Boston Marathon

Boston, Massachusetts

	Time/ Pace	Div.	Div. Pl.	Gen. Pl.	Ov. Pl.	Bib #
Owen	3:33:15 8:08	Male 40-44	1,438/ 2,109	8,209/ 14,588	11,187/ 26,610	8693

Written by Owen:

Before this trip, I had decided to write a "journal" each night at the hotel about that day's events. That way writing this blog entry would be easy and I wouldn't forget anything. Not only did I not do that, it is now over a year later as I write this. I'll do my best to remember this amazing trip/race.

For marathoners, Boston is so incredibly special. I am so lucky I got to experience it, and that my entire family, plus my mom and Torre could join us. It took me 17 marathons to finally qualify for Boston at the 2013 St. George Marathon. Because the 2014 Boston Marathon's registration was already full after that race, I had to wait until 2015 to run it. 2014 was the first year after the bombing, and I would have loved to be there for that, but was overjoyed to be there in 2015. I actually ran 15 marathons in between qualifying for, and running, Boston. St. George remains my only BQ. I will do it again, however.

Because I run so many marathons, I don't usually spend much money at expos on souvenirs, but this was the Boston Marathon, so I spent a small fortune on that year's jacket (even though it was purple, argh), and a framed bib/medal.

After the expo, we all headed to a Red Sox game. Our hotel was quite a distance from downtown Boston, in order to save money. But they had a shuttle to the nearest train station and we utilized the "T" a lot.

Malissa's friend Lisa, that she went to high school with, lives in Boston and met us for dinner. We ate at a REALLY nice restaurant and had a lot of fun.

My tooth had been been giving me problems for quite a while, but it really flared up during this trip and caused a lot of pain.  I was determined not to let it ruin what I had worked so hard for.  The night before the race it really was causing a lot of pain, but if I kept gargling Listerine and applying Ora-gel, it was tolerable (I've since had the tooth pulled and have a hole there to this day.  Thankfully, it's near the back).

I took the train the downtown Boston, where we were boarded on buses.  I could not believe the organization at this race.  I've never seen anything like it.  The bus shuttles you 26 miles up the road to Hopkinton.

While I waited, the grass was wet and muddy. So I laid out my garbage bags I had brought. I didn't want to get my feet wet, so I positioned them where they would be dry and tried to nap. When I woke, I stood up to stretch. One of my ankles had been at a weird position for a long time. It hurt so bad I couldn't put any weight on it. I was in a full panic, I couldn't believe this was happening. I sat down, prayed really hard, then slowly started to walk it off. The pain went away and it never caused a problem.

My plan for this race was to see if I could qualify for 2016 Boston Marathon so I could come back. I had watched so many Boston Marathons on TV, I was very familiar with the course. I clicked off the miles and tried to really soak in the fact that I was running the Boston Marathon.

At mile 12, as we approached Wellesley College, I was really looking forward to hearing the famous screaming from the all-girls college. Despite the cold, pouring rain, they did not disappoint. It was absolutely amazing. I didn't want it to end. It was one of my favorite moments from any marathon I've ever run.

My pace was strong until mile 14 or so, but then I knew I just didn't have it, and paid for it the rest of the way. I still enjoyed it, but I was hurting and really slowed down from mile 23 on.

The weather really got worse as the race progressed. It was very cold, raining hard, with strong cold winds.

I didn't reach my goal to get another BQ, but I was happy with my time and loved it very much.

My family had to endure a lot to get that spot on Boylston St. to see me finish. Because of the very tight security due to the 2013 bombings, they had to get there early, and could not leave (including to use the bathroom) or else they'd lose their spot.