3:49:12

Well, I did it. I met my time goal (4 hours) and even re-qualified for Boston with 11:47 to spare. So I guess I can't (or at least shouldn't!) complain. It really was a pretty good day. Let's start at the beginning ...

The morning brought sunny skies, good running temps, and a pretty strong breeze. Pretty favorable running conditions. It was wonderful to see the sun after a few days of dreariness. We met the school buses on Boston Common and waited ... and waited ... and waited.

It turns out that there were many lines for the buses, but that wasn't shared those of us standing for over an hour in this huge line. Finally a volunteer got on a bull horn and said that there were much shorter lines down Tremont Street. It was an uneventful ride out to Hopkinton.

I sat next to a very nice guy. Dan Ryan from somewhere near Boston (don't remember the town). It was his third marathon, second Boston. I'll have to look up his time and see how he did. We chatted the whole way out to the start. It's so easy to talk to runners .... :-)

The Athletes Village was hopping.

A wait in the porta-a-potty line (where Ann Moyer spotted me), some last minute hydration, and another stop at the port-a-potties, and I was good to go. Just arrived in my starting corral, and we were off. The early miles went well. Later miles, as is customary for me, brought leg cramps. Starting at about mile 17, they were pretty persistent. I did my best to keep moving at all times, even with my legs all contorted. Took GU at miles 7, 11, 15, 19, 23. And a piece of licorice from a little boy along the way. :-) Ran up the Newton Hills, instead of walking as I'd had to do previously. And I have to say that Heartbreak Hill isn't all that bad ... Arrived at the finish 3:49:12 after leaving Hopkinton.

 Unfortunately, I wasn't able to run across the finish. My legs had totally siezed up. But ... I finished, met my time, and stayed out of the medical tent. Thanks Joe Ryan for the cheer out on the course! It was nice to see a familiar face.

Jessica Feda spotted me in the finishers area and we chatted for a while. She had a good run. Then Ann Moyer spotted me and we chatted for just a second. She also re-qualified. You go, girl!! I'd run with her for a short time on the early miles. On the way back on the T, I talked to a guy from NH. He was 55 and had run a 3:32 and was so disappointed. Said he totally blew up. Huh? I think he rocked it! That's an awesome run.

I talked to Ron Giles on the phone. He ran a 2:44. Wow. And Pete Gilman ran a 2:25 (if I heard correctly). Amazing. He was one of the top 30 finishers. And Roger Vos ran a PR. Very hard to do on this course. Way to run, you guys. You're amazing.

The lowdown: 8:16, 8:55 (bathroom stop), 8:11, 8:15, 8:20, 8:08, 8:12, 8:16, 8:17, 8:17, 8:29, 8:16, 8:10, 8:23, 8:25, 8:26, 8:30, 8:36, 8:40, 8:5, 9:00, 8:52, 9:12, 9:20, 10:03, 9:26.

After coming back to the room and cleaning up, I walked over to Walgreens for a Diet Coke with lime (totally craving one after a few days without!). I wore my medal. People kept congratulating me. I think that is sooooo nice. And a Brookline cop was at the stoplight in his car. He smiled and gave me the thumbs up. Awesome. This is the marathon of marathons. There is nothing like it. The energy, enthusiasm, support, encouragement are just palpable. Boston ROCKS.

Well, I'd best wrap this up. It's soon time to meet up with Ryan Hall for dinner. How cool is that?? Totally bloggable. I'm going to have him sign my number.

Thanks for stopping in!!