Sunday, May 1, 2011

Boston Marathon Race Report: The Worst of the Best

Race Report: 115th Boston Marathon 2011
Where: Boston
Distance: 26.2
Results: 3:20:30, 5119 out of 23879 and 914 out of 2343 in AG. 7:39 min/mile pace.

Pre-Race: I actually like riding on the NJ turnpike. Lots of rest stops, decent gas prices (compared to VA), the sweet aroma of Newark and of course, the Harsell family. By a totally random coincidence we caught up with the Harsell family on the pike while they were traveling to a race at Rutgers. We all got a kick out of waving to each other on the road. Little did we know that they would save us later in the day.
It was raining hard and the traffic was crappy, lots of stop and go. Then came the crunch, smash, and the jolt of being rear ended by another car. We pulled off to the left breakdown lane and all heck broke lose. No one was hurt but there was lots of crying and confusion. I got out and there was steam coming out my ears. The 21 year old girl who hit us was in a BMW 5 series and took one look at my death glare and got back in her car. Her front hood/bumper was totaled and our rear end was just mangled, definitely not drivable. The Harsells stopped to check on us, but there was really nothing anyone could do at this point. After a couple of hours sitting in the pouring rain we got towed to a garage and were faced with a hairy dilemma. All the local rental places were closed and we were stuck. Fortunately, the Harsells were close by (kinda) and they came to our rescue. Richard came down, picked up the family and all our stuff, and drove us to Newark airport where the only car I could find was a 4 door sedan. We wouldn't have made it to Boston without their help and I am very thankful for their rescue. The remainder of the trip was driven in the dark during hurricane like conditions.....wonderful. We finally arrived at the hotel at 1 am and completely beat up from the 15 hour trip.

The next day was pretty uneventful except for the craziness at the expo. For some reason Molly and I thought it would be OK to go to the expo/bib pick up with kids. The kids were great and my brother David came with us, but the expo was an absolute madhouse. Way too many people, jammed into a very small room, was a recipe for some claustrophobic attacks. We were out of there fast.
Dave and I headed over to the Newton firehouse to test run the hill starting at mile 17. There are a series of 4 hills start at mile 16 and goes up until mile 21. The best word to describe this section of the course: intimidating. I was in a funk of a mood at this point and needed an attitude adjustment. We chilled at the pool with the kids and had a relaxed dinner at the hotel. Molly, Dave, and the kids kept me happy and I relaxed a little bit which helped out a bunch. I was nervous though.....it was going to be tough day on Monday.

Race-Day: Dave drove me to the bus pick-up. A friend suggested that I sign up for a chartered bus that has heat, a bathroom, comfy seats and would be a home-base parked at the starting line. It was awesome!
I was nervous and wanted to get to my corral. I was slotted in the first wave and in the 9th corral......9th? There were about 1,000 people per corral which was determined by time. I was psyched to be in the first wave but I was last in line......worst of the best. Right before the starting gun I had to pee.....bad. I witnessed others that had the same problem and they proceeded to pee while standing shoulder to shoulder with their fellow runners.....you had to look down because there were several yellow streams flowing downhill. There was also quite a bit of disgruntled runners that were heckling the culprits. All you had to do was follow the pee and you found your man.....or woman. I opted to not to join the 'urinators in the corral' club.

The start gun blasted and as I approached the starting line I finally started to feel the excitement of the event. I tried to soak in the sights and the energy around the wall of people cheering us as we started our trek to Boston. After the first hill I had to go pee and decided to stop and get it over with. Right then and there I knew I was not going get the time I wanted, rookie mistake, and I started to panic as to what to do next...do I hammer it to make up the time or do I keep to the plan and keep to my pace? Then I saw the pink tutu. That's right folks, there was a bald guy wearing a pink leotard with a pink tutu. The crowd on the side of the road would go bananas when they saw this guy. The irony here is that he was a very good runner and started to dust other runners, including me. I have to admit he made me laugh which helped change my dark mood.

I wanted to be sub 7:30 pace by the time I hit the half way mark and achieved this with a 1:37:56 which is around a 7:28/mile pace. I was feeling pretty good. When we came up to the screaming girls of Wellsley I was blown away by the energy, free kisses (no Molly, no kisses for me), and the screaming! It was deafening. I really noticed it when my ears were still ringing after we exited their section.

Dave, Molly and the kids caught me right before the turn into the hills. I dropped off my empty fuel belt and started the hard work on the hills of Newton. It was tough. The pace definately started to drop. At mile 21 I sucked it up and did the best I could to get my pace back and most of the race at this point was a blur except for that Citgo sign. Coming across the finish line was incredible. I was beat up but extremely happy. Great day, great weather, and great support from all.

Here is the link to my Garmin results:


So to answer the questions from Pre-Boston Doug from Post-Boston Doug:

1. Did you run like it was your last race? No. That would be too serious and frankly it's not the end of the world.
2. Can you walk away knowing you went deep? Yep. I went deep and I worked hard. Need more hill training next time.
3. Did you honor your dreams? It was better that you thought. The crowd cheering you on for every mile was incredible. Nothing goes perfectly, but the whole experience was incredible. And yes, the jacket is cool.
4. Did you thank your family? I sure did. Dave was a huge help and I was very thankful he was there. Molly, as always, was a trooper and kept me afloat during the trying times. Dad, wish you were there but I know you were watching online and cheering me on every mile. Although not family, I am thankful for the Harsells on that rainy day in NJ.





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice report, Doug! I'm glad you enjoyed the comfy bus with bathrooms. Beats the porta-potty lines! But what a nightmare getting up there...I can only imagine how raw your nerves were. And you BQ'd at Boston, which is amazing. That course chewed me up and spat me out. I'm thinking about a revenge attack next year! Oh, and thanks for putting me on your troll list!