Countdown to Boston: 26.2 Random Facts About the Boston Marthon: Part 1

For those of you who are counting, it's 5 days until the 119th Boston Marathon. My brain is currently all over the place as I try to wrap it around the fact that in roughly 120 hours, I will be toeing the line in Hopkinton. Since I'm a little scatterbrained right now, rather than providing you with a perfectly coherent post--though let's be honest, I almost never do that--I thought I would just share some random trivia about the oldest marathon in the U.S.

Today, I present the first half of 26.2 Random Facts About the Boston Marathon. Check back tomorrow for the second half.


1. Up until the 1960s, all runners wishing to run the Boston Marathon were required to undergo a physical by a B.A.A. physician.

2. Like the Boston Marathon, the Charles River also starts in Hopkinton and ends in Boston. The major difference? The winding Charles takes 80 miles to make the same journey that takes runners only 26.2 miles to complete.

Photo credit: Claudette Millette

4. For the first 27 years, the distance of the Boston marathon fluctuated between 24 and 25 miles, usually somewhere around 24.5.

5. The Boston Marathon start line was in Ashland until 1924, when the course was lengthened to the 26 mile, 385 yard distance first used in the 1908 Olympics and later adopted by the International Amateur Athletic Federation in 1921. 

6. There were three different starting lines in Ashland--Metcalf's Mill from 1897 to 1899, the middle of a railroad bridge from 1900 to 1906, and Steven's Corner from 1907 to 1923.

I Ain't Dead Yet, or my 2012 Boston Marathon Race Report

I had more fun on this visit to Boston than I've had on any previous visit, though I also also experienced my toughest race yet. How is that possible? Read on and find out.

No matter how calm I like to pretend I am, I usually spend the week before any marathon freaking out about the weather. This time around, though, the race organizers did the worrying for me. Before I had even begun packing, I received the first of several emails from the BAA warning of "higher than normal temperatures on the course." I quickly realized that I would not be treating Monday like a goal race. Once I accepted this fact, my pre-race nerves virtually disappeared (though thankfully my excitement did not!). This meant I was able to enjoy Saturday and Sunday, exploring Boston without worrying about tiring my legs. I saw much more of the city than on previous visits which was a huge plus.

The night before the race, while we were enjoying a delicious homemade pasta dinner at Restaurant Dante in Cambridge, I decided on my goals for the race. They were simple: (1) finish and (2) don't walk. I promised myself that I would not "race" Boston, but would just try to enjoy myself.


Now that we've got some background, on to race day...


On race morning, I woke up at 5:05 feeling ready to go. I had plenty of time to fix my usual pre-race bagel with peanut butter and gather my things before making my way to Boston Common to meet with several other Dashing Whippets members. Once everyone arrived, we huddled for a quick pep-talk from one of the members, Simon, who was volunteering with the BAA at the finish."No heroics," he told us--excellent advice for the day!


On the long bus ride to Hopkinton I alternated between gabbing with other runners and listening to my pre-race energy mix. It took almost an hour to get to the Athlete's Village, but time flew by thanks to all the excitement on the bus. 

Once we arrived we staked out a spot underneath the giant tent so we could stay out of the sun as long as possible. It was only 7 am when we got there which meant we had plenty of time to kill. I used it to (1) apply two coats of sunscreen, (2) visit the port-o-potties roughly 73 times, and (3) write my name on my arm in sharpie. I thought about wearing compression socks, but a quick foray into the sun to use the bathroom convinced me that 80 was too warm for black knee-high socks. Eventually, it was time for wave 1 runners to start making their way to the corrals. Five of us in corals 3 and 4 heading to the start together. 


A few minutes before the start they lowered the rope separating corals and those of us in coral 4 managed to weasel our way up to where the coral 3 runners were. I knew the others were planning on running for specific times--faster times than I wanted (in my head I was thinking 3:30 would be a respectable finish and the slowest anyone else seemed willing to accept was 3:10) but I figured I would start with my teammates. 

The race begins after the jump.