B.A.A. 5k
04/15/2023
Boston, MA
I’ve never before seen what a 10,000-person 5k looks like. I have seen it now! Kicking off our Boston Marathon weekend was the B.A.A. 5k starting off in the Boston Commons in some of the oldest areas of Boston.
It was great meeting some of my fellow BAA charity Team teammates. There were several of us out there looking to get a little bit of a run-in before the big day on Monday. This race was about 48 hours before the big day. I certainly debated on doing this race. I did not want it to hurt my marathon in any way. Where I settled though, was that this will be my only time out there for a Boston Marathon weekend. I am going to do as much as I possibly can!
This race was set to start at 8:00 am. I imagine that many people started that early. I sure did not! With that mass of humanity out there, it took a long time before I hit the starting mat! To put it another way, the elites were finished before I started the race! I hit the start line as the women elites were hitting the finish line on the other side of the fence from me. Geez they are fast! I could feel the breeze they sent off as they whizzed past me!
I finally after a long last hit the start line and away I went. I had NO desire to run hard during this race. One problem with that. It was so jam-packed with people, if you slowed down, you might get trampled! The roads were packed with runners. There was nowhere to hide. So I kept pace with all my fellow runners.
The race itself was a blur for the first mile and a half. We ran. I ran in Boston. I was so busy looking around and seeing all I could see, that I was not at all paying attention to the race. I ran under a bridge…twice. People were screaming under there as it echoed really well, so I gave it a WOOOO a couple of times. Over halfway done with the 5k, you got to experience the big boy finish line of the Boston Marathon. We ran through the finish with maybe a mile left to the 5k finish. It was something else to run through that and see what I’d be experiencing in two days. Again, very hard to pay attention to the race I was doing.
With about a half mile left, another member of my charity team found me along the course. We ran and chatted for a moment before he went on to the finish. I finished up the race, got my medal, and just wandered around in awe of the event. The Boston Commons were just filled with runners, supporters, family, and friends. It was quite a sight to behold. I took in the experience for a while, then started the walk back to the hotel.
It was so hard to really take this race in. I was so glad to have done it. It gave me a great anticipatory feeling for Monday. Next up though, THE Boston Marathon. It is about to go down!
- Kyle