Today was the 121st running of the Boston Marathon. From the initial results, it looks like USA runners did pretty well. Also among the finishers was Katherine Switzer, the first woman ever to finish the Boston Marathon 50 years ago. She is currently in her mid 70's and finished in 4:44. Katherine should be considered a running sister/mentor to all of us women who enjoy running! I was fortunate to qualify for Boston in 2012, the year I turned 40. I, however, was NOT fortunate to run it the year it was over 78 degrees at the start and near 90 at the finish. It was my worst marathon finish ever and since; I like to joke that since I'd done the hard work to qualify, I took a lot of time out on the course. The day before, the organizers offered deferrals to runners who would pick up and turn in their race bibs without starting the race. This was a very tempting offer. We were already in Boston and decided we were unwilling to gamble that I'd still be injury-free and that we'd be able to take the time off again to come back the next year. Even with the terrible sunburn and terrible finishing time, I was glad I did not defer. 2013 was the year of the bombing at the finish and had I been there and finished in a typical time for me, my husband and I would likely have still been in the downtown area when the bombs went off. I can't imagine the stress we would have brought to our families and friends, so it all worked out. The running photo is pretty far away, but I've got a black tank and shorts on near the center. My husband and I enjoyed a fabulous vacation in Boston complete with a drink at Cheers, water taxi rides, a climb to Bunker Hill and many other historic sites. I'd highly recommend a vacation in Boston if you enjoy history and being along the water. Until I ran Boston, I had no idea why it's always run on a Monday. The third Monday in April is a big holiday in the New England states known as Patriot Day. Literally, everything is closed that day except what pertains to the marathon and related tourism. The course passes by Fenway Park where the Red Sox play and they always have a game on Patriot Day scheduled to start shortly after the elite runners have passed by. I never see the elite folks, so it was interesting for me to learn that the elite women start out about a half hour before the elite men. Rules for the larger marathons dictate that the elites cannot have pacers and if the women started with the men, the ladies would have men to run with, therefore they have to start out ahead so that the first ladies are done before their male counterparts. One other item of Boston trivia is that times from Boston do not count for world record marathon times due to the course being net downhill and that its point to point orientation might be aided by a tailwind. If being a Boston qualifier is one of your goals, best of luck to you! If not, I hope that you reach whatever goals you have set for your running this year. Happy running! Missee
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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