Monday, April 21st, the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. Yes, that number
is 112; Boston has been run every year since the 19th century; despite world
wars, epidemics, and terrorist incidents. From a handful of runners in 1896, to
nearly 22000 finishers in 2008, the Boston Marathon is the century-old Mecca for
disciples of the running world.
I qualified for this year’s running the first time I ran Boston, in 2006. (Once
you qualify for the Boston Marathon, you can keep qualifying for it the
following year provided you make the qualifying time there.) I had to take an
injury deferral for 2007, but considering the horrible weather last year, it was
a blessing!
Race day dawned overcast, with a chill in the air. Derek and I pulled on our
extra layers of clothing and went down to the front of our hotel, the Westin
Waterfront, to await our shuttle ride to Boston Common. Oops, the Westin had
only one shuttle bus, which was taking 25 minutes round-trip. So we hopped in a
crew van with a dozen other stressed-out runners, and were dropped off at the
Common after about ten minutes of back-alley shortcuts, for five bucks each;
money well-spent!
We lucked into a good lineup, and were on our schoolbus for the ride to
Hopkinton in no time. After sixty minutes of driving and thirty minutes crawling
in race traffic, we spilled from the bus directly into the porta-potty lineups.
After that important business was done, we were already being called to the
starting corrals. Since the race start was changed to two waves and moved back
to 10:00 AM, there is no longer time to navel-gaze before the race!
When I ran Boston back in 2006, I had just raced Ironman Arizona eight days
earlier, so I had a ton of training volume to draw on. This time, I had a
less-than-ideal base-building cycle, since I was working in Yemen for five weeks
until four weeks before race day. While there, the cross-training that was key
to my 2006 race fitness was very limited: No swimming, (ironic because I could
dip my toe in the Indian Ocean every day) and only Lifecycles for riding.
However, I had a lighted, 5km stretch of good road to run on, complete with
hills; and Lifecycle treadmills in the fitness center, which were always vacant.
In addition, the fitness center had excellent weight-training equipment, so I
spent a lot of time in the squat rack. I ran six days per week, with a focus on
quality, and did split long runs on Sundays. Recovery spins on the Lifecycle,
and two weight workouts per week, rounded out my overseas training regime.
After running a fatigued 3:10 at Boston in 2006, I wanted to crack the 3-hour
barrier this time around. However, I could tell during my key long runs back
here in Calgary that it wasn’t likely; I just didn’t feel I had the deep well of
volume to draw on. So the goal was to improve on my 2009 Boston qualifying time
(3:30 in Kona: the Ironman World Championship marathon is now certified as a
Boston qualifier) and maybe a PB if things went well. And, to collect a few
kisses from the girls at Wellesley College!
(Warning: Shameless product plugs ahead!) After I joined the other runners in
corral 5, I powered up my Timex GPS and data recorder, snugged up my Nikes,
adjusted my Headsweats running cap, and pulled my Running Room shorts out of the
crack. The sun then decided to grace us for the rest of the day, so I removed my
Sugoi arm warmers and wrapped them around my Triathlete magazine race belt.
Adidas, Gatorade, Powerbar, RIM, Kleenex, Impact Multisport. Hope I didn’t miss
anyone.
At 10:00 AM sharp we heard a rumor that the race had started, and shortly after
we started shuffling towards the start line. By 10:03, we were running in unison
and had crossed the timing mats. Looking ahead, I saw the mass of bobbing
athletes that is the 40000-legged centipede of the Boston Marathon.
This is where the race strategy I proposed in the preview went out the window,
and here is my attempt to justify it. Knowing my level of fitness, and knowing
the course well from 2006, I decided to run all the downhills aggressively to
put time in the bank, consequences be damned*, and suffer accordingly on the
Newton Hills if necessary. I knew I could make some time back on the last five
miles into town. Goodbye, negative split!
At the 5 and 10km marks, I was running sub-7 minute miles, but my heart rate was
in high zone 3, 151-156 BPM. That was during a net downhill, so I knew it was
not to be a sub-3 day by any means. During what I called the tempo run in the
preview, km 10 thru 25, I felt pretty ordinary, and had a hard time maintaining
sub-7 miles.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts rolled by. The US military had a large presence
watching over us, which is a sad commentary about the state of the world, thanks
George W. The communities along the race route were out in full support, lined
several deep all along the way. Unofficial water stations were everywhere, as
were kids bearing orange slices. A leather-clad gentleman sang Elvis from the
back of a pickup truck. In Natick, a drummer played on his front porch;
apparently until the last runner has gone by.
And a very emotional sight: A handicapped fellow pushes himself along backwards
in his wheelchair, using the one leg that is his only functional limb. He was
also on course in 2006; he does the race unofficially because he can’t finish by
the cutoff time. His name is Jason. Suddenly my legs didn’t hurt much anymore.
Around the halfway point, just before the crescendo of screaming girls at
Wellesley College, three-time Ironman World Champ Peter Reid encourages runners
before a long uphill section. My halfway split was 1:32, so I knew sub-3 was in
Next Year country. Now it didn't matter if I finished 3:00:01 or 3:09, as long
as it was somewhere in between.
A steep downhill signaled the approach of the Newton Hills. I leaned forward,
relaxed and let my legs turn over under me. The first two hills go by easily,
and are followed by downhills where I took some time back. The third ascent has
a flat section afterwards, followed by the infamous Heartbreak Hill. Not
particularly long or steep, it comes at around 21 miles where quite a bit of
fatigue has accumulated, especially the last couple of miles. I dug in, taking
energy from the roadside crowds, and top off still holding under 8-minute mile
pace.
Then, the delirious, 5-mile descent into Boston. Apparently Fenway Park is
somewhere along here, and it feels like Manny Ramirez and Big Pappy have taken
their Louisville Sluggers to the bottoms of my feet. Just when I think it’s Flat
City all the way to the finish, there is an insulting little underpass just
before the turn off Commonwealth. Fortunately, it runs up not too steeply, and
before I know it I’m on Boylston with the finish banner in sight. It’s about
800m away, and not getting closer in any bloody hurry!
I check my watch, guestimate an easy PB finish, then slide to the right and
high-five a few hundred folks. I go by a lady dressed like Minnie Mouse, and
think, wow, she can run a fast marathon with a sense of fun, how cool is that?
As I cross the timing mats, I try to nail the Kodak moment. I hit the stop
button on my wrist, freezing the numbers for posterity. 3:08:28. In 2006 I
missed the negative split by about 20 seconds, this time I missed by four
minutes, so pacing-wise it was not pretty. I’ll take it, though!
Highlights:
Kenya’s Robert Cheruiyot won his third consecutive Boston
Marathon, and his fourth overall, becoming the second-winningest runner in
Boston history. Believe it or not, he has still not been selected for his
country’s Olympic team for Beijing. He ran 2:07:46.
Ethiopia’s Dire Tune won the women’s race by the closest margin ever, two seconds. She negative-split be nearly four minutes. She ran 2:25:25.
Lance Armstrong ran 2:50:59, also with a negative split. I'm sure he had some good pacers along, but he had the legs to pull it off, and he raised a crapload of money for the cancer cause.
Darin Hunter was the fastest male Calgarian, with a time of 2:46:47. Carmen Pavelich was the fastest female Calgarian, with a time of 3:15:57. My roomie Derek Case ran an outstanding 3:31:34, at 56 years young. If you can catch them, say Congratulations!