120th Boston Marathon
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:39 pm
Okay not my 120th Boston Marathon. It was my fourth year running Boston. It was the best year so far.
Prerace:
We followed our usual timetable and drove to Syracuse on Friday afternoon. We had an excellent steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse. On Saturday, we drove on to Franklin, Massachusetts. The drive down as uneventful. On Sunday, we usually take the Franklin Commuter Train to and from downtown Boston to attend the Expo and pick up my race packet. This year, not only was the train delayed, but it didn't go all the way downtown. Thus we drove down and paid the exorbitant parking fees to park in the Prudential Center. We ended up parking in there but along a curb instead of a parking space.
The packet pick up was excellent as usual. The Expo, however, was extremely crowded and we spent 30 minutes unsuccessfully looking for the Altra Show booth. Then went to have lunch at the Food Court. Oops - the food court was closed. We then drove back to the hotel, stopping on the way at a Friendly's Restaurant for very nice lunch.
Race Day:
The weather was excellent although not as warm as had been forecast. It was sunny and temperatures ranged from 62 F at Hopkinton when my race started ( 11:15 ) to 54 F at the finish when I finished just under 5 hours later. The wasn't much breeze at the start but the wind picked up as we ran and was quite cool and strong by the time I was running the last few km.
I think I saw my friend Doug in our starting corral ( Wave 4, Corral 2 ) as we waited for the starting gun but he was too far away to get to say hi! My plan was to run a 4 and 1 min run/walk plan, enjoy the trip by taking photos and videos and interacting with the thousands of spectators. This plan was successful. I did have both my GoPro and Fuji Cameras and again the GoPro packed it in when I tried to take time shift photos. Fortunately the Fugi worked well. I was in excellent shape until the Newton Hills and I took some more walk breaks on the hills. I was suffering a bit by the end of the race but not nearly as much as my other three times. My pace was good throughout. I walk the the entire Wellesley College section and almost all of Boyleston approaching the finish line. I am asking Spirit to post a couple of Videos of those two areas.
I am also posting a couple of photos here.
Chip time: 4:51:01
5 Km Segments:
1: 31:21
2: 31:43
3: 31:42
4: 34:01
5: 33:56
6: 39:41
7: 35:40
8: 35:27
9: 17:30
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c310/ ... 1461188197
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c310/ ... 1461188314
Ken
Prerace:
We followed our usual timetable and drove to Syracuse on Friday afternoon. We had an excellent steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse. On Saturday, we drove on to Franklin, Massachusetts. The drive down as uneventful. On Sunday, we usually take the Franklin Commuter Train to and from downtown Boston to attend the Expo and pick up my race packet. This year, not only was the train delayed, but it didn't go all the way downtown. Thus we drove down and paid the exorbitant parking fees to park in the Prudential Center. We ended up parking in there but along a curb instead of a parking space.
The packet pick up was excellent as usual. The Expo, however, was extremely crowded and we spent 30 minutes unsuccessfully looking for the Altra Show booth. Then went to have lunch at the Food Court. Oops - the food court was closed. We then drove back to the hotel, stopping on the way at a Friendly's Restaurant for very nice lunch.
Race Day:
The weather was excellent although not as warm as had been forecast. It was sunny and temperatures ranged from 62 F at Hopkinton when my race started ( 11:15 ) to 54 F at the finish when I finished just under 5 hours later. The wasn't much breeze at the start but the wind picked up as we ran and was quite cool and strong by the time I was running the last few km.
I think I saw my friend Doug in our starting corral ( Wave 4, Corral 2 ) as we waited for the starting gun but he was too far away to get to say hi! My plan was to run a 4 and 1 min run/walk plan, enjoy the trip by taking photos and videos and interacting with the thousands of spectators. This plan was successful. I did have both my GoPro and Fuji Cameras and again the GoPro packed it in when I tried to take time shift photos. Fortunately the Fugi worked well. I was in excellent shape until the Newton Hills and I took some more walk breaks on the hills. I was suffering a bit by the end of the race but not nearly as much as my other three times. My pace was good throughout. I walk the the entire Wellesley College section and almost all of Boyleston approaching the finish line. I am asking Spirit to post a couple of Videos of those two areas.
I am also posting a couple of photos here.
Chip time: 4:51:01
5 Km Segments:
1: 31:21
2: 31:43
3: 31:42
4: 34:01
5: 33:56
6: 39:41
7: 35:40
8: 35:27
9: 17:30
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c310/ ... 1461188197
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c310/ ... 1461188314
Ken