We went to Boston - Newton, actually - to see the Boston Marathon and to cheer on Christina, my friend and Stroke Improvement teammate. Both were superb.
For thorough coverage and some terrific pictures, go to Boston.com. For some personal observations and a link to pictures of people who caught my eye from mile 18, read on, or go to the links posted on the right hand side of the blog.
Sunday night, we stayed at the Newton Marriott, a little over a mile from the corner of Washington and Commonwealth Avenues, about 17.5 miles from the start. We walked over to the course, carrying a two folding lawn chairs and a day pack with sandwiches, fruit and water. Turning this corner, the athletes begin to climb the first of the four Newton Hills, culminating 3 miles later with the famous "Heartbreak Hill". My friend tells me the first hill is the toughest. Heartbreak has the reputation, though, because it comes 20 miles into the race and it can break your heart, your quads and your spirit.
I Was Sad Because I Had No Shoes
The wheel chairs started in Hopkinton at 9:25, and the leaders rounded the corner and started the climb at about 10:15. There are two kinds - the traditional grab the wheel and turn chair, and the newer ones with hand cranks and gears. Big controversy in the handicapped racer community, with some of the traditionalists saying the newer chairs are more like bikes, and shouldn't be allowed. Very ironic - exclusion advocated by those who were excluded themselves for so long. If you are interested in a good article from the New York Times which explains this issue, let me know.
The elite women started at 9:35, and they appeared next. Among them was Albany's own Emily Bryans, who finished in under 3 hours. Deanne worked with her at one time and ran with her often, and had introduced me to her at a recent Corporate Challenge, so I felt like I had a small personal connection. She finished in under 3 hours.
Emily Bryans from Albany F106
There were no world class American women in this group, though - they had run the Olympic trials the day before. The race was won by Deena Castor, and included crowd favorite Joan Benoit Samuelson, who finished in 2:49:08, good for 90th place and an American age group record.
Both the women's and men's leaders are preceded by a pace vehicle, electronic timing clock prominently attached to the roof, officers on motorcycles, and tons of press: on bicycles, stuffing a half ton truck, and on electric motor scooters, with a driver, and a camera man, mounted on the back, facing backwards.
Speaking of motorcycles, cops on motorcycles spent a good portion of the day riding close to each side of the course, keeping the spectators back from the road. I guess that was a good thing.
The 4 women leaders were trailed by more women from the lead group, and a smattering of wheel chair racers. One of the lead woman had the men's lead vehicles right on her heels. You can see her, and the other elite racers in my webshots album, Boston Marathon 29008 Leaders and Elite.
Something I noticed about the elite runners - and you can see it in some of the pictures - when they stride, their heels come way off the ground in the back of their bodies - almost up to their butts. For me, each step is a struggle with gravity, and each step is more of a shuffle than a stride - I strive for minimal clearance, just enough to move me forward. Don't know how they do it.
Lead Male Runners Near Mile 19
After the elite runners passed, the street gradually filled up with those who followed, great athletes, but not quite world class. Eventually, the Wave arrived, and the streets were swollen with runners. You can see them in my webshots album Boston Marathon 2008 The Waves.
A very notable runner early in the wave - Lance Armstrong. I was lucky enough to get two pictures of him. (Mike - here's a wider shot - can you see your friend?)
Lance Armstrong and Fellow Runners at Mile 18
Also notable - Team Hoyt - very, very inspirational.
The Hoyts
There were about 14,000 people in the first wave, including my friend Christina. They started just after the elite men went off at 10 am. Each and every runner in this wave had to run a qualifying age-graded time at a sanctioned marathon to get in. To qualify at her age, Christina had to run a sub 3:40, which she did last year in the NYC Marathon.
If I wanted to qualify for next year's race, I would have to run a sub 4 hr marathon.
There were about 12,000 in the second wave, and almost every one of them had to qualify, too. The exception? About 1,400 charity runners, who raised a chunk of money for one of the official charities, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training, the Campus School of Boston College, and Dana Farber Institute, all wonderful causes. We cheered for every TNT runner - Kathy's cousin is a survivor and she, Kathy, walked a half marathon last year at Lake Placid and raised over $4500 for the cause; for the Campus School at Boston College Team - Em is a junior at BC; and for the Tufts Team (I don't remember what charity they were running for) - Jon graduated from there a couple of years ago.
The number of entries for the Boston Marathon is limited because it starts in the narrow streets of Hopkinton. This tight limit on entries causes some strange behaviors and even cheating - before the race starts. Great article about that in the New York Times last week, too. Interested? Let me know and I'll send it to you.
Also causes some hostile feeling among those who qualified towards the charity runners - they think the charity runners should be eliminated to open up additional spots for "real" runners. Too bad - the only way I would ever make it into this race would be as a "charity case" - not that I'm even fantasizing about that (well, maybe a little).
Two things struck me about the wave. First, it went on for hours. Second, after looking down the street at the wave for a while, whenever I tried to look across the street, I got vertigo - the runners surging up the street made the road look like it was sliding down the hill. Very odd and unsettling.
Lots of very serious runners with a lot of character in this race - but lots and lots of "characters", too. We saw 3 nuns; 2 angels, complete with halos; an indeterminate super hero, in costume; two young men wearing black spandex briefs and over the calf socks; a band of Korean runners, all wearing the same running outfits, carrying flags at the front and rear of their group,
and chanting while running up the hill;and a group of American women wearing red with US flags atop their baseball hats. And, of course, Elvis.
Elvis
We stayed until the sweep vehicles brought up the rear. We cheered and clapped for all the charity runners and we clapped and cheered by name for every runner who wore a name on his or her body, bib or running outfit. We especially cheered for the back of the packers - you just knew I'd be rooting really hard for them, didn't you?
Back of the Packers - But They Are in the Boston Marathon!
At the end of the day, we felt wonderful and knew we had been part of something very special. We had an internal glow (and an unexpected external one from the unexpected sun) that lasted for well over a day. We will be going back again - count on it.
See you out there.
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