![]() ![]() The word of the day was “survival.” 2018 Boston Marathon Race Map Miles 1-11 The weather was 38 degrees, raining, and we would be running into a headwind for 26 miles I could see my breath. At 10:22, I stripped off my sweats and got ready to go. I was shepherded into my corral, Corral 1 in Wave 2, where we had to wait another 15-20 minutes before our wave started at 10:25am. Everyone was still wearing their disposable sweats and rain ponchos, and some people even chose to begin the race in their pre-race gear. We were not warm, and now, we weren’t that dry. The walk was unpleasant-wind, rain, cold. ![]() We chatted for quite some time and had a nice conversation before we headed out for the 0.7 mile walk to the starting corrals. This was his 8 th consecutive Boston Marathon, and he’d already qualified for the 2019 race. I sat next to a man from Maryland who works in research and development for a pharmaceutical company. Most people just looked for a small plot of real estate under the tent, pulled their knees toward their chest, and tried to stay warm for an hour and a half. Once we arrived, it was a quarter-mile walk to the Athletes’ Village, a place that is normally buzzing, but on this day, was a muddy mess. The bus ride took about 75 minutes, and as we neared Hopkinton, we saw snow on the ground. He also said that the miles would absolutely fly by. His advice to me was to try to take in the entire experience, don’t spend everything in the first half of the race, and that the hills wouldn’t be that bad. This was his 21st consecutive Boston Marathon. He designed the rockets for the Falcon Heavy project that launched in February. My seat-mate on the bus was an actual rocket scientist who works for Space-X in Los Angeles. Once on the school buses, we were, at least, out of the rain, but the buses were not warm. The walk in the rain and wind made it challenging to keep the poncho hood covering my head and to keep my feet dry. After depositing my warm clothes at the finish line, we walked a little over 0.7 miles to the buses at Boston Common that would drive us to the start line in Hopkinton. I sat next to a gentleman from Ohio who was a CPA and enjoying not doing people’s taxes the weekend before they were due. The temperature was 35 degrees with a steady rain and 20 mph wind. On Marathon Monday, I woke up at 5 a.m., got dressed, gathered my belongings, and headed to the train station across the street from my hotel to head to the finish line and drop off my gear. I tried to go to sleep early, around 8:30 p.m., but didn’t really fall asleep until almost 11 p.m. We went to the Marathon Expo, picked up my bib and race packet, did a little shopping, and headed back to the hotel to rest for the race the following day. The temperature hung around 32 degrees all day, with light snow flurries and a powerful wind that brought the wind chill down to 20 degrees. We went to the Paul Revere House, among other sights, and enjoyed a reasonably good day of weather. We spent Saturday, April 14, exploring and walking around Boston. My legs felt strong and I was excited about running. I arrived in Boston, with my wife, healthy and injury-free. Leading up to the race, which was on April 16, I’d already run close to 750 miles for the calendar year. I guess I should start with the days before the race…Ĭlick the image below to watch Heine cross the finish line. While I’m not feeling depressed, I’m still coming to terms with where I’ve gone on this process. Training for and running a marathon is an experience that is difficult to describe, and once it is over, it is easy to fall into a bit of a depression, as the monumental task has finally been accomplished. ![]()
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