115th Boston Marathon
April 18, 2011
Let me start by saying that this may go down in the books as the most amazing race that I have ever run. I have barely typed a sentence and I am already getting chills thinking about it!
Back with a Vengeance
I was returning to Boston to not only run the marathon for the second time, but more importantly, to even up the score. When I ran Boston in 2009 for the first time, I easily got caught up in the excitement: psyched to qualify just four months prior, thrilled to be accepted just days before registration filled up, satisfied with my training (despite coming off four months of training for my BQ race), and ecstatic to be in corral 1 of wave 2 (meaning I would line up right at the start line for the race and for a brief moment feel like an elite runner). But I must admit, all of this excitement got the better of me – despite reading books and articles about the do’s and don’ts of running Boston. So in 2009, I went out there, made all the rookie mistakes, and let the course beat me down. Despite a rough journey from Hopkinton to Boston, I fell in love with the race: the course, the spectators, the joy of everyone privileged to be running, and ultimately, crossing the finish line on Boylston Street. Two years later, I was headed back to Boston to show the course that I was ready to take it on – and with a vengeance.
