smileyk8
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2005
- Messages
- 1,553
Please bear with me- I havent slept for
a really long time! Thought I should try and jot my race report down though after reading so much fantastic support on the board.
OK where to start. My friend Jackie and I headed out to Boston on 17th April to begin our marathon mission. This was to be my first marathon and Jackies 4th out of her aim to complete the 5 majors (just Berlin now for her!). Just a quick note- we did not qualify for the marathon, but got guaranteed placed as international runners. We arrived too late to head to the expo so just settled into hotel for the night.
Saturday 18th we headed to the marathon expo. OH MY GOODNESS it was immense! I couldnt believe it. After just being to Minnie 15k and Princess ½ this came as a massive surprise to me. We spent about 4 hours and ahem a bit of money he he he there before exploring the shopping sights of Boston, which I have to say is a stunning city.
Im going to skip ahead now to race day- Monday 20th April. Aaaah. Woke up terrified and headed to the buses after giant breakfast at 6.20am. Just seeing the giant crowds of people gave me such a buzz and the constant stream of runners buses was just crazy. We probably got on one at 7.30 and it took well over an hour to arrive at the athletes village at Hopkinton High school. At this point most of the runners are thinking dry, desert thoughts and some had to leave the bus before arriving at the village to ummm find a bush!
We had a couple of hours to kill, most of which was spent queuing for toilets and feeding Jackie. Then at around 10.10 am (after wave one runners had gone) we were called to our corrals. At this point those cute little butterflies dancing in my stomach morphed into giant stampeding wilderbeasts. I was full of doubt that I could finish this and still thought it was beyond crazy that I was even headed to the start.
It took 11 mins to get to the start after 10.30am wave two start. I knew friends and family were tracking which made such a difference. I was also aware of Allyson cheering and so was watching out for a beautiful lime WISH t-shirt. Right, I hadnt told many people but my aim was to hit 4 hours 30mins, with no idea how realistic that was. I had to keep a pace of around 10mins per miles. Started off this downhill (yeah right!) course wayyyy too fast averaging 9:06 per mile for first 10km oops. But I had one of my ourse highlights in this section- I SAW ALLYSON! Going to guess around mile 3 but really was a blur. Saw some bouncing lime green, looked to my left and there she was yelling WISH. My stomach flipped in appreciation and excitement as I very enthusiastically waved back. Allyson I cannot thank you enough for the support!
As the course went on it became very obvious that what had been sold to me as a downhill run was actually very hilly. Overall the course loses altitude, but there were almost constant climbs followed by drops with flat road very rare. This was a shock to me and I started dreading what Heartbreak Hill would be like if these hills didnt even register! By half marathon point I was still a little fast- 2:03:02 averaging 9:23 min per mile. I also had to keep switching road sides as a lot of the roads were cambered which killed my IT bands.
Then came the three hills. Newton falls was fine actually as was the second one, as they didnt seem much worse than earlier hills. As expected I hit heartbreak at 20 miles and knew itd be faster to walk. Maybe a cheat really but that saved me a lot of energy in the long run. It was shortly after this that we entered Boston city where the support stepped up and there was now more to look at. Struggled with momentum though and had to take a minute walk break- no more and no less. Man Im strict! The last 10km felt like torture with my pace slowing to average 10miles per min overall. The ultimate test was turing the last corner onto Boyleston Street and seeing the end but it was so far away. I just thought those heads look really small crossing that line. They were, I later found it was a 600metre stretch.
FINALLY crossed the line in 4:22:01 to a flood of relief after the hardest run of my life! It didnt hit me that Id done it even when had chip removed, medal placed around my freezing neck (the weather was mid 40s and felt cold once we stopped), or when I collected my bag from bus 51. It was the moment I read the 6 messages on my phone, particuarly one from my mum and another from my boyfriend. Cue absolute floods of tears as I sat waiting for Jackie who finished in PB time of 4:34:33.
Only thought was I have been spoilt by running long distance around Disney Parks. I missed the entertainment and having things to look forward to and search out. Whilst the rural start was pretty, it was hard to find things to spur me on. To be honest, I found it difficult and Jackie said out of her 4 so far it was her toughest. I wish I could thank all of the residents for couragously standing in freezing weather handing out water/orange/treats.
We made it to the post race party for an hour and then crashed back at the hotel. Following day we waddled around subways and shops before the flight and 4 trains home!!!! Most troublesome moments were those involving Bostons remarkably low toilet seats, what is with that!?!?!?
jackie and i with our medals!
Sorry it was soooo looong, but thats my report! Home safe and sound and thanks to all of you who tracked or thought of me, I appreciate it more than you could know. Big shout out to my wonderful warriors who were right there with me the whole time!
OK where to start. My friend Jackie and I headed out to Boston on 17th April to begin our marathon mission. This was to be my first marathon and Jackies 4th out of her aim to complete the 5 majors (just Berlin now for her!). Just a quick note- we did not qualify for the marathon, but got guaranteed placed as international runners. We arrived too late to head to the expo so just settled into hotel for the night.
Saturday 18th we headed to the marathon expo. OH MY GOODNESS it was immense! I couldnt believe it. After just being to Minnie 15k and Princess ½ this came as a massive surprise to me. We spent about 4 hours and ahem a bit of money he he he there before exploring the shopping sights of Boston, which I have to say is a stunning city.
Im going to skip ahead now to race day- Monday 20th April. Aaaah. Woke up terrified and headed to the buses after giant breakfast at 6.20am. Just seeing the giant crowds of people gave me such a buzz and the constant stream of runners buses was just crazy. We probably got on one at 7.30 and it took well over an hour to arrive at the athletes village at Hopkinton High school. At this point most of the runners are thinking dry, desert thoughts and some had to leave the bus before arriving at the village to ummm find a bush!
We had a couple of hours to kill, most of which was spent queuing for toilets and feeding Jackie. Then at around 10.10 am (after wave one runners had gone) we were called to our corrals. At this point those cute little butterflies dancing in my stomach morphed into giant stampeding wilderbeasts. I was full of doubt that I could finish this and still thought it was beyond crazy that I was even headed to the start.
It took 11 mins to get to the start after 10.30am wave two start. I knew friends and family were tracking which made such a difference. I was also aware of Allyson cheering and so was watching out for a beautiful lime WISH t-shirt. Right, I hadnt told many people but my aim was to hit 4 hours 30mins, with no idea how realistic that was. I had to keep a pace of around 10mins per miles. Started off this downhill (yeah right!) course wayyyy too fast averaging 9:06 per mile for first 10km oops. But I had one of my ourse highlights in this section- I SAW ALLYSON! Going to guess around mile 3 but really was a blur. Saw some bouncing lime green, looked to my left and there she was yelling WISH. My stomach flipped in appreciation and excitement as I very enthusiastically waved back. Allyson I cannot thank you enough for the support!
As the course went on it became very obvious that what had been sold to me as a downhill run was actually very hilly. Overall the course loses altitude, but there were almost constant climbs followed by drops with flat road very rare. This was a shock to me and I started dreading what Heartbreak Hill would be like if these hills didnt even register! By half marathon point I was still a little fast- 2:03:02 averaging 9:23 min per mile. I also had to keep switching road sides as a lot of the roads were cambered which killed my IT bands.
Then came the three hills. Newton falls was fine actually as was the second one, as they didnt seem much worse than earlier hills. As expected I hit heartbreak at 20 miles and knew itd be faster to walk. Maybe a cheat really but that saved me a lot of energy in the long run. It was shortly after this that we entered Boston city where the support stepped up and there was now more to look at. Struggled with momentum though and had to take a minute walk break- no more and no less. Man Im strict! The last 10km felt like torture with my pace slowing to average 10miles per min overall. The ultimate test was turing the last corner onto Boyleston Street and seeing the end but it was so far away. I just thought those heads look really small crossing that line. They were, I later found it was a 600metre stretch.
FINALLY crossed the line in 4:22:01 to a flood of relief after the hardest run of my life! It didnt hit me that Id done it even when had chip removed, medal placed around my freezing neck (the weather was mid 40s and felt cold once we stopped), or when I collected my bag from bus 51. It was the moment I read the 6 messages on my phone, particuarly one from my mum and another from my boyfriend. Cue absolute floods of tears as I sat waiting for Jackie who finished in PB time of 4:34:33.
Only thought was I have been spoilt by running long distance around Disney Parks. I missed the entertainment and having things to look forward to and search out. Whilst the rural start was pretty, it was hard to find things to spur me on. To be honest, I found it difficult and Jackie said out of her 4 so far it was her toughest. I wish I could thank all of the residents for couragously standing in freezing weather handing out water/orange/treats.
We made it to the post race party for an hour and then crashed back at the hotel. Following day we waddled around subways and shops before the flight and 4 trains home!!!! Most troublesome moments were those involving Bostons remarkably low toilet seats, what is with that!?!?!?
jackie and i with our medals!
Sorry it was soooo looong, but thats my report! Home safe and sound and thanks to all of you who tracked or thought of me, I appreciate it more than you could know. Big shout out to my wonderful warriors who were right there with me the whole time!
Man, we've come a long way since our C25K thread, haven't we? 
It sounds like those hills were dreadful! And thank you for taking the time to write up the race report!
