Boston Marathon is this upcoming Monday.  Likely the greatest distance race in America, if not the planet.  It is the longest continuous running event, now on its 115th edition.  It started when some Americans witnessed the first Olympic Marathon in London and then the next year doing their own thing.  Something like 30 people started the first Boston and this past fall the damn event sold out in less than 8 hours.

There are two kinds of runners at Boston.  Those who have qualified and those who are running for charity.  Lord knows I support the latter group, but the event is famous for being the only marathon in the world that you HAVE to run a certain time to be able to participate.  I have run a number of marathons in my life.  The only one people cared about was Boston.  That goes for folks who wouldn’t otherwise care about running.  It is truly a running-life defining experience.

I was fortunate to get a qualifier in my very first marathon, which I ran with my brother in San Francisco in 2006.  Matt Neukirch had the idea of going out and running it, he invited me, and I joined him and his wife, Nealy for the 2007 race.   I love the East Coast.  My parents grew up out there on Long Island and I have always felt at home in the region.  After landing on Saturday, we did the expo thing, did the seafood with the Sam Adams thing, and then settled in for our pre-race routine.  Boston is notorious for its timing, being on a Patriots Day (third Monday of April) where everyone is off work and it is Spring.  That year, Mother Nature blessed us with a Nor’Easter race morning:

No worries.  Nealy dropped us off at Hopkington, we hung out for a few hours until the 10am start.  And we were off.  Boston is a hilly marathon.  So Matt and I started off easy, found our rhythm and started clicking off the miles.  We had decided just run, not race, the marathon and we really enjoyed it.  The point to point course takes you through some of the most famous landmarks in distance running:  Wellesley College, the Newton Hills finishing off with Heartbreak Hill, the Citgo Sign as the Red Sox game lets out, Copley Square and of course the finish on Boylston.   The crowds were there for all 26.2 miles.  But the last two miles they were 4-5 deep on both sides of the road.  I have never experienced anything like it, even in Chicago.  It will stand out as one of the experiences in running I will always remember, my first Boston.  I will run it again someday, but that blue/yellow medal is something I will always cherish.