Boston: Race Details

I knew the start of the race would be televised, which was exciting! My parents took a video of the start while watching the broadcast, and their excitement is the best - watch here. I was off the back of the pack with one other woman very quickly, but you can't really tell from the first couple of minutes of TV footage.

Here you can tell I'm at the back!

I hadn't been thinking much about actually running a marathon through all of the pro excitement, and when I did consider it pre-race, my thoughts were not positive ones. Jen and I had planned to run together starting around 6:30 pace and aiming to drop into the 6:20s after the first 4 miles. We both thought we could run 2:47-2:49 and knew it would be really helpful to work together, but with being sick I told her I'd go out with her at the slowest she was willing to go out. She ended up blazing her first mile to be with the group, but then backed off and I caught up before mile 2. The other woman I was with pulled ahead of us and we took on the headwind side-by-side.

Normally I am good at racing by feel, but even my 8:17 pace warm up mile had felt hard on April 18, so I didn't know what to do. I told Jen I'd stay with her as long as I could so neither of us would be alone. The thing about running in a women's only pro field is that many women who aren't in the very front pack end up running much of the race solo; in races without separate starts there are usually men around all of the top women.

Jen felt much better than I did and really engaged the crowds that lined the course as we passed. She kept asking, "Are we almost there?", "Are we catching them?", etc. and laughing. I ran with a smile plastered on my face but didn't have any extra energy. There were crowds everywhere on the course and it felt like were were the only people in the race once we lost sight of the main pack. I didn't look at my watch, but we averaged about 6:40 for the first 9 miles. I felt terrible, but like I said, even 8:00+ had felt terrible for the week before the race so I wasn't at all surprised to feel puny racing.

All smiles

The main field started at 9:00, 15 minutes after us. I'd figured that the top men would start catching us before the half on a good day, and I of course was not having a good day. They caught us around the 15k bottle station, and at that point I lost Jen. I'd just been hanging onto her for the beginning miles, and I probably relaxed once the others caught me knowing I wouldn't be in no man's land if I backed off. The men's field was pretty thin initially, but became thicker as the race drew on and I always had a lot of people around me. It was a relief to be camouflaged in the masses as the race went on.

I knew my race wasn't going to be what I'd dreamed of, but I just tried to keep a smile on my face and enjoy the experience. I looked at my watch for the first time at the half marathon point, coming through in 1:29:53, and that's when I knew my sub-3:00 streak was going to die that day. I knew that was a risk starting this race and just hoped that I could still slide under, but with how depleted I felt at the half I knew I would positive split. It was disheartening to feel so weak, especially after some really stellar recent workouts, but I decided I would finish with whatever I had. It's really hard to have a pro bib on your chest and be fading hard, though (I suppose it's never not hard to be fading hard in a marathon, but this was worse for my pride!).

I watched the crowds pass me, looking for people I knew. The first man I knew passed around mile 15, then I was watchful for the top women of the main field to come. During the final 8 miles of the race, several people I knew passed me and were all very encouraging but it was hard for me to have nothing to give. I usually feel so strong when running, and to feel so weak during a goal race was a gut punch.

Around mile 17 we hit the Newton hills. With as slow as I was running, they didn't really matter. I didn't think any of the hills were very steep, and there was quite a bit of ground to recover between each one. I think it's just the length of them and where they fall in the race that is hard on people. I actually thought the course could be really fast if I felt good, because it has a lot of downhill. As I neared Heartbreak hill, I suddenly had to use the bathroom really badly, which isn't an issue I have in marathons. I blame being sick for that too! The first porta-potty I saw was halfway up Heartbreak, so I tucked into it to prevent disaster. Then I was back out and onto the final 5 miles of the course that are net downhill.

I'd envisioned flying down those hills, but on race day my only objective was to make it in! By then my pace had somewhat evened out with those who were dying around me and I was passing some people that the hills really got to. I enjoyed it all as much as I could, but I'd been ready to be done since about mile 9! The final stretch seemed to last forever, but I made it in and without walking, which was my one small victory of the day. I felt really betrayed by my body, but also relieved that I didn't have to drop, which would have been worse than a 3:13:01 by my name. I fought with all I had to finish that race, and although I'm embarrassed I didn't have more, I can truly say that I did not give up.

Finally when people ask, "Have you run Boston?" I can answer in the affirmative, and I will probably add "as part of the women's professional field." I may conveniently forget my time and place, though!

The story continues here.