So exactly 1 week from today I will be out pounding the pavement, making my way from Hopkinton, Mass. all the way back to Boston. My wave starts at 10:40 am, so I will be almost an hour into the run at this point.
One thing about Boston that is different from all other marathons is they bus you 26.2 miles outside the city, and then you have to run back to Boston. It is quite intimidating the first time you have to do it, because it makes the distance feel that much farther. You run through 7 towns before getting back to Boston: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesly, Newton, and then Brookline.
The whole race is a non-stop adrenaline rush because there are crowds cheering the entire way, but some of the most exhilarating moments are the screaming Wellesely students near mile 13, the crazy Boston College student cheering near mile 21 (they will offer you a beer), and then the Dana Farber cheering squad at mile 25 near the Citgo sign. In fact the entire final 5 miles is just non-stop crowds and cheering. No matter how bad you are feeling at that point (and usually its pretty bad), you can't help but get pumped up by the energy. The absolute toughest part of the race is 1/2 way between miles 20 & 21: Heartbreak Hill, yes, that is the name. The hill itself is not so bad on a normal day, it just happens to come at the one part of the race where the last thing you want to be doing is running up hill.
I'll post some of my favorite picture in my post tomorrow...but for now I have attached a link the official course map so you can see the points I mentioned: Link to map of Boston Marathon
One thing about Boston that is different from all other marathons is they bus you 26.2 miles outside the city, and then you have to run back to Boston. It is quite intimidating the first time you have to do it, because it makes the distance feel that much farther. You run through 7 towns before getting back to Boston: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesly, Newton, and then Brookline.
The whole race is a non-stop adrenaline rush because there are crowds cheering the entire way, but some of the most exhilarating moments are the screaming Wellesely students near mile 13, the crazy Boston College student cheering near mile 21 (they will offer you a beer), and then the Dana Farber cheering squad at mile 25 near the Citgo sign. In fact the entire final 5 miles is just non-stop crowds and cheering. No matter how bad you are feeling at that point (and usually its pretty bad), you can't help but get pumped up by the energy. The absolute toughest part of the race is 1/2 way between miles 20 & 21: Heartbreak Hill, yes, that is the name. The hill itself is not so bad on a normal day, it just happens to come at the one part of the race where the last thing you want to be doing is running up hill.
I'll post some of my favorite picture in my post tomorrow...but for now I have attached a link the official course map so you can see the points I mentioned: Link to map of Boston Marathon
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