Bucket list item X 2

I hope I get to this with Tapp and Wesley some day!!! How awesome!!!

 Steven's Triathlon Station 2010 Boston Marathon Race Report A while ago my daughter, Jennifer, told me wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon I told her if she made it I’d run it with her since I’d only done it once and that was back in 2002. Fast forward to May 2009 and the Eugene Marathon where she nailed her first Boston Qualifying time and with mine in the bag there as well we set on our sights on the 2010 Boston Marathon. After nearly a year of thinking about it, and planning for it, and talking about it, and then several months of training for it we finally arrived at marathon weekend this last weekend.

 We all met up Saturday morning at o’dark-thirty and Jen’s mother-in-law, Jayne, drove us all to PDX. Jen, and her husband Chris, were on a different flight so we parted ways just prior to checking in. Karen & I got to our gate where we boarded our 5.5-hour PDX-BOS flight and also met up with my tri-training buddy, Mike, and his wife Deb who are both great friends of ours. The flight and travel to the hotel were uneventful and that night we went into the North End for an Italian dinner. A bit later that night Chris & Jen got to the hotel so everyone made it there safely. Sunday the 18th was the day we had to get signed in for the race and then hit the Marathon Expo to buy our goodies. The rest of the day was spent sight-seeing and wandering around downtown Boston which is an incredible experience. We love that city. The weather was a bit concerning as we had high winds, hard rain, and very cold temps one minute, then sunshine and warmth the next, but I knew it would change for race day. That night we met up at “Bell In Hand” Tavern (the oldest operating tavern in America) in the Back Bay area of Boston for a great carbo-loading dinner of pasta, beer, and good times.

 Race day on Monday the 19th dawned clear and cold and with a bit of breeze but no real clouds in sight. After saying good bye to our loved ones, we runners made our way to the “T” and eventually Boston Commons where we boarded our busses for the trip out to the race start in Hopkinton. The sun was shining but the wind had a definite bite to it that made it very cold and worse in the shade. We made the best of it by sitting in the sun and people watching. At 9:30am or so the call was made for runners in Wave One to start making their way to the race start. Then around 10AM the call was made for Wave Two to make their way to the start so that’s what we did. And this is when we started to get comments about our shirts. Last fall I had two running shirts made that I hoped we’d be able to wear during the race…weather permitting. They were white short-sleeved running shirts and in red letters mine said “Running Boston With My Daughter” and an arrow pointing left (she always runs on my left) and her shirt said “Running Boston With My Dad” and her arrow pointed right. I gave her the shirts at Christmas and we’ve been waiting to wear them ever since. So while walking to the race start we started to get comments about us running the race together and how cool that was (from guys) or how sweet that was (from ladies) and that would continue for the next 26.2-miles!

 The shirts were a HUGE success and we got many, many more shout-outs then I ever thought we would. We were celebrities! At 10:30am the gun went off (although we wouldn’t cross the starting line for nearly 2 more minutes!) and we were off and running the Boston Marathon together. Jennifer is a much stronger runner than she was when she qualified and I knew she’d be passing a lot of other runners, but I warned her to take it easy out of the gate and not get too caught up in the rush of excitement and adrenaline of the start. The first several miles of the course are a net drop in elevation and whatever damage you do to your quads in those first few miles of running downhill will catch up to you later on during the race. We were steadily passing other runners, but it was very crowded and we had to be careful to not trip, or get tripped by, other runners. Jen did a wonderful job of running a very steady pace and taking in all the sights and sounds of the race. And there was a lot of sound! The crowds are massive for nearly the entire marathon and it is very loud and very encouraging. The sections through the little towns of Framingham, Natick, Newtown, etc…were hugely supported by the crowds and it is truly amazing to run in that environment. We enjoyed seeing all the beautiful and stately homes along the way, the lakes and rivers, and blue skies…it was a beautiful day.

 Soon enough we were nearing the halfway point which means Wellesley College which means the Wellesley College girls. We could hear the roar from almost a mile away and then we were there. And it was deafening. For nearly a half-mile the road was lined with college girls screaming as loud and long as they could! Many of them hold signs for the runners to kiss them for various reasons. Jen and I both loved it. We kept motoring at she was still click off steady 8:15/m miles and feeling good. We hit the aid stations as needed for hydration and a few seconds of walking then got right back to running. Along the way we kept getting many shouts about running with your Dad or running with your daughter and Jen even got one very loud shout from one very boisterous young man to “Run that *hit with your Dad!” We kept going and the next big thing is the infamous Heartbreak Hill that comes between miles 20 and 21. And it has that name for a reason. It is long, steep, and painful. But to her credit, while many other runners were walkers at that point Jen did not walk and we ran the entire thing. On the other side and a mile or so down the road I could feel the wheels starting to come off just a bit. Our pace had slowed and her knee was bothering her a bit but I kept telling her “we’ve got this” and prodding her along. She’d man-up and away we’d go again.

 About this point we ran through Boston College and I think it was even louder and even crazier than Wellesley College was. It was so loud my ears actually hurt and were ringing afterwards. Those kids are just nuts! And then we could see it – the gigantic “Citgo” sign which is one mile from the finish. We were both hurting by now and we both wanted to be done but there was no way we weren’t going to cross that finish line together. I knew it would be very close, but a sub-3:50 finish was still possible, so we ran as well as we could manage. And with a sharp right turn and a sharp left turn a block later we are on Boylston Street with the finish line in sight a quarter-mile down the road. She looked at her watch and told me she wanted to get under 3:50 and with that she was gone! We ran stride for stride towards the finish line as fast as we could muster passing runners along the way. About a hundred yards from the finish line we heard Chris yell out “Jennie” very loudly and looking over my eyes fell right on my beautiful wife who was waving big and smiling bigger. So 3:49:56 after we started we crossed the finish line of the 114th Boston Marathon hand-in-hand.

 A tight hug later and our marathon was complete. Being able to run the Boston Marathon is a special experience, but running one with your daughter goes beyond special. I loved our long training runs together and I’ve loved watching her become a faster and better runner. Now, I’m hoping my next Boston Marathon will be with my younger daughter so I can do this all again! Thanks for stopping by...