The Boston Marathon
04/17/2023
Boston, MA
Okay, so first and foremost, it would behoove you to go listen to the podcast episode about the Boston Marathon. It will give you much more detail than I could possibly give you here in this blog. That is just calling it what it is.
What can I say about this that I haven’t said a million times? Maybe I will just go as factual as I can with this one. The race starts in Hopkinton. We are all aware. This is quite the nice little town that I am sure enjoys being THE start of the marathon. It is everything I would have expected from a little New England-type town. The race starts and you are out of Hopkinton pretty quickly.
After the first 5k you find yourself in Ashland. By the 10k mark, you are in Framingham. It is fun keeping track of the little towns you run through. The towns are full. Again, these are little New England towns and they all felt so charming to me. It was clear that the towns were all showing up big to support the runners. There was always a little downtime in between towns, so you actually had some moments where you didn’t feel the pressure of having hundreds if not thousands of eyeballs on you.
HItting the town of Natick was nice as it represented almost the halfway point of the race. Natick was definitely electric for the runners. They were out in FULL force in that town. Mile Marker 14 now takes you to the world-famous Wellesley College. This is an All-women’s college that has been previously known for being a place where a runner could get a friendly kiss to keep them motivated during the race. I have heard that they were trying to quell the student to runner kiss this year. I am sure it still occurred though. As a 43-year-old man, and having a daughter close enough to college age, I did not indulge in the marathon day tradition. The young ladies were all very lovely and very supportive behind their barricade. Well done.
After the College, you head toward Newton and the famed Newton Hills. Everything I heard about the Newton Hills was spot on. Mile 17 - 21 were all uphill. This of course included the famed “Heartbreak Hill”. The support here was very nice as you are going up a terrible hill right outside of Boston College. The college kids of course bring that young person energy!
Next up we get into Brookline. Once into Brookline, you are starting to see the actual “City”. Buildings start getting taller and the roads start getting terrible! You can start to see the direction you are going towards the end. At mile 25 you see the famed “Citgo” sign. It is the only time in your life that you actually care about a gas station sign. It is iconic though.
You finish up with the famed “Right Hereford, Left on Boylston”. This takes you down the last road and to the finish line. You can’t describe it. You cannot describe the feeling of crossing that finish line. It is second to none.
I like to use these blogs to tell you about my race experiences and give you information so that you can decide if you wish to do the race or not. This is Boston though. Of course, we all want to do it. There is nothing I could try and talk you into here! I know you would do it if you could and I am so fortunate to have been able to have this experience for myself.
I still thank you all so very much for donating to me and the BAA Charity Team. I know that our money is going to a good cause. We may not see it here in the Midwest, but thankfully the kids benefiting up in Boston will. Thank you all again for your help! Thank you for reading this. There’s really nothing more I can say. You all are the best! We’ll see you next time after the Top City Marathon in Topeka, KS.
- Kyle