This year I crossed an item off my bucket list - I ran the Boston Marathon!! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done, by far, hands down, my favorite race of all time. Not because I got a PR, and not because it was perfect weather, because neither of those were true. I found out that running the Boston Marathon is an experience in itself, and I wanted to take in every second of it!
We are lucky to have Chad and Britt in Boston so we were able to stay with them which was super fun. We had a few days before the race to sight-see and wander around the city - so we did. We caught a Red Sox game, went to the temple, got a treat at Mike's Pastry, and ate at a delicious pizza joint that was small and loud but sooo good! The best part about being downtown was seeing all the excitement that everyone had for the upcoming marathon. It is a big event for Boston and there were signs everywhere welcoming runners and wishing us all good luck. It was pretty great to see!
The day before the race we spend some time at the expo getting my number and buying a famous Boston marathon jacket. It was so fun to be around all those 30,000 runners and their families and feel the excitement of the upcoming race. I was almost in tears when they handed me my number and wished me luck the next day. Such a cool moment to actually be holding a race number for the Boston Marathon!
Like I said, the weather was not what I would have picked for race day. I had been watching the weather channel all week and as race day got closer and closer, it looked like the big storm that was making its way to the east coast was going to hit Boston on the morning of Marathon Monday. What?!?! I woke up early Monday morning to loud cracks of lightning and rolling thunder outside. Not to mention the rain that was pouring down. This is the radar that morning - sure enough the storm had landed and was making things wet and cold. I had prepared for it so I had enough warm clothes with me, but still it was not what I had wanted. Nothing I could do about it now.
I was in wave 3 which was actually kind of nice because we didn't start until 10:50 am. I got up and took my time getting a small breakfast, stretching and getting all my gear ready to go. As the morning went on, the rain did start to ease up a little and I was a little hopeful that we would have some partially dry moments during the race. Chad and the rest of the family were planning their spots to watch along the way and figure out the best way to get downtown to watch the finish line. And Josh and I left to get to the starting line.
I always get butterflies in my stomach before a race. Today was no different and I was pretty nervous as we headed to the start. But mostly I was just excited to be a part of it all. Josh dropped me off and I walked to the Athlete's Village to wait and get ready to run. The village has huge tents set up for the runners to get ready and stay dry and warm before it was time to run. I found some ponchos that had been thrown away and wrapped them around my feet to keep them dry and mud free and sat down for a while before wave 3 was called. I loved being there and taking it all in. So many different runners around but I felt like we all had that one thing in common that day and that was pretty cool. As we waited the rain slowly went away and the sky became just overcast. It was a miracle and I was so happy to see that at least for the starting line, we would be dry! As they called our wave, we walked towards the starting line and all I could see in front of me and behind me were runners...and more runners. It was an incredible sight. So many people running and I was right there with them!
The race itself was so awesome. A friend of mine that has run this before told me to just enjoy the race and take it all in. So that's what I did! The course is lined with spectators cheering us all on - the whole 26 miles! There was not one spot that was empty the whole race and it was so fun to see all the signs, people and runners that were around me. Chad and his boys stopped at 3 different spots along the course and I looked forward to seeing them every time I knew they were close. It was such a motivator for me! I struggled right along with everyone else on Heartbreak Hill and smiled at all the girls from Wellesley College offering free kisses to any runner that was willing to stop. I felt proud to be apart of the "Boston Strong" crowd and loved every sign that reminded us that we are strong together. Around mile 24 just as I was making my way into town, it started to sprinkle. Just 2 miles to go and the weather had, in fact, turned out to be perfect. With a little rain coming as I was nearing the finish line, I couldn't help but feel so much gratitude for the chance I had to be a part of this cool event. I knew my family was waiting for me at the finish line and I leaped for joy when I saw them! Once again, the tears came and I was so happy to be done and have done it! The Boston Marathon was officially crossed off my list!
As always, I owe a lot to my cheering section and my support team for the time they helped me prepare for this. Josh is patient as ever and is always so proud of me when I get done with something hard like this. I am so grateful for him.
What a cool day and one I will never forget. Who knows if I'll ever make it back here, but for now I'm just so glad to be able to say "I've run the Boston Marathon."
