This is the second of a series of posts from my friends who attended Boston this year and who were willing to write about the experiences. This one is from my friend, Geoff Rook, who runs with me (when he is out for an easy day) on Team Playmakers. He is a master's runner, but one who has no intentions of slowing down. Here is his story.
I started running marathons last year with the intent to run
the Boston Marathon. I was inspired mostly by my friend Rob who had run it
several times. I love running with Rob. We match pace and distance quite well,
and I thought that with a little hard work I could make it to Boston. I missed
Boston Qualification (BQ) on my first marathon, Kalamazoo, by just 16 seconds.
Four weeks later I improved my time by about 1-1/2 minutes at Bayshore and got
my BQ. I couldn't wait to apply for the Boston Marathon, and I was so happy
when I got my acceptance letter. I couldn't wait to experience this event and
earn a Boston Athletic Association jacket and finisher's medal.
For the next few months I absorbed every bit of information
about the Boston Marathon from fellow runners, online videos and articles, and
books. I used the Hanson's Marathon Method advanced training plan and followed
it exactly except for 3 days in week 13 when I had the flu. I completed 845
miles of training, maxing out at 63 miles in week 15. Boston is famous for its
hills, so I included lots of hill repeats on local roads and about 70 loops
around the cemetery hills.
By April 15, I felt I was ready.
We arrived in Hopkinton, where the Start line is located, on
Saturday and took in all of the sights. Everyone is so amazingly polite and
accommodating. The police officer gladly stopped traffic so I could get a
picture standing on the Start line. I took a few more pictures, scoped out the
Athlete's Village at the middle school, then proceeded to drive the course. The
roads are typical New England, usually narrow, winding curves, and gently
rolling hills. None of the hills seemed all that bad, particularly the famously
named Heartbreak Hill.
We walked for miles at the Expo on Saturday. It’s rows and
rows of runner candy: socks, rollers, shoes, clothes, gadgets, and advertising
for other races. One I found interesting is Gasparilla. Their medal is a
hinge-jawed pirate skull. I may have to earn one of those next year. Bring a
back pack to hold all the stuff you buy and collect. The gear drop bags you get
in your packet do not hold up well during a day at the expo.
We had a group dinner Saturday night at a nice little
Italian restaurant near Kate and Mark’s hotel in the North End. Angela Lett,
one of our fellow team mates that recently moved back to Boston, met us there.
After dinner she introduced us to a Boston tradition of cannolis at Mike’s
Pastries. The line was very long but moved quickly. The cannolis were huge and
delicious. Those have carbs, right?
Sunday I was back at the Expo but spent most of my time off
my feet at several seminars. I encourage you to go to all of them. The speakers
are awesome, and you can learn a great deal about the Boston Marathon and
running in general. It’s so cool just to be in the same room with them. I met
Bart Yasso and was really impressed with David McGillivray, the race director.
Monday started at 5:00am with oatmeal, a banana and some
Gatorade for breakfast. I had laid out all my running gear the night before
which calmed my nerves, helped me sleep, and made it easy to get ready in the
dark so as not to wake my son who came with me to Boston. I met Lynn in the
hotel lobby and we made our way by train to the Duke Hutchinson coach buses on
Vassar St near MIT. Rex was also on our bus and we made several new running
friends on the trip to the Start in Hopkinton.
Race weather was near-perfect. About 45 degrees and sunny,
rising to about 55 during the race until the cooler bay breeze hit you closer
to the finish downtown. We stayed on the bus until our wave was ready to
assemble. I made it a half mile walk down Grove St from Athlete’s Village to
the Start corrals with only minutes to spare before we started running.
The race went by so quickly for me. I feel like I missed so
much. The crowd support is beyond amazing. For the entire 26.2 miles the crowds
were never less than 2 deep. Lots of cowbells, cheering, and kids giving out
high-fives. At someone’s suggestion, I put my name on my shirt. It’s incredible
how it feels to have so many people cheering for you by name. The Girls of
Wellesley were everything I had read about, and their cheers are deafening. I
ran a long line of high-fives with them and with the Boston College students
farther down the course.
I was able to maintain a very steady pace the entire race,
fading only once that I can remember. I think it was more a loss of
concentration due to the crowds, rather than muscle weakness. I charged up
every hill with no problem. I started slowing on down hills due to muscle
fatigue as the marathon wore on. I had great surges of energy in the later
miles and sprinted down Boylston to the Finish line. I managed to finish with a
time of 3:29:25 which qualifies me for next year’s Boston Marathon.
After crossing the finish line the crowd of runners brings
the pace to a slow walk as we get a Mylar blanket, a finisher’s medal, banana
and bottle of water. Then I had to walk a few blocks to find the bus that had
my drop bag. I put my sweat pants and hoodie on to keep warm then walked a few
more blocks to the Family Reunion area to meet up with my son, Gary.
I wanted to meet up with Kate and Lynn as they finished
their race. We met Mark, Kate’s husband, and were looking for Kate when we
heard a loud boom nearby. My first thought was an industrial or construction
accident, but when the second explosion happened within seconds and the city
was flooded with sirens, I knew something bad had happened. We found Kate
shortly after that and tried to make sense of everything among the chaos. A
young woman was crying and asked to use my phone. It was nearly impossible to
make calls due to volume, but texting and internet seemed unaffected. I posted
updates to Facebook and responded to texts as quickly as possible to let people
know we were okay. We were about 2-3 blocks away on a side street so we could
not see how bad it was. Someone said “They blew up the Finish line.” We finally
got word that Lynn and his wife Christine, and Rex and his wife Tori, were okay
then began a long walk to Kate and Mark’s hotel in the North End. It was
absolutely surreal to watch the events unfold on TV at their hotel.
With the chaos and disruption, Gary and I finally got back
to our hotel around 6:00pm. We walked for miles to find a train station that
was open that could get us back to the hotel. The city was still very alive
with sirens, groups of police walking everywhere, and speeding emergency
vehicles. Once I got my phone recharged back at our hotel I was overwhelmed
with the number of voice mail messages, texts, and Facebook posts from
concerned friends, relatives and co-workers. So many people were tracking my
race progress through automatic texts as I crossed timing mats along the course
so they knew I had finished but weren’t sure if I had gone back to watch
friends finish the race.
I have so many emotions about the entire day: the race, the
bombing, family, friends, the people of Boston, the victims. It will take a
long time to get over the bad feelings. Two weeks after the race I am finally
feeling better and more proud to wear my Boston Marathon jacket. At first I
felt like I did not want strangers to know I ran the marathon. Most people only
wanted to know about the bombing. Now that the suspects have been caught I can
turn the focus on what an amazing event it is and how hard I worked to earn
that jacket and medal. There are still things that trigger very strong sad
emotions but time heals all wounds.
There are so many people who inspired me in so many ways.
Several people from our local running group, Team Playmakers, hosted a
pre-marathon celebration for the four of us from the group that were going to
Boston. I asked everyone to sign one of my team tech shirts that I would then
wear during the marathon. I thought about each message throughout the race.
I dedicated each one of the miles to specific people and
groups of people since I have so many cherished friends. Here are just a few
highlights of that process. Mike and Lynn introduced me to Team Playmakers at
my third 5K race. Mike beat me by one second at that race so I ran mile 1 for
him. Lynn has been an awesome coach and friend and I ran mile 2 with him in
mind. Janet could have quit after a 5K (3.1 miles) but has transformed into a
running and exercise machine with amazing results. I ran mile 3 for her. Tina
got Heartbreak Hill. Michelle was mile
18, my slowest mile (sorry Michelle). Rob was mile 24 for pushing me to go the
distance. My mantra was “just another run with Rob” during that mile. My Dad
was mile 25. I miss him so much and fought back tears during that mile. Mile 26
was mine. I earned it. The last 385 yards down Boylston, my fastest pace the
entire race, was for Theresa for being there during all my training and at the
Finish line for my first two important marathons. She’s running her first
marathon in May 2013. Good luck and enjoy every minute of it. The list goes on
and on and I’m sorry if I did not name everyone individually but you were all a
big part of it.
My first Boston Marathon was an experience I will never
forget for so many reasons. I can't wait to do it again next year. And the next
year. And the next year…
Related Posts:
Perspectives on Boston: Part 1
My Thoughts on Boston 2013
Related Posts:
Perspectives on Boston: Part 1
My Thoughts on Boston 2013
Another amazing story! mrm
ReplyDeleteThanks.....great read...teary, even.
ReplyDelete