I ran my first marathon just a year and a half ago in St. George, Utah. For years I had seen my mom train for different races, and I always told myself that I would never do what she did.
I didn't want to have to run for three hours on Saturdays.
I didn't want to lose toenails.
I didn't want to have to choke down packets of some mucus-like substance labeled as "energy gel" that might provide me with so-called energy during my run, but that would likely upset my bowels for the rest of the day in the process.
13.1 miles was enough. I didn't want to do marathons.
Fast forward to April 2012. I received a phone call from my brother asking if I wanted to sign up for the St. George Marathon. My friend Abby was with me at the time, and she was all for it. Between my brother and Abby, I somehow was convinced to sign up for the lottery to be able to run it.
I mean, after all, it wasn't certain we would even get chosen from the lottery to be able to enter.
Fast forward just a couple of weeks. I am vacationing in southeast Asia with my best friend Katie and her family when when I received the email telling me that indeed, we had all been selected to run the 2012 St. George Marathon (my mom, brother, Abby, and I had all linked our names together so we would either all get selected or none of us would get selected).
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaap.
Anyway, I have already bored you with the post about that marathon.
I thought about running the Boston Marathon in 2013, but decided against it because it was in the middle of my finals for my senior year at BYU and would have been an extremely stressful time to train. The rules for the 2014 Boston Marathon stated that I had to qualify after September of 2012, and as my marathon was October 2012, I was good to run in 2014 if I decided to.
As it turned out, I was grateful for the decision I made not to run in 2013. My family and I were safe from the horrible events that unfolded on race day last year, and I knew that 2014 would be an especially emotional year to run Boston.
My mom, also a runner, has run Boston twice. She decided to accompany me this year not as a participant, but as a spectator.
We flew in Friday night and after dinner in Little Italy, we holed up in our hotel to prepare for a packed solid weekend.
Saturday morning we took the trolley to the marathon expo. When we got off, the finish line was right there, and this is what we saw:
Saturday was dedicated to a tribute run that finished at the Boston Marathon finish line. The tribute run was to honor survivors and first responders from the 2013 marathon bombings.
This particular team is wearing Jess & Patrick shirts. Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes had been married just a few months when they became victims of the bombings at the 2013 marathon, each losing one leg. You can read their full story here.
Naturally, at this sight, my mom and I looked a little like this.
Oh boy, this was going to be an emotional weekend for sure.
A few blocks from the finish line was this firetruck and they were letting people climb the ladder.
At first I felt really dumb when my mom asked me if I wanted to climb it because a lot of the people in line were children under 10, but it was actually super cool.
They also increased the height and slant of the ladder for us, so it was really tall!
We asked this really nice lady to snap some pictures for us. ^^ When do you ever get pictures this amazing when you ask a random stranger to take them for you??
Boston is windy. Who knew?
After some breakfast, we made our way to the expo, where I picked up my number. Mom (aka the freaking paparazzi) insisted on taking pics of everything.
Number 13,645 out of 32,456 people who ran this year.
^^ Just writing my fav saying on the wall of fabric at the expo.
I run Boston. But apparently, we all run Boston so it isn't even a big deal.
^^ story of my life
Getting a good visualization of the finish so I would know exactly how much farther I would have to run on race day.
^^ Boston Common
We got FRIED DOUGH. Literally, the stand called it friend dough. It was sort of like a funnel cake, but BETTER.
^^^ Leave it to the Gunner girls to snap MULTIPLE selfies with their fried dough. YUM.
On Sunday, Mom and I walked the Freedom Trail. It is literally a little brick line all through the city that takes you to some of the historic sites of Boston.
^^^ Enjoying some hot cocoa at Copp's Hill Burying Ground
^^^For those of you who know about my obsession with houses. Hello, dream home.
^^Bunker Hill! We climbed to the top of the monument and it was an amazing view of Boston.
^^ The end of the Freedom Trail
^^Found this place along the way. I wanted to eat here, but as I would be running 26 miles the next day, decided against it. <3 Cheeeeeeeez
Race Day
^^ I met up with my old coworker Amber (right) and a girl named Candace (a fellow Salt Laker whom Amber had met at her hotel that morning). We rode the bus together and hung out in the athlete's village before the race.
Notice my long sleeve shirt in the picture above. Sunday was REALLY COLD in Boston (see pics of me in puffy jacket above) and so I planned to wear long sleeves for race day. Bad idea.
I'm going to give the short scoop on the race. Most of you probably aren't that interested in the actual race anyway.
Miles 1-5
Kept breaking into tears just seeing the support on the sidelines. So many American flags, so many people lined up cheering us on, so many posters referencing pooping your pants. But seriously, how could I not cry when it looked like this:
The course goes through several communities in Boston, and the first part of the course ran through beautiful neighborhoods. The marathon is held on Patriot's Day, which is a huge holiday in Boston (maybe in all of New England... I'm not really sure). But everyone has work and school off so people line up early in the morning to watch the runners and they totally use it as an excuse to party.
Literally, it was 10:30am and I saw a bunch of rowdy boys doing keg stands before I even hit mile 5.
Plenty of people are already offering ice, advil, water, gatorade, and even beer to the runners. I cannot even explain the kind of support the city of Boston offers the marathoners! I am bummed I didn't get pictures. Literally people were lining the entire 26.2 mile course, right from the beginning.
Miles 5-10
It is HOT. I can't think of anything but how hot this stupid long sleeve shirt is. What was I thinking??
I was carrying my cell phone in a small fanny pack my mom had loaned me. I called her and told her she needed to have a tank top ready for me when she saw me at mile 17, where she had planned to spectate during the race.
Miles 10-15
We pass Wellesley College- an all-female university. This section would have been great if I were at all interested in women.
I am pretty sure the entire student body is lining the course just outside of their campus. Each girl is holding a sign saying "Kiss me, I _______." The blanks varied from "I'm Irish" to "I play video games."
Probably my favorite poster I saw out of all of the posters at Wellesley was "Sorry Dad, I'm drunk again."
Miles 15-17
I work on unpinning my number from my shirt so I can throw that long-sleeved piece of crap to my mom the second I see her.
These miles are going by so slow. I will never make it to Mom.
FINALLY I see her and the second I get to her I tear off the stupid turtleneck I have been wearing and hand it to her. I don't even take the tank top she offers me because the thought of running in anything more than my sports bra sounds like hell to me at this point. She helps me pin my number on my shorts.
I ditch the fanny pack too. She gives me some encouragement and says she will see me again at mile 25.
Miles 17-18
The worst time of my life. I realize I have given my mom the fanny pack which contained my energy chews. Most energy supplements completely destroy my stomach, so I have very specific ones that I like to use, and naturally, none of them were being offered along the course.
I realize I am going to have to take something if I want to finish the race, so I grab a PowerBar PowerGel pack offered to me about a half a mile later. As I eat it, I think "This is going to be bad news for my bowels." *Sidenote- it actually turned out to be ok. I didn't feel like I was going to poop my pants until AFTER the race, and I had plenty of time to make it to a bathroom once I had finished running.
Miles 18-21
Boston marathoners always talk about "Heartbreak Hill" but they don't talk about the 15 hills that slowly chisel away at your heart before the one at mile 21 actually shatters it into a million pieces.
My mile times drag. I stop at every water station and walk while drinking one cup of Gatorade and dumping a water cup on my head. Literally, every station. I feel like this race will never end.
Miles 21-25
The PowerGel finally kicks in, and I have a renewed sense of energy. Realizing I only have about 40 more minutes of running ahead of me, I pick up my pace and feed off the energy of the crowds. By now, the crowds are about 5 people deep lining every inch of the course. I cannot even explain the emotions I was feeling! I high-five the spectators and let out a few "woo-hoo!" shouts.
At mile 25 I see my mom again. She yells my name and waves, but there are so many people around her and it is so loud that I can barely hear her and I don't even know what she said to me. One mile left.
Mile 26
Not to get all cheesy, but I start to think about what happened last year. I think of the emotions I felt as I learned about the bombings. I can still remember, I was at work when I heard. I thought about the bad: the people who died, the people who were injured, the chaos at the finish line, the fact that thousands of runners who had dreamt about crossing the finish line at Boston were not able to do so.
But then, I thought about the good. I thought of the medical personnel who did not even hesitate to think of their own safety and who saved countless lives through their quick response. I thought about the people who let runners into their homes to help them get warm. The spectators who didn't have any medical knowledge but assisted when the situation called for it. I thought of the "Boston Strong" posters, the American flags, the survivors who were there spectating (and even participating!) this year.
And that is what got me through the last mile. While I had bawled several times along the course, now there was nothing but elation. I couldn't stop smiling as I looked around at everything. I sprinted in to the finish and gave another huge "WOOHOOOOOO!" as I crossed the finish line.
Shortly after, I was able to locate my mom.
We took a lot of pictures at the finish line.
^^^Including one with this photo-bomber
^^ In heaven with my chips
^^ My cheerleader!!
That night, they had a special after-party for all the runners at Fenway Park. The perks included free food and free beer, but since my Mom and I don't drink and we preferred eating in Little Italy for every meal, we almost skipped out. We decided it would be cool to see the inside of Fenway Park though.
^^^ Getting my free chicken tenders with my food voucher
^^^ Fenway!!
^^ It WAS pretty awesome.
^^^ Special shout out to my number one fan! Mom- I couldn't have done it without you (for realzz-- I wouldn't have been able to afford it). Thanks for letting me throw my sweaty shirt at you and for hauling my shopping bags around all weekend so I wouldn't "tire myself out."
You're the best! Let's run it together next time!
Also-- I had to post this. I came across this selfie that you took on the train. I think it was to show how crowded the public transportation was on race day, but anyway, I died laughing:
And until next time:
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