Is Boston the Best Marathon?
This interactive Boston Marathon blog will answer the following questions:
What’s the biggest bonehead move someone can make at the start of a marathon?
Where was Waldo?
How long does it take a wheelchair racer with cerebral palsy to finish a marathon?
Can a man’s nipples bleed in a marathon?
Is Heartbreak Hill really that heartbreaking?
What big mistake did I make?
Why did my arms cramp at the end of a marathon?
What’s better, the crowds at Wellesley or Boston College?
Is Boston the best marathon?
Before I answer the first question, some logistical information about getting to the starting line. After a hearty breakfast, some friends and I walked about 1.5 miles and arrived at the meeting place at 7:30 a.m. to board buses that took us to the Athlete’s Village near the starting line in Hopinkton. The buses departed a few minutes before 8. We arrived at the village at 9:15. Another half-mile walk led us to a bathroom break and some final preparations took an hour, then we made the 10-minute walk to the starting area. We crossed the start line at about 10:45.
Which brings me to the bonehead scenario. Police wisely positioned themselves sporadically along the streets in Hopinkton to, among others, prevent runners from urinating on the lawn’s of the town’s residents and too close to the streets. About one mile from the start, one runner decided to defy the authorities. A police officer rushed over, grabbed him and asked him to stop.
The startled runner stared at the officer and then pulled out of his grasp to walk back to the race. The officer walked after him and loudly asked him to stop. The runner then started to run, prompting a chase by the now irritated officer, who ran him down and physically forced him off the course as startled runners kept moving.
I wondered if the runner caused his early exit from probably the most difficult marathon in which to gain entry. I wondered if he was detained. And if he had waited another half mile where unguarded wooded areas began, he would have been freer to achieve relief.
Where was Waldo? On a lighter note, as I ran through Natick at about mile 10 I spotted a young man sitting in a chair dressed in what I thought was a Santa Claus suit. It turns out he was playing the part of Waldo, and he informed me that I had just found the children’s book character who is difficult to find among many other characters in drawings.
How long does it take a disabled wheelchair racer to finish the marathon - I caught up to Jason Pisano at about mile 11. He sat in a wheelchair facing me as I approached him. Pisano has cerebral palsy and pushed a wheelchair at a snails pace up a hill with his right foot which he pressed against the ground. Each push moved him a few inches. Two guides walked with Pisano, who is a member of the Achilles Track Club that helps disabled athletes compete in road races.
The latest time check registered for Pisano told that he reached the half marathon at 4:36.11. His projected time was over nine hours, but there was no official indication that he finished the race. He has completed dozens of marathons, including previous races in Boston, in under nine hours. I didn’t notice how he managed to control his wheelchair going downhill, but he must make up some time on the descents. I wondered how he avoids hurting himself during the downhills.
I tried to use the vision of Pisano struggling up those hills to help me get through the last few miles of the race when it felt as if could not release the tenacious vice grip that held a firm hold on my quads. But there’s only so much your mind and emotions can do to propel a glycogen depleted body to move forward at a desired pace.
Can a man’s nipples bleed in a marathon? Yes, they can. I saw small evidence of that when a fellow runner showed me his shirt after he completed the race Monday. He applied wax but no adhesive bandages.
Friday night, as I dined with my wife in Boston, we talked with a woman who had run about a dozen marathons as she sat next to us at the restaurant bar. She told the uncomfortable tale of the time her husband failed to apply any protection over his nipples during his first marathon. She started to see the blood that nearly soaked his entire shirt at about mile 12, at which time her husband understandably complained of severe discomfort. They managed to apply band-aids donated from a spectator, but that helped only minimally. The damage had already been done.
In Boston I wore round adhesive bandages that worked splendidly.
Is Heartbreak Hill really a heartbreak? – Heartbreak Hill just past mile 20 holds a bit of hype. Maybe we should call it Heartache Hill because it leads to a more severe pain soon after clearing it. The descent after peaking it creates more discomfort. And a shorter but steeper incline that begins just past mile 19 was more challenging.
My quads started to tense uncomfortably shortly after starting the descent off of Heartbreak Hill, slowing my pace considerably. By mile 23, I was forced to walk and run to the finish. I tried once to stretch my left quad, only to cause a crippling cramp to both the quad and hamstring.
At mile 25 I seriously wondered if I would be limited to walking across the finish line, something I swore earlier I would not do. The cacophonous, thick crowd that lined the streets the last couple of miles could inspire any physically stifled runner to summon whatever energy that remained. I jogged painfully across the line in 4:39, feeling relief with some euphoria but disappointment that I did not run faster.
Biggest mistake – My running partner TK and I comfortably covered the first half of the race in just over 10-minute per mile pace. But I felt antsy, and picked up the pace thereafter. My competitive nature took over. I thought I could break four hours. My plan was to run a nine or 9:30 pace to the finish. Ha. How naive.
I wanted to run that pace through Heartbreak Hill and then assess my physical condition. A piercing pain shot through my left groin at about mile 17, but I relaxed and kept running through the hill except to stop and take some photos.
Once past the hill, I tried to open up my stride and take advantage of most of the upcoming declines. But my legs did not cooperate.
I was silly to think that I could pick up the pace from miles 14 to 20 on the way to cruising the last few miles. And I crossed the line only five minutes ahead of TK, who maintained the steady but slower pace and avoided the quad cramps and prolonged walking stretches at the end of the race. Such are the lessons learned of a first time marathoner.
Why did my arms cramp at the end of a marathon? - I guess it happens because my arms remained in a flexed position for more than fours hours. But it took me by complete surprise. I had never experienced such discomfort in my arms before when running and it humbled me considerably. I later found out that some other runner endured the same pain.
What’s better, the crowds at Wellesley College or Boston College – A friend who has run Boston several times told me how the crowds at Wellesley College at about the midpoint of the race in the past allowed a narrow lane through their streets, similar to a Tour de France race. He also recounted the time a friend of his cleverly threw his business cards into the crowd, prompting a few callbacks from the coeds.
Security barriers now keep the students off the street. They were loud and energetic, leaning over as far as they could on the barriers to offer a slapping hand. But the crowds near the college were thin and the students seemed caged in, resulting in a runner-up finish to the rowdies at Boston College.
The BC boys and girls elicited a rave-like energy and intensity, and it came at the perfect place, just after mile 20, when runners “hit the wall”. They provided a surreal surge of enthusiasm for about 10 minutes, offering much needed emotional assistance at a crucial part of the race.
Is Boston the beast marathon? – As a first-time marathoner, my opinion will lack the best comparative perspective. But it’s hard to imagine a marathon that offers the combination of spectator support, history and challenge as this race.
At least 90 percent of the course provided strong crowd support, a remarkable accomplishment considering it is a point-to point race with no switchbacks. And days before the race, the runner’s pride permeated the downtown area near the finish as they reveled in the fact that they were about to run in the 112th race.The crowds that packed the streets through most of the last two miles of the course were truly inspiring. The uplifting mass of humanity that crowds that last half-mile can cure any crippling muscular discomfort and push a runner past their limitations to cross the finish line in at least a slow jog.
And I chuckled at the two young men who dressed as beer kegs.
Many people told me that the race is mostly downhill and that the first four miles of slight declines creates a false sense of discomfort that can create problems later on. The course does end some 400 feet lower than at the start, but rolling hills are rampant throughout the course, providing a subtle and continuous challenge.
The course was more difficult than anticipated, making the experience that much more rewarding.