Boston Race Report

Saturday finally came around, as it inevitably would, and it was time to head off for Boston at last. On my own, no family, no club mates.

For anyone who has not been, Boston is a really beautiful city. My hotel was very centrally located, right at Boston commons and garden. The day I arrived the weather was lovely, cloudless skies, and the park was full of people, walking, jogging, lying on the grass, playing tennis, and just enjoying the atmosphere.

I spent the day getting my bearings, and having a good look around. I struggled to find somewhere for dinner, just because I probably wasn't looking in the right places, and ended up with Pizza and chips. Hydration is important in the days leading up to a marathon, not just on the day, so I was drinking plenty of water.

On Sunday, I had planned to go to the expo. Unfortunately, I was faced with a bit of a mini drama with the hotel. When I booked through booking.com, I requested a late checkout as I was planning on flying home on the day of the marathon, and I needed somewhere to shower and change afterwards.
The hotel however, could not give me a late checkout, and I was faced with nowhere to freshen up after, and as the airport didn't have showers either, I was getting a bit worried. So I checked the website again, and there were lots of hotels in the area with late availability. (Not worth the risk, but they were significantly cheaper than advertised months earlier).
I found a hotel, just as convenient to the finish line, which could do the late checkout, but I had to walk to it to find out the details. Then back to my own hotel, which then decided they could do the late checkout, then I went to the expo. Long story short, a lot of walking on Sunday.

Up at 5 am on marathon Monday, and a hearty enough breakfast. The system for start/finish at Boston is as follows: Bring your kit bag to the finish line early in the morning. Then get a bus, which takes about 45 minutes to the start line. Athletes village is fairly impressive. There was lots of free tea and coffee, fruit, water and energy bars. Importantly, there were lots of portaloo's!

I had turned my garmin on in the hotel the day before so it could orientate itself, then turned it off again. When I got to athletes village, I again turned it on, and nothing, just an info page. Not to worry, off and on again. Nothing. Off and on again, and so forth. Panic starting. No pacers, its Boston. I spotted a couple sitting on the grass with the same model garmin, and I asked them if they had seen the problem before, and they had. They advised a reset should do the trick, but try as they might, they could not remember the sequence. A lady was walking by with a phone, and I asked her if she could google the reset procedure, and within a short space of time, I had a whole rescue squad working on trying to get the watch working. After a few minutes, success! panic over, we had a watch.

Wave 1, corral 7, was my start position. Some advice, leave the athletes village at the earliest opportunity to get to the start line. Its about a 10 minute walk, and the last chance for loo break. The loo's here had long lines. There is not much chance for warming up pre-race either.
The weather forecast had varied over the previous few days, with temperatures ranging from 14 to 22 degrees Celsius. as it turned out, it was hot, very hot. The paddy had no sunscreen, and a more well prepared guy than me offered me some of his. One thing I will say, runners are always a friendly bunch, but the friendliness at Boston is outstanding.

Approaching 10am and the anticipation was building. Another thing, there is no skipping corals at Boston. Security was very tight, there were snipers and soldiers on roof tops, police everywhere, and even two black hawk helicopters, along with multiple police helicopters.

As we waited, I could already feel the sun starting to burn, it was hot! At the gun, it took about 6 minutes for us to make our way across the start line. and we were off. Exciting stuff, and I felt very proud to be a part of it. Not long in, a runner came along side and said 'howya Stamullen'. it was an Irish guy who had known I was there, we chatted briefly and off he went aiming for a sub 3. I found out later he did 3:01, and I subsequently apologised for delaying him chatting to me!
The first mile is downhill, and the corral system worked brilliantly, everyone pretty much on the same pace. My target was 3:10 to 3:15 so I set a 7:10 pace on the watch. Mile two came and the shelter of the trees was less. I knew I would have to stay hydrated on a day like this, so I elected to take on fluids early. Normally in training I would take no water until at least 6 miles, but that was in temperatures of around 8 degrees. Everyone had the same idea, and there were water and Gatorade at every mile. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw in the Boston system was about to reveal itself. Cups! Cups of water, and Gatorade. 30,000 runners, all grabbing for cups. Half full cups. and the result? Chaos at the water stations. a nice steady 7:10 pace, screwed up every mile, whether you wanted water or not, people slowing to grab cups, crossing each other etc, those of you who have run a marathon know what its like. The temperature for the first seven miles was 25 degrees (I found out after), so you had to hydrate. Losing 10 to 15 seconds at water stations, meant having to run 6:50 to 6:55 for the rest of the mile, but the worst part was the break in the rhythm. Well, I say worst part, closely followed by trying to drink from a cup while running, and more going over your face and up your nose than actually in your mouth! The amount you take in each time is less than a mouthful, but you can't try to grab a second cup for fear of a pile up!

7:07, 7:06, 7:04, 7:04, 7:09, 7:02, 7:03, 7:10, 7:07, 7:10.
After 10 miles, the heat was taking it's toll. At 11 miles, I came across something I have never seen at another marathon, runners walking. That would not usually happen so early, and these guys started ahead of me.

7:15, 7:06, 7:10. Temperature drops to 22 degrees.
The half way point. Time to assess, as I always do at this point. Again, like Dublin last year, I was fine with the pace, but knew that at 10 miles later, I would not be. I decided to keep it going for the moment, and ease back shortly to conserve energy. The water stations were still pissing me off though!! It was making tough work even tougher.
7:10, 7:19 (the hills are starting) 7:08 (push hard into the hills) 8:00 (the hills win!!).
8:36, 8:32. I decided to ease up the pace over these miles to conserve some energy, if I can make it to 21, the hills will be over.
8:50. The hills are not over yet, I resort to walking through the water stations, this gives me a break and ensures I get an adequate amount of fluid in.
10:02, heartbreak hill. Its not overly steep, it does drag on tough, and I just had to get over it, so I walked a bit. At this point, I swear, there were more walkers than runners.
Unfortunately, the medical tents at each mile, all had people in them, most I suspect suffering from the heat and dehydration. I later found out that the medical tent at the finish treated 1400 people.
8:45, 9:05, walking through the water stations and a slow steady run for the rest of the mile. While it was slow, and the legs were tired, my head was up, and I didn't feel like shite! I just knew I didn't want to kill myself, I had undertaken at the outset to try and enjoy the experience, and not curse it.
9:38, 10:31 (some walking I'm afraid), 8:51 for mile 26 to finish.

Around the corner onto Boylston street, with the finish line in sight, a very emotional experience.
The year of the bombings, I was so angry that sport, and particularly running, had been attacked, and so many innocent people had been killed and injured.
You could feel the sense of defiance and determination from both runners and spectators alike, beyond the act of just finishing the marathon, it was a statement from all present to the scum who kill and maim the innocent. I have enjoyed every finish, but this was something special, and the time was irrelevant,(luckily)! At the finish, the temperature was only 18.5 degrees, practically chilly.

Back to the hotel, shower, and a well earned pint in the local Irish bar, then off to the airport for the flight home, back at the house 13 hours after finishing.

On balance, again, I obviously didn't have the training done that I thought I did. Pre-race, I was actually pretty confident of my target, but again, I need to adjust my expectations I think until I start making the time for more miles. Having said that, I made up my mind last year that I would never again be disappointed with a 'bad' time. I was delighted to finish, and loved the experience. Boston, and its people, are brilliant.

Comparing London and Boston, for me, London wins by a whisker. The expo at London was brilliant, Boston not so much. The start and finish logistics for London are a bit more runner friendly. The hydration strategy at London, bottles, is far superior. Support from both crowds is brilliant, although the Americans are a bit more whacky with their ideas!