Boston Marathon 2010

This past Monday I had the honour and pleasure of realizing a personal goal by participating in the Boston Marathon. Cindy and I drove down on Friday and arrived at the Expo on Saturday morning. We did the usual Boston shopping blitz, after all how many times do you get to go to Boston.
The Boston marathon is vortex, it sucks you in the whole weekend, you can't avoid it, even Cindy felt the effect. Then add onto all of that the Red Soxs, Celtics and Bruins all playing that weekend. The buzz in the city was beyond belief. Cheers, lots of Bars, the Public Gardens, we saw them all.

The race itself is legendary. They bus at runners to the start line, all 23,000. The starting village is a sea of humanity, people from all over the world. Veteran Boston marathoners and just as many Boston virgins. And all of them waiting in anticipation.

The start; all down hill, bikers on the left, Girls and lots of them on the right, drunken Boston College students, folks in costumes, then up those hills. Yes I now know why they call it heartbreak hill. More down hill, some walking, some running, some really enjoying the crowd, then a left turn and you see the finish line. It seemed like a 1km down the road and with people 10-15 deep, the noise echoing off the building there is no way not to fell overwhelmed, inspired and in shear awe of the event. Get shuffled through the tents, pick up your bag and just like that your done. For Cindy and I we had to drive straight home as we both had to work Tuesday so celebrations were short lived.

One of the most amazing things is the support at every inch of the marathon. The support and size of the crowd grows with each mile. it was estimated in the Boston Globe that there were over 500,000 spectators, 8,000 volunteers and 23,000 starting runners. Crowds early in the race were 4 deep with no barriers and as you got closer to the finish they grew to 12-15 deep. Folks handing out goodies, oranges, and beer all that they bought on their own to support the runners. Totally inspiring.

For me personally it was all that support that drew my thoughts back to Barrie and the folks that helped me, as I ran down towards the finish line. In the early days there were many times I could have fallen off the rails like a lot of folks do in the January "phase"of trying just to lose weight. I was also fortune that in 2005 Shawn and Gary kept me interested during Mischele's spin classes and also opened my eyes to a new world of Tri's and distance running. Something that was a dream but never thought to be a possibility, and for that I thank them all.

So next time your on a bike ride or a run remember that person at the back, or that "newbie" who is just starting out. It does not take much to circle back, slow down, let them catch up. You can "hammer" it later. Remember you'll never know what kind of positive impact you can have on them, and maybe just maybe, in some small way, help them in them reaching a personal goal.