Here is my race report/thoughts on this race. I did also post this on the Race Report/Encouragement/Kudos Thread.
This is not a race I will ever do again & at this point it is highly unlikely I will ever do another from the 13.1 Series. This was an inaugural race for Boston but was not the first race for the 13.1 Series. There were too many things that just should not have happened.
First, no expo (which was not a problem), just go to a running store to pick up bib & wicking shirt. Get the shirts, they are a cool Wish green. Open the package to see the shirt, they are a generic 13.1 Marathon Series shirt that they can use at all of their races. WTH! The front says 13.1 Marathon Series, 2010 & an American Flag, all in black. The back shows an outline of the USA with the cities they hold races. If you wanted a shirt that said Boston on it you could purchase one for $19.99.
Next up
.Race Morning. They had on-site parking & then overflow satellite parking which had shuttles back to the start. We got there early enough to park on-site. It was an old horse racing facility. They had you park in the inside field of the track. They did not mow the grass. In spots it was knee deep. Thankfully the grass was only damp in a few spots. We made our way across the track to the pre-race area. There did not look to be nearly enough port-o-pottys. Since we were there early we used the facilities before there were lines. Then I kept an eye on them & as soon as there were a few people lined up, John & I jumped back on the line. By the time we were done the lines were really long & now going into the checked bag staging/holding area for the bags. People were stepping over checked bags trying to get through to other lines. Race start was out on the street. We walked towards the street but there was a big rock wall that ran parallel to the street. Some people were jumping up & climbing over. We opted for walking around. Get to the end of the wall & there now is a fence that runs in along the entrance road. We climbed the fence with everyone else while someone was trying to take down a section of the fence. This was only about 15 min before race start.
On to the race. National Anthem & were off. We were told the course was rolling hills. I guess that is a relative term as to what you are used to & the area you are in
.to me it was rolling mountains. LOL It was a tough course. Very few level areas. Pretty much when you got to the top of a hill, you went down and when you got to the bottom you then went up again. The road was also pitched in a lot of the areas which was hard on the legs/knees. It was a pretty course in that it was mostly trees/woods and along a reservoir. You did get to see one view of Boston from the top of a hill (that you got to see twice since was on an out& back) Do to all the trees most of the course was in the shade, which was great since it was so hot. The worst hill started somewhere between mile 10 & 10.5 and didnt end until mile 11. It just seemed to never end. By the time we got to the second water stop (at approx mile 4) they were almost out of cups. This was on an out & back and the stop served both sides. On the way back there were no cups. We had our own bottles so had them refill us. They had run out of cups at all the water stops. People were just sharing the gallon water containers taking sips. They did manage to get more cups out on the course but they missed way too many people who should have had water especially on such a hot day. The last water stop had apparently ran out of water along with the cups. They ended up getting small bottles of water that they were handing out. Running out of cups & water should not have happened, but on a positive, at least they made an effort to correct the problem. There was also no powerade/Gatorade on the course. There website said there would be. I dont drink/use it, but if you were expecting it & needed it in the heat, you were in trouble. The worst is as we were entering the finish shoot, the clock was coming up on 3:28 & garmins were coming up on 3:27, they were pulling up the timing mats & they pulled one of the side fences across about 10 feet in front of us. We ran around the section of fence & crossed the finish line without timing mats. We werent sure if we would end up with a finish time. Others behind us were doing the same. This was soooo wrong. There was a 3:30 time limit from when the last person crossed the start and clock time hadnt even gotten to 3:30. John has a photo of them taking the clock down with the clock saying 3:29. This was completely inexcusable!!!
Post Race. There were no medals at the finish. Didnt even see a medical tent. We had to walk back to the now removed section of fence (where we could help ourselves to a bottle of water) and make our way back across the field almost to the track to pick up our medal from someone that was standing at a table handing them out. There were no signs or anyone to tell you where to go. John had to ask another racer that was wearing their medal where they got it from. Anyone could have just walked up & gotten a medal. Not sure if they were even checking to see if you were wearing a bib. Then walked over to the food tent which was not spectacular but I guess adequate. Bagels, big muffins, granola bars, oranges & bananas. No powerade or salty snacks.
We did get to meet Maria's (Wofiedoodles) husband & Angie (Pungodingy) pre-race & got to wave to them/cheer them on, on the 2 out & backs. We saw Angie again post race and also Katie (K80K). We also had someone yell go Wish to Lily & I on one of the out & backs that wasnt wearing a Wish shirt. Now know that was Megan (Poppinspal).
I'm sorry that it was not more of a pleasant experience.
