No cars, adoring fans, Wellesley girls, Wellesley sloppy seconds, thirds, fourths. No clocks, lead vehicle, medals, and space blankets. No runners in costumes with their gimmicks. No nothing but me, bliss, and 10+ runners running THE most historic 26.2 miles of road this side of Athens on New Year's morning 2011.
(Like bandits in the night)
Setting off from Hopkinton at 6:10AM were myself, Reno, Gary Allen, Jim Garcia, Steve Peckiconis, Blaine Moore, and a few others.
The combined running wisdom in this group totaled 200+ years, so I spent the majority of the run just listening and absorbing their stories and tips pertaining to running Boston. It was like "sitting" through a how-to-conquer Boston clinic with the most knowledgeable teachers. Plus, it was free!
The weather was unusually and relatively mild with the temps in the mid 30's at the start, and climbing all the way to the mid 40's when we finished 3+ hours later.
The pace was nice and relaxed with most of us staying together and crossing the halfway mark in 1 hr 41 mins.
(Mile 11)
Gary McNamee joined us a little after the half, but he was on his Segway, which was mounted with a steadicam. He was out here recording the course for a project he is currently working on. It was a pretty wild scene by the time we got into Boston proper.
But before we got there though, Reno and Gary decided to go for the kill after the hills of Newton (just kidding, we were just feeling pretty good and it really didn't feel like sub 7's at that point). I just hung on for dear life over the next four miles as we came down Comm Ave with hardly a Masshole around to scream at us.
The First Night party-goers were just waking up from their stupors when here comes a man on a Segway filming three runners flying down Comm Ave like it was the 115th running. Is this for real?
(yep)
It felt real to me.
There was the iconic Citgo sign off in the distance, and the changing streetlights as far as the eye could see.
Into the Comm Ave tunnel we went, popping up on the other side before making the well-known right onto Hereford.
I've cramped up here many times in the past, but today was different. I felt free and loose. I was actually a little sad that the run was less than 1/4th of a mile from the end.
I shook hands with Gary and Reno before we all pulled up one step shy of the official finish line on Boylston St.
We'll save that final step for April 18th.
("Fun" run splits)
1 comments:
Thanks for coming out, it was a lot of fun!
I also felt that there was no need for going sub-7 at any point given my current health and goals, so I let you guys go.
(I'll admit, the low-7s I did wind up running left me a bit tired - a long run of 11 miles in the last 3 months didn't really prepare me for hammering up Heartbreak Hill or back down the far side, heheh.)
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