HOT BOSTON – EXPERIENCING THE BOSTON MARATHON
By Paul Cooley
A recent running publication placed "experiencing" the Boston Marathon on it’s list of top 10 items for runners to achieve, suggesting that even if you have not qualified for Boston, that you should at least go to the Boston Marathon once in your running career to see what it is all about. To those who have not been to the Boston Marathon it is about a city that is the cradle of our country with the Paul Revere House, North Church, Boston Harbor (home of the USS Constitution and scene of the famous "Tea Party"), with many quaint neighborhoods in the downtown area. It is also about a city that is as young as much as it is old with its multitude of college students living there, since it is the home of Harvard University, Boston College, Suffolk University, Wellesley, and numerous others.
Waiting for a vacant port-o-can I notice the camouflaged soldiers patrolling the woods around the Hopkinton athletes’ village and pacing the roofs of the school buildings which overlook the 20,000 gathering for the start of the race. Several helicopters alternate between circling overhead and hanging in the air, adding their presence to those of the soldiers. I am wondering what type of instructions they have been given concerning our security.
Downtown Boston is easily accessible from Logan Airport via the subway system, part of which is the oldest subway system in the U.S. There are many quality hotels and restaurants in downtown Boston ready to serve those coming to the race. Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, near Government Center, are a focal point for a stay in Boston, with gift shops, fast food eateries, first class restaurants and a Bill Rodgers Running Store located there.
Superman and Flash are really going to run this thing! They pose with runners for photographs as we leave for our Corrals. Hoards of runners are going up and down in the street trying to get to their Corrals. Thousands of runners pushing against thousands of other runners: those going from lower numbered Corrals to higher numbered Corrals against those going from higher to lower. A snaking human traffic jam slithering through someone’s drive way, between their cars, past their barbeque pit, on their front door’s step: they are trying to open the front door of their home but can’t because of the crush of runners, the homeowner yells "watch out for my Rhododendrons!".
The first destination of most runners will be the huge sports expo for number pick-up and shopping for running clothes, gadgets, food, and possible future races in exotic places. If you were going to the Boston Marathon to watch, you probably would be watching the finish of the race, not the start, as traveling to Hopkinton and back on race day for a spectator would be almost impossible. Beside, the finish is where the drama is: you can see the elite competitors fighting to win, and many of the rest of the 20,000 fighting to finish.
Sitting on the bed at 5:00 a.m. I watch the T.V. The weather forecaster says that with a predicted high of 86 degrees the conditions will be "horrendous" for the marathoners. I am reminding myself of this going down the first hill from the start, which is about a mile. I am a part of a large group of adventurers now embarking on a dangerous journey not only against the 26.2 mile distance and the hills, but the heat. Back in Houston we avoid the heat because we know what it will do. So we get up at 4 a.m. to run at 5:30. It is now well past noon and we are all running into the teeth of the heat: 76 at the start and no relief toward the coast today, as there is a following wind blowing warm air off the land out to the sea, carrying my chance for a good marathon time along with it.
There is a great deal of tradition and excitement associated with being at the Boston Marathon. You meet like minded runners from all over. There is a free "Freedom Run" the morning of the day before the race which attracts several thousand runners.
I am tiring entering Wellesley, but I know it is close to the half. I slap hands with the young ladies on the right side of the course and am energized for the next ¼ mile, but I know that I am only about to start into the hills.
There is a pasta party free to race entrants at the Government Center near Faneuil Hall the evening before the race. There is the boarding of the busses for Hopkinton, which is when you first realize how large this race is and your adrenaline begins to flow. Then comes the long wait at the athletes’ village for the start at noon.
I make it past the half without having to walk. I think I will do better in the long run if a start walking a little early, before I must by necessity. I have been watching my liquid consumption, not wanting to dehydrate but not wanting to dilute my electrolytes. I want to avoid leg cramps. I want to avoid heat exhaustion.
The race course can be described as gently rolling hills, the first part of which is through rural country and small villages and the latter part coming into the suburbs of Boston and then into and through the city itself to the finish in front of the Library.
I knew at this point, 17miles, that I would begin to see a lot of people walking, I just was not sure I would be among them: I was. I run now until I feel I am on the edge of exhaustion, which is about ½ to ¾’s of a mile at a time, and then I stop and walk. A couple times I felt a little dizzy. That is not good. I have lost track of how much liquid I am consuming. I have been taking 3 to 4 cups of water at each stop, half I put on my head. I having been drinking a cup of Gatorade at each station. My mouth is dry. I cannot drink enough to keep my mouth from being dry. Someone hands me a frozen push up pop cycle. The dry taste in my mouth will not go away. I have lost track of which mile marker to expect next and where in the mile I may be. In my mind when I see the mile marker I guess what mile it is. It is always one mile more to go than what I think. I feel nauseated.
The truly amazing part of the Boston Marathon is the race fans. Race day is Patriots Day in Boston, and this year, it was combined with the Boston Red Sox beating the hated New York Yankees. It was a beautiful day for the fans leaving Fenway Park to join hundreds of thousands of other spectators along the course route to the finish. The fans are more than enthusiastic in cheering on the marathon runners.
I beginning running through the crowd at Boston College. I have on my "Houston Masters" singlet. They yell "go Houston". I yell "go Boston – Yankees suck" and get a big reaction. They all want to slap my hand. I am glad for the contact. It invigorates me. I am able to run a little longer between walk breaks now. I make a turn and see the Citgo sign up ahead.
At the finish line you are greeted by many volunteers who provide you with a space blanket, water, medical assistance if needed, chip removal and medal placement.
Finally I am turning on to Hereford Street and climbing the hill to Boylston and the finish line just down the street. As I crest the corner my right hamstring cramps, same place I cramped last year. I am walking toward the finish line with thousands looking on.
Receiving the medal provides you with the proof of your accomplishment. It is a long but satisfying walk to the busses carrying your belongings. In the evening they have a dance for the race participants. I cannot describe it, because I have not had the energy to go. The Boston Marathon experience is well worth the effort.
I begin running small steps, raise my hands over my head and cross the finish line. I have done it! I find Clif Wistner sitting on a table. He tells me he had leg cramps from about 17 miles on and threw-up several times. Lying on a water table next to him is a runner half coherent, with blood streaked down his white singlet under each nipple. They are waiting for medical assistance. A medical aid volunteer comes up to check on them. Clif says he is o.k. and we stagger up the street to busses containing our bags. In the Boston Globe on Tuesday morning, among the photos of the race winners and of the faces of agonizing runners suffering from the affects of the heat, there is a picture of Superman and Flash.