Dread and Excitement from the Back of the Pack

Dread.

Yeah, that’s the word I chose to begin this pre-Boston Marathon blog post: DREAD.  It rhymes with DEAD, BLED, SHRED and LEAD (the element, not the action).  It’s the whole idea that you have this ridiculously difficult thing to do next Monday morning and you can’t just back down, ignore it or hope that 26.2 miles in the current universe will suddenly shorten by a factor of 10. 

I mean, it COULD happen, except for that whole universal expansion thing, thus I’ll not hold my breath.

And yes I COULD wake up at five in the morning on Patriots Day, sigh perceptively and then roll over, cover my head with a convenient pillow and pretend it’s just another manic Monday.

But, see…the problem is I have a number.  Bib number 24624 to be precise; a number that is a numerical pneumonic. 

Everyone whom I’ve told that I’m running Boston KNOWS that number, it’s like that old Farm League baseball cheer shouted after the few times my team won a game: TWO-FOUR-SIX-eight WHO DO WE APPRECIATE?  Except, you can skip the eight, add the first two digits to come up with the third and ahhhuuhhhh…I can’t believe I have to run this thing on Monday!

But then again, this is an amazing race for so many different reasons.  And, let’s be clear: it’s not JUST the race that makes this event so groovy; it’s the town, the history and the fact that for this entire weekend Beantown becomes a bit of a “Running Mecca”.  The greatest runners in the history of the sport have run this race, and many of them will be in Boston starting on Friday night!

The race, which starts for me at 10:30 AM on Monday morning, will be the apex of a weekend of all things running related! 

The Health and Fitness Expo at the Hynes Auditorium is amazing!  There were will be seminars on the topic of running as well as a sports medicine symposium held on Saturday and Sunday!  There’s the B.A.A. Youth Relay Challenge at 11:00 AM on Saturday on Boylston Street and a 5K road race and invitational mile held on Sunday morning at 8:00!  Then there’s the pre-race dinner at 4:30 PM at City Hall Plaza, and while you’re there you can meet THE John Ellis at the Bill Rogers Running Center at Faneuil Hall Marketplace!

This is the most amazing weekend long party for runners in the world!  Even after the race, the party continues, with the awards ceremony at 5:00 PM at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel on Saint James Street, and there’s a post race party at the 3^rd floor ballroom of the Hynes Convention Center starting at 7:30 PM on Sunday night!  This is an incredible event for anyone interested in the sport of running!

EXCITEMENT! 

Yeah, that’s the word I chose to end this pre-Boston Marathon blog post: EXCITEMENT! 


Because I’m runner number 24624 in the 114^th Boston Marathon. 

And I can’t wait!

- Steve