Short report: 2:43:26 total time. Good enough for 114 overall, 103 male, 9th Master OA, 1st Idahoan (highest place by Idahoan since at least 2000).
First and foremost, thanks be to God for the strength to run today in these conditions and to be able to use His strength for this accomplishment.
1:19:56 first half, 1:23:30 second half. 80 degrees at the start, but the heat did not bother me too bad today, I don't know why! Ran solid, including a pit stop in mile 18 for my slowest mile. Picked off lots of runners the last 8 miles.
Feel like this is one of my best runs (probably my best RACE ever) ever considering the conditions (one of the 2 hottest Boston's ever!).
FRB Masters Team took 4th OA...we kicked the defending champion Whirlaway Racing Team's ASS!!!!
Spent time with family afterwards. Saw Christine Kennedy, Tony Phillippi and Chuck Engle after the race. An Italian dinner in the room and cupcakes from Sweet bakery. Went to the PowerBar party...talked with the PowerBar folks (Chad, Dave, Drew, etc.), Josh Cox and Meb Kehflezghi (Meb and I talked for 10 minutes about running and being a Christian athlete)! Quite a day. More thoughts later...time for bed.
Details now (after awaking early and being sore).
Met up with Marlin, Rob, Steve and Walter at the Common and rode the buses to Hopkinton where we ran into Cash and spent the morning relaxing and chatting. We saw Teena (always full of energy!). Made our way to the start down a back street and found some private PoPs then got into the corral with about 5 minutes to go to stay out of the sun and 80 degree temps.
At the gun, we were deep in the corral and had to start slower and bumping elbows trying to find room to run, which was good and made us start conservatively. Steve got anxious and bolted ahead and we never were able to hook up with Rob as Walter and I ran together.
We got right on pace in the next few miles picking it up a bit and weaving through runners. We were running well and strong but man the heat...taking lots of fluids and dumping water over our heads at every stop and from the folks in the crowd handing out water! I saw Alana and Rocky at mile 6 and got a boost from their cheers. I was so wet from all the water I was dumping over my head that my shorts with gels kept feeling like they were falling down around my butt!
About mile 7, we caught up with Steve and kept rolling. About mile 8 I pulled away from the guys and just kept running consistently, feeling very strong and running with a nice easy pace. Hit the halfway point in 1:19:56 and I was feeilng really good and ready to challenge the second half! As we ran through Wellsely College, gave lots of high fives to all the girls!
I remember hearing lots of good music on the course and singing along a few times and having a big smile on my face! There were several times myself and the guys around me would pump up the crowd and they would respond with roars!! Several of the small towns along the route were every bit as loud as the run up Boylston.
I remember running a good race in my approach to the hills. As I would hit an uphill, I would go to my quads and focus on knee drive and direct force to the ground and not hamstring activation, then on the downhill go back to my hamstring strength and fly down the hills. It worked great, thanks USATF coaching clinic for the tip!
Hit the PowerBar Energy zone at 17 miles and saw the PowerBar folks (Chad, Tim DeBoom, etc.) and got a boost but had to take a pit stop just after to clear out from all the water Gatorade. Felt much better and didn't loose too much time. Ended up passing all the folks that I remember passing before so the stop paid off.
The official water stops were plentiful, but the warm water and Gatorade were not! I liked the spectators supply better because it was cold! The last 5 miles I didn't drink any Gatorade because it just upset my stomach.
I felt very strong on the Newton Hills and up Heartbreak never wavering and passing folks and just easing up the hills at a good pace. Once over the top and coming back down I felt great and was able to pick up the pace through Brookline and into Boston. The hill at mile 25 sucked, but I knew I was almost done. Once we hit the underpass at Mass Ave I knew what I had left and was all smiles!!
Picked off a few more runners on Boylston and was running well with no one behind me so I slowed to make sure I found my family in the grandstands! Gave a wave and a kiss and thanked God for the strength today as I finished to hear my name and PowerBar mentioned on the PA!!
After finishing and walking the long walk to the gear bags and to get medals, food, water, etc. I was thanking all the volunteers for being out there, they make this possible too. There were and incredible number of volunteers and medical folks in downtown Boston..wow! Thanks Boston for a great race!
Overall probably my best race ever and an event I will never forget!
Splits: 6:30, 5:51, 5:57, 5:45, 6:02, 5:56, 5:56, 6:04, 6:01, 6:10, 6:21, 6:15, 6:15, 6:10, 6:15, 5:52, 6:24, 6:57 (PoP), 6:09, 6:28, 6:38, 6:00, 6:13, 6:11, 6:23, 6:29, 2:31 (0.4). | 