Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Mile 26.1 of the Boston Marathon In Pictures!


There is just so much I could write about my first time spectating a race and having that race be the Boston Marathon. So much so that I don't even know WHAT to write! 


The short version: I had us up early so the Coach would not have any chance at all of not getting his bus to Hopkinton. We easily made it to Boston Common where I counted 20 buses at a time lined up, filling quickly and parading off to the Athlete's Village. To say I felt out of shape and obese would be an understatement!  Once his bus took off I wandered through the park and Back Bay before officially hitting Boylston Street. I realized it would be a good investment for the day to buy a chair, so that's what I did. Chair, breakfast and magazines in hand I found a spot in what looked to possibly be the shady side of the road. I befriended 3 other women and for the next few hours we bonded over everything. I was probably there around 7am - and The Coach didn't even start running until 10:20am! This was a day long commitment, and a truly unforgettable experience!

Instead of babbling, I'll just share a small selection of photos from the large amount I captured that day!

Racing to his new world record! The Canadian women I befriended were pretty happy!
  

MEB!!!
My signal that the runners were getting very close!
Sharon Cherop just 1/10th of a mile from her victory.
Wesley Korir leading the men, moments from his win!
Josh Hartmann
As best as I could tell, the two in yellow didn't know the middle guy, but that didn't stop them from turning around, helping him get up and walking him into the finish. Still gives me goose bumps.
Running. Heat. Packs. Full clothes. WOW!
The view down Boylston
Another man down - a very common sight during that incredibly hot day.
Another sight I didn't like having to see as often as I did.
That skinny man in the blue shorts - the Coach! He did it!!
Success!!

8 comments:

  1. Amazeballs!! What an incredible experience, even just watching!!!

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    1. It was ... it really was ...


      Yeah - I totally just slipped in a Titanic quote!

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  2. The one time I "crewed" my brother and his running mate at Boston, I had to bike from Hopkinton to Route 9/135/126 area and wait. I had to take off down the course a full hour before the wheelchair athletes started. That was a crazy long day too. A lot of fun to watch everyone go by at mile 9. As soon as my two runners stopped got their bottles of flat Coke in hair coloring bottles, I was off on the bike again to my pick-up point where I was then driven into Boston to catch the end of the race and gather our runners. Brother finished, his partner didn't...and he took on 3 liters of IV liquids in the 30 minutes it took us to get to the hospital to pick him up.

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  3. I can only imagine what an amazing experience being in Boston for this race was. Getting to spectate to spectate the Boston Marathon on top of all that was priceless I'm sure!

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    1. It was crazy cool! I just got goose bumps right now a month later thinking about it!

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  4. I felt like I was there, the best piece Ive seen yet :)!

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    1. Thanks! It was hard to only put in this tiny amount of pictures!

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