The 118th Boston Marathon

4.19.14 and 4.20.14: After some years of talking about wanting to qualify, I finally had the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon! This is a race steeped in history, first contested in 1897 with a total of 15 runners. The course travels through a variety of environments, beginning in the small town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ending in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston.

We road-tripped it up to Boston, stopping along the way in New Haven, Connecticut for some delicious pizza at Frank Pepe’s. Taking a break from the car, we enjoyed our pizza in Wooster Square, a peaceful park in the middle of the Wooster Square Historic District. Just like DC, this neighborhood also has some gorgeous cherry blossom trees, although they weren’t quite ready to bloom during our visit.

Upon arriving in Boston, we journeyed to the finish line area along Boylston Street. I’ve walked down this street before, but the scene was more surreal this time with hundreds of runners taking pictures of the finish line area. It is hard to imagine that one year prior this was the scene of unspeakable violence. Walking past the spots where the two bombs went off was emotional, but also served as a reminder of how important it was for me to lace up my shoes on Patriots’ Day and do my small part to take back the finish line on Boylston.

In contrast, our visit to the start line the next morning was fairly calm, minus the workers who were busy setting up audio equipment for the next day. We walked around the square and checked out the statue of the Hoyts, a father-son team that first competed in the Boston Marathon in 1981. Seriously, follow that link…they are truly an inspirational story! Last year was to be the Hoyt’s last race in Boston, but after being stopped short of the finish they came back this year for one last run from Hopkinton to Boston.

As for the race, the Boston course is not for the faint of heart! Unfortunately, I was not able to get in as much training as I would have liked due to my IT band injury…this definitely began to show at about mile 16. Despite this, the course was packed with enthusiastic fans, high-fives (especially through Wellesley!), and general camaraderie among the runners. I even got to run past Team Hoyt around mile 12 and offer a thumbs-up and “great job.” Given everything this race represented on this day, I felt honored to call it my first Boston Marathon. I’m already making my plans for my second next year!