Marathon #2 - Boston

There’s no short version of this. Too bad.

On September 23rd, 2007, I ran my first marathon, the Omaha Marathon, and qualified for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:22:40. I only needed a 3:40:00 for my age group, so that was completely taken care of.

Well here we are, just shy of 7 months later, and I can now consider myself part of the official finishers of the Boston Marathon. Medal and all.



Phillip and I flew into Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday, April 19th. We checked out our rental car and drove to the hotel. Once we got all checked in there and unloaded our bags, we decided to go for one last run. Phillip changed his clothes, got his garmin, and headed out the door for his 4 miles. I opted for the treadmill to run my last 5 miles before the marathon. Later that afternoon, after we had showered and eaten, Phillip and I drove over to Hopkinton to view the race course. It was a beautiful day!! We got to see the entire set up for the marathon, and even got to walk right over the start line. Phillip got pictures of me, both at the start line and standing by the flame.









That night, I did not sleep at all. I woke up every couple of hours, and one of the times I woke up I could not get my bearings. I didn’t know where I was, or where the bathroom was, and I had to really concentrate on what was going on. I finally figured out where I was, went to the bathroom and got back into bed, only to wake up again a couple of hours later thinking I would be running the marathon that morning! Arggh!

The next day Phillip, my dad, and I drove down to Boston to watch the Olympic Trials. We didn’t get there until 8:30 am, so they had already begun. No problem, though, we just wanted to get a glimpse of them and eventually see who won. Almost immediately, I received a text message from Roots, to whom I had sent my phone number prior to the trip. He told me where they (he, Flounder, and SisterGoldenHair) were standing, watching the trials, and Phillip, my dad, and I made our way over to find them. It was awesome finally meeting up with them! We got pictures, all of us, and luckily, my dad was there so we could all get in the picture.



Everyone asked me what my strategy was for the next day—uhh…I don’t know? Yeah, I had no idea. I just knew I wanted to be at the halfway point by no sooner than 1:32. Yep, so that’s it. That’s my strategy. And I wouldn’t be wearing the garmin. So, I was going to rely only on feel. And my Timex for my splits.

After the trials my dad, Phillip, and I went to the expo for my bib # and other goodies. I picked up my shirt and bib #, a poster, and bought a Boston Marathon Adidas jacket, Adidas wind pants, and Adidas shorts. Haha, I really overdid it on the merchandise apparel. But dammit, I earned it! BUT—then I thought about how unhappy I would feel if, after I bought all those products, I didn’t finish…I was extremely worried about the race, at that point.

We left the expo around mid-evening, just in time to go pick up some food, head back to the hotel, shower and eat before we finally settled into bed.

The weirdest thing about this marathon, compared to my other marathon, is that the night before this one I actually slept more than 3 hours. Phillip and I went to bed around 10:00 pm, and I think I immediately fell asleep. Hard to imagine, considering how freaking nervous I have been for months and months…our alarms (one on the phone, one on the actual alarm clock, and a wake-up call) were set for 5:00 am. I planned to get up, brush my teeth, drink my normal 32 oz. of water that I drink every morning, and wait until 6:30 am to roll around. At 6:15 am, Phillip went downstairs and started the rental car. I could hardly muster a word I was such a complete bundle of nerves. I was literally shaking.

Because we stayed in Westborough, just 30 minutes from the starting line, we had an easy time driving over that morning. We took a back road, and there were no cars anywhere in sight. We had to get to Hopkinton by 7:30 am because at that time all roads into Hopkinton would be closed. The time was only 7:00 am when we arrived in Hopkinton, and we had to drive around to look for parking. We had planned to park close to the corrals and as soon as my corral was released, I would just go and jump right in. Around 7:30 am, we finally found a place to park in the parking lot of a church just a few hundred feet from the corrals. There were port-a-johns in the parking lot, so that would be completely convenient. My bib number was 9170, so my corral was 9. Where we had parked was right on the other side of a building from it!

And it’s a good thing they were that close because we sat there for 2 hours, and I think I visited those port-a-johns at least 3 or 4 times.



Had I been in the “Athlete Village” I would have been released at 9:20 am, so around 9:15 am me, Phillip, my dad, and my brother walked over to the corrals. I got into the corral and stood there, waiting on it to fill up. It was full within a minute.





John Kerry was there—I think he was involved with the race somehow, I forget—and I actually saw him walk by! He walked right by me, as though it was Phillip walking by me. That’s how close he was. It was pretty interesting because I think that is the closest I have ever been to someone famous. Anyway, back to the story. There were all these athletes around me that had qualified in the same time I had, and they were all older than me, it seemed like. There was a woman and a man directly behind me to my left, and they were talking about how much fun the race was going to be. I asked them what their goal was. “To finish, and to have fun.” I said, “Hmm, maybe I should hang with you guys…” The woman said, “Yes! You should. You earned it.” I asked them how many times they had run the Boston Marathon and they both said this would be their first time. They asked me, I told them it was my second marathon and first Boston, and they said I was lucky, that it usually takes at least a couple of attempts for someone to qualify.

And then it was announced that the race was about to start. The gun was fired and we started moving forward…S L O W L Y…I kept talking to those two people, and after some time we got to the clock. It had been 10 minutes exactly. So, the gun time would be 10 minutes slower than my actual race time. No big deal, easy enough to figure out. I started my watch for the first lap and I was off.

I had been telling myself repeatedly that I needed to start off on a slow foot, not push through the first mile. It was supposedly all down hill, and from looking at the racecourse the day before, I knew it. So, I decided to take it E A S Y.

I took it easy, all right. It’s not like it was hard, though. There were so many people. Ridiculous amounts of people. I have never raced under those kinds of conditions, and it is definitely a lot harder to make your way through when there are people EVERYWHERE. When I looked up at the mile marker, which came very fast, actually, I hit my lap button. Whoa!!

Mile 1 – 7:53 (sound familiar?)

Interesting. I actually paced myself correctly down the hill. I knew I needed to speed it up a little, though, or I wouldn’t be able to make it up later. I just kept running through the mass of people, trying not to bob and weave and lose too much energy. I ended up doing pretty well because, once the second mile came up and I pushed the lap button again, I noticed I was getting just a little faster. Good. No problem making up the time from then on.

Mile 2 – 7:22

From that point on, it got really hot. At race start it was foggy and overcast, probably right around 50 degrees. But once the gun went off, the sun came out, and during the entire flat(ter) portion of the race (mile 3 through probably mile 15) it was HOT. I actually have pretty bad sunburn on the entire right side of my body. I saw so many people drinking water at mile 3, some already taking Gu and Powergel. Not a good sign. I just kept running, wondering if the race would end up turning into a Chicago Marathon type situation. I hoped not.

Mile 3 – 7:13

Okay, time to step it up and get busy, I decided. People weren’t clearing out, that’s for sure, but I needed to get around some of them or I would never get anywhere. For the next 10 miles, all I did was concentrate on maneuvering around the slow people, dodging water stations and people throwing cups, and feeling my way through the race, making sure to keep a steady, easy pace, one that wasn’t going to kill me in the end. I made it my goal to keep track of my splits, too, because I knew that would get me through the race. It did in the Omaha Marathon. I also thought about all of my family and friends watching the 5k splits, and I wondered what everyone was thinking as I crossed each of those mats.

Mile 4 – 6:53
Mile 5 – 7:09

About this time, I started noticing the difference in my quads. They were like, “what the F was all that down hill about?”

Mile 6 – 7:05
Mile 7 – 6:55
Mile 8 – 6:57
Mile 9 – 6:58
Mile 10 – 7:05

Around the 10th mile, I started feeling like I was losing energy? Maybe? So I decided it might be time to take the Gu I had in my shorts. I took it out, ripped it open, and swallowed it down, just in time to see a water station. I grabbed a cup, drank a few drops down, and kept on going. Maybe it made a difference, maybe it didn’t. I don’t know.

Mile 11 – 7:01
Mile 12 – 6:57
Mile 13 – 7:00

At some point during those miles, I noticed a girl running around the same pace as I was, trying to just get out of everyone’s way and keep running. She had “English” on her back. Phillip told me later that he saw her in my corral before the race. I asked her what she was trying for. She said between a 3:15 and a 3:20. I told her I was trying for around the same, and she said, “Do you want to see my splits?” They were written on her arm in marker. I told her no, that I was doing ok. We came upon a water station at that point, and we got split up. I never saw her again.

All along the way, and I know this is probably repetitive for you people reading who have already run Boston, there were so many people playing music, playing the drums and the guitar, handing out water, icees, orange slices, bananas, soda?, candy, anything with sugar. It was so bizarre. I never even thought about that kind of thing happening. I didn’t get anything, just kept running.

Mile 14 – 7:10
Mile 15 – 7:06
Mile 16 – 7:04

I slapped as many kid’s hands as I could—it kept me going. Really. It was such a nice feeling to know that these kids were spending their morning out there cheering runners on, and for no reason other than that, they were just excited to be there. I also heard, “Go team Nebraska!!!” more times than I can count. Speaking of which, it was about the time the hills started, mile 17, that I noticed people walking, all kinds of runners. Guys who looked like they were in GREAT shape. They just couldn’t do it. I ran past them, and at this point, the passing began. I passed literally THOUSANDS of people in the next 9.2 miles. Between mile 16 and 17 people were also handing out Powergel in all flavors, and at this point, I picked up a couple, making a mental note to take the next one at mile 20. I don’t know why; it just seemed like a good idea. I put one in my shorts and carried one in my hand.

Mile 17 – 7:23
Mile 18 – 7:17
Mile 19 – 7:08
Mile 20 – 7:12

At Mile 20, I took the Powergel I had in my hand. Again, don’t know if it helped, but whatever. I don’t train with those things so I don’t know what it feels like to know if they boost your energy or not. It was also at this point when I really started looking around. There were literally 2 women near. It remained that way for the rest of the race. There were just women sprinkled (if you could even call it that) through the remaining few runners I was passing. I passed so many people. I passed people walking, passing out, laying on the ground, stopping to stretch, everything. I just kept on running.

Mile 21 – 7:24
Mile 22 – 6:59
Mile 23 – 7:12
Mile 24 – 7:02
Mile 25 – 7:13 (I know that Heartbreak Hill is supposed to be the hardest, but the hill at this mile is CLEARLY difficult after you’ve been running first down hill and then back up. I thought this hill was the hardest; the other ones were like running in Omaha)

I turned the corner onto Boylston Street, the last stretch before the finish. I saw the finish line, the balloons and big sign saying, “FINISH,” and it was like hearing music. I could feel the energy building. I ran as fast as I could, which probably wasn’t very fast, and tried to reach that finish line. I knew I could make it. I heard my name—looked to the right—it was Phillip, my dad, and my brother!!! Another boost of energy. I felt like I was high. I could see all these people on both sides of the street in stands, thousands of them, yelling, screaming, forcing us to the finish. It was AWESOME.

In the end, I only noticed two people pass by me. They must have been holding out for the fast finish. I was doing just fine. I felt wonderful just to be there! It was everything they said it would be.

Mile 26 and .2 – 8:38

I made my way through the finish line, held my hands up, and after crossing the line, slowed down to a stop. I was finished. My legs were crying, especially my quads. I walked, slowly, to the water station ahead and grabbed a water bottle from the nearest person. Walked some more and let them place a heat sheet around me. I’ve never had that before, and I remembered what someone told me way before going to this race—“let them treat you like you deserve to be treated. Let them do all they can for you. That’s why they’re there.” Walked some more and noticed the chips were being taken off. I bent over as much as I could and untied my shoe. Then I had to stand there!! (it hurt so bad) and let the woman take my chip off my shoe and retie it. Then she placed my medal around my head…



Eventually I found the “J” and there were Phillip, my dad, and my brother!! I just fell into Phillip’s arms I was so exhausted. My legs were going nowhere, so we sat on the sidewalk. That felt soooo good. (I should have done that right after I finished. I think it would have been a better idea.)

After I got my bearings and could stand up, we started walking the two blocks to the car. Along the way I told Phillip I should probably call Will, my team president. He was in Boston for the trials, and I knew he was at the marathon, but I didn’t know if he knew anything about times or anything.

We were about halfway to the car when—aaaaccckkk! Who do we run into? Will! He gave me a huge hug and said he was so proud of me, saying that he wanted a picture. We got one, talked a while longer, and then kept going.



So, I’m sure that by this time you all want this thing to end. Soon, I promise.

That night I just showered and sat around the hotel room and relaxed, wearing my Boston Marathon Adidas pants (guess they were worth it after all).

Skip forward to the plane ride home—we sat next to a guy on the plane who, long story short, works for a company called Elite Racing. Apparently, the company is based out of the UK and recruits elite athletes for the Rock N’ Roll Marathons, and they are right now working on getting their own standards made. The guy asked how I did in the marathon, and Phillip told him all about my race and my racing past, and the guy asked him for my email address. He gave us his email address and asked us to keep in touch, saying that he wanted us to keep him informed on my future races so that if their standards equal mine, we could get something going. I’ll let Phillip explain further on that, if anyone cares. But holy crap!! Phillip said he feels like my manager, haha.

Official time:
3:07:24
101st AG (18 – 34)
2017/21963 OA
124/8935 OA Woman

This is also a 15:16 PR, and based on my half time of 1:33:18, while it is a positive split, it is only by 44 seconds. I can’t even believe it. At Boston. The entire second half is hills?!


As for now, I feel very sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I’m sure it will be a few days before I start running again, and even then it will be really easy paces. Who knows what is in the future—according to Will, it’s going to be Twin Cities, and that’s great. All I know is, I could use a flat race.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot—I guess all of my treadmill training, training sans hills, and training wearing Nikes is doing me absolutely NO good.