Marathon #28 - Massachusetts (Part 2)

As I mentioned in my last post, I am splitting up my review of the Boston Marathon into three posts.  The last post discussed the course.  This post will discuss the remaining aspects of the race.  The last post will talk about travel and tourism information while in Boston.

The Race: The Boston Marathon, Monday April 20, 2015 (Patriot's Day)

My Training Plan:  Boston was three weeks after my back-to-back marathons in Kansas and Arkansas, so I basically used them as my longest run leading up to Boston and tapered from there.  See my training plan for Kansas in my Kansas blog.

Weather:  The weather was less than ideal.  It was rainy and cold with some strong headwinds at points during the course.  The temperature stayed about 45-47 the entire time, and the headwind picked up right as we were turning onto Commonwealth Ave to begin the Newton hills.

Running Attire:  As usual, I wore my Liz shirt so the crowds could cheer me on by name.  I also wore my Marathon Maniac arm warmers and black tights in an attempt to stay warm.  My signature items are my bright yellow Delaware marathon hat and my iFitness belt where I keep my gels and phone.  I also had my Asics and Balega socks.  I wore a long sleeved throw away shirt at the beginning, which I took off around mile 2.  I forgot my gloves, and Rob was kind enough to bring them to me during mile 1.5.  The gloves were definitely needed during the cold, wet, windy run.

Atlanta Track Club runners

Who I Ran With:  I met so many great people before the race and on the journey, but I can't say that I ran with any of them.  There were several people from the Atlanta Track Club that I met at the ATC happy hour on Saturday evening, but I never saw any of them before the race.  

There was Debra from Canada, and Tami and Cheree from Utah that I met on the bus to the start line.  There was Stacey that I met in the tent at the Athlete Village.  But with the crowds and lines and different corrals, I didn't run with any of them.  They probably wouldn't have wanted to run with me anyway, as I kept stopping to take pictures throughout the course.

My buddies at the Athletes Village

Organization:  The organization of this race was probably the best I've seen yet, as it should be for the longest running marathon in the world.  Picking up my race number and shirt was smooth and quick, with very short lines and plenty of volunteers.  The race number/shirt pickup was separate from the expo, so if you only wanted to pick up your number, it was quick and easy to get in and out.  They provided a magazine of information on the event and articles about the race.  They also gave us a bottle of water in our race packet bag.

Race number pickup

The expo organization could have been improved.  The aisles were so narrow and the expo was so crowded that you could barely walk anywhere.  I don't know if it was the same on the other days, but on Sunday (the day before the race) it was packed.  There were a lot of great vendors and free stuff (runners love free stuff) and samples, but you could barely walk through it because of the narrow aisles and crowds.  Some of the vendors took up two spots (i.e. their booths were two aisles deep) which broke up the aisles, and it was hard to remember which aisles you had been down in order to get to all the vendors in either side of the big ones.

There was a pre-race pasta party that was free to participants, and you could purchase extra tickets (I'm not sure how much they cost).  Each participant was assigned a time to go, so they wouldn't have a huge crowd all at once.  My time was 4:30pm on Sunday.  I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly don't eat my pre-race dinner at 4:30pm (i.e. earlier than normal) especially when the race doesn't start until 10:50am (i.e. later than normal).  So. Other than the unfortunate timing, I can't comment on how good or bad the pre-race pasta party was.

The aid stations were well manned and were on both sides of the road (right side first and then left side a few feet after the right side station ended).  No matter which side of the road you were on, you didn't have to fight the runner traffic to get over to an aid station.  Both sides of the road had both Gatorade and water, and my favorite thing - there were different cups for the Gatorade and the water, so you always knew what you were getting!  More races should follow that plan!  Well done, Boston!

There was only one aid station that had Cliff gels, but as you will see in the Fans section below, there really wasn't a need for additional gel stations.  All aid stations had porta potties, many with up to 10 in a row.

Post race party at Fenway Park

The post race "Mile 27" party was a flop.  It probably would have been better if it wasn't raining the entire time, but I wouldn't recommend spending $20 per extra person to go, and likely won't go in the future, if I ever come back to Boston.  The $20 gets you a $9 concessions credit, which will get you one beer or will almost get you two food items (most items were $5 each).  You get to go into Fenway Park, which might have been cool if we could have seen the field, but it was blocked off due to the rain.  We could only go in the concessions area and the store.  There were corn hole games set up that you could play, and there were some photo booth opportunities, but there were long lines for those.  There was no place to sit and people were crowded under the stands so they wouldn't get rained on.

The information provided prior to the race was excellent!  They sent us information directly in the mail as well as newsletters via email.  The information in the mail was very thorough and contained our confirmation of acceptance, bib number and "Runner Passport" to pick up our bibs, travel information, and event information.  I felt very prepared even before arriving in Boston.

From what I hear,  it was very easy to follow a runner throughout the race.  They posted times at nearly every 5k mark, and apparently there was a little runner you could see on the screen that would move along as the real runner crossed each mat.  You did have to have the bib number on race day, because the site to sign up for text alerts crashed and was apparently unavailable by first and last name.

Swag:  Along with the typical technical (long-sleeved) shirt and the metal, we got a pint glass, car sticker, temporary tattoo, a poster with every participants' name, and one of those rubber wristbands that says There's Only One 2015 Boston Marathon. 

Starting line:  The starting line has two parts to it:  the Boston side and the Hopkinton side.

  

Gear check

In Boston Common (the city's big park), they had the gear check tents and the line for the buses to Hopkinton.  They had four different tents for the different waves you were in, and the tent was split out by numbers, so it was very easy to find where you needed to drop of your bag.  They had medical tents, music and an announcer that told you when to head to the buses.  

The lines for the buses were very short, and the volunteers were great to direct us to the bus with open seats.  Because it was so cold, everyone was ready to get on the warm bus as soon as possible.  Provided there was room, the volunteers let the later waves board the bus earlier then their allotted time.  As soon as the buses were full, they left and another group of empty buses pulled up to the lines to load.

Buses to Hopkinton

In the Athlete Village in Hopkinton, they had rows of porta potties (although there weren't enough, as the lines were about 10 minutes long) and two big tents that the runners could sit under to shield themselves from the wind and attempt to stay warm.  I saw a few people with coffee, so I know that was offered, but I didn't see where it came from.  I also think there was some food somewhere, but I didn't see it in the tent I was sitting in, and didn't notice it in the other tent until our corral had already been called to head to the starting line.

Athlete Village tent

There are four Waves that start about 20 minutes apart.  Each wave is split into 8 different corrals.  The runners are placed in their corral based on their finishing time, so theoretically everyone around you should have about the same pace.  The race is chip timed, so it doesn't matter how far back you are when the gun goes off - your time doesn't start until you cross the start line.  Each Wave has about 7,500 runners, so each corral has about 950 people.

Runners walking to start line

Runners walking to start line

The starting line was about a mile from the tents, and when our corral was called, we were guided by volunteers toward the start.

There were more porta potties and water along the way to the start, and volunteers were taking excess clothing from runners to donate after the race.  There were so many people heading to the corrals at the same time, I can imagine what cattle feel like when they are being hearded.  I arrived at my corral about 7 minutes before the Wave start.

A fan set up a tent in front of her house
with supplies for runners

Fans:  The fans are the absolute best thing about this race.  The entire city shuts down on Marathon Monday, and fans line the entire course.  I think there may have been two spots on the entire course where there wasn't someone cheering for me.  And the fans cheered for every runner.  With the weather as bad as it was (pretty much raining and cold the whole time) I didn't think there would be as many fans, but they are loyal to the race and came out anyway.  I can't imagine what it is like when the weather is good!

There are four places, specifically, where the fans are louder and more encouraging than ever:  Wellesley College, Boston College, the hills in Newton, and on Boylston Street near the finish line.  You can hear these fan spots from a half mile beforehand.  Every fan is cheering, giving high-fives, and wishing the runners well.

Fans lining the road to the Newton Hills

Not only did the fans cheer, they also provided support for the runners in other ways.  There were fans handing out Twizzlers, Fig Newtons, pretzel sticks, jelly beans, gummy bears and orange slices all along the way.

Finish Line:  The finish line was very well organized.  Unlike NYC, you didn't have to walk two miles just to get out where the fans were.  After crossing the line, you had to walk about 20 yards or so to get your metal.  They then gave you a bottle of water.  They also had tents with Gatorade recovery drinks.

What we were all eager for at that point was the heat blanket, which it seemed like we had to walk forever until we got that (but it probably wasn't that far, we were just all freezing).  The heat blanket wasn't just your standard mylar blanket you get at the end of a race.  It was more like a lined poncho with a hood and arm holes, which was nice.

Most of the food was all packaged up for us in a clear plastic bag, and there were people offering to open anything for the runners.  They had Cliff protein bars and bananas separate from the bag of food, and again offered to open them for the runners.  The volunteers at the finish line were fabulous!

Once you got through the metals, blankets, and food, there was a fork in the road where you either go straight to get back to Boston Common if you checked a bag or went right to go to the family meeting area if you hadn't checked a gear bag.  I checked a bag, so I went straight toward Boston Common.  On the way, I saw Rob waiting for me on the side of the road, and he joined me as I walked to Boston Common.  

I will say that the walk to Boston Common, while probably normally fairly short, seemed to take forever.  I was cold and wet and just ready to get my bad.  Once we got to Boston Common, it seemed like the gear tents were clear across the park, and we had to walk even farther.

Another great perk they had was a changing tent for the women runners. (I'm not sure if they had one for the men, but they might have.)  And it wasn't just for the elites.  After I got my gear bag, I stood in line for about 10 minutes before getting to the changing tent.  The tent was just a big enclosed tent that had chairs around the edges for people to sit in and change clothes.  The tent was completely packed with women changing into dry clothes.  Of course, after I changed into my dry clothes and left the tent, it started raining again, so we left the park and headed back to the hotel.

Results:  4:10:22

How I felt:  My goal for this race was primarily to finish, and secondarily to enjoy every mile along the way.  I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to run Boston again, so I wanted to make the most of the experience.

My shins hurt a little bit starting off, mainly because I didn't really warm up properly with the rain and cold and crowds.  After about three miles they warmed up and felt much better.  I felt great most of the time, and kept a pretty easy pace throughout the race.  As usually, around mile 15 my mind started playing tricks on me saying "Why do you do these races?" and "You're crazy."  But I always get over that by mile 20, and start pushing through to the end.  I did get pretty tired during mile 25, again as usual.  Mile 25 is always my worst mile.  Once I get past that, I can say "One more mile.  You can do anything for one mile." and push through to the end.  Once I took a picture of the finish line and realized I was that close, I actually started sprinting toward the end.  It was a great overall experience.

Boston does a great job of welcoming the runners to the city: before, during, and after the race.  They are a city that truly embraces the running community.  I am extremely impressed, and now know why this race is the most prestigious and longest running marathon in the world.