the race started I had pretty much decided that it would likely be my last marathon for a good long while. I was worn out from all the training and the idea of doing it again was depressing. But after the race my feelings were completely different. I was on a runner’s high like you can’t believe and all I could think about was wanting to experience this joy and fulfillment again and again. It was not marathon retirement time after all!