we had the easiest travel to and from our destination i think we've ever had...we were at the airport with plenty of time (usually, we're running to the gate), our flight was actually early, and this happened both ways! very exciting.
view of finish area from our room
when we got to boston on saturday, we went to our hotel (stayed at westin copley place again - love it!) to check in and drop off our stuff, and then we headed to the seaport area for the expo and dinner. it was the first year we've been that the expo wasn't in the convention center near our hotel, so that was a different experience, but we enjoyed walking around and getting to sit outside overlooking the water afterwards when we waited for dinner. we had another great dinner at ltk (ate there last year with my parents), and most of the running etc-related crew joined us, so that was fun. it's been nice to have a different experience each year in terms of who is there with us - first year billy's parents came, second year it was just the two of us, third year my parents came, and this year we had some friends and their families with us.
outside ltk
sunday, we got up, grabbed something at au bon pain, and hustled to the sheraton to get on the bus for the course tour. we made it just in time and headed out to hopkinton to check out the start area. it's a pretty long ride out there, so i think it was a little tiring for billy to think about repeating that tomorrow and then having to run all the way back into boston. i loved getting to see the runners village/start area and doing the course tour, since i've been there several times and never seen any part of the course except the finish line. it was fun to have billy share some of his experiences on the course with me as we were passing certain points, and the tour guide was ok. a little strange, but the tour was still good. i can't believe people run that far, and there are a lot of big hills. i would probably die out there. or get a ride into town :)
after the course tour, we walked straight to fenway to catch the red sox game. it's always such a fun park to go to, and unfortunately daniel wasn't pitching (he was starting the next day), but we got to see a pretty good game and enjoy great seats in the grandstand area. it was a perfect day for baseball and for walking around town. after the game, we took the t back to our hotel area, walked around for a little while, and went to the grocery store down the street from our hotel to grab some drinks, granola bars, and salad to go with our pizza. that night, we just ordered a pizza from a place we'd gone to a couple of years ago, i walked over to newbury street to pick it up (and got billy a b-day cupcake from this cute little shop on the way), and we relaxed, had our pizza, salad, and beer, and headed to bed pretty early.
monday we were up bright and early, and i walked with billy to the bus drop-off area. we met up with drew and his family, and the guys got in line to board the bus to hopkinton. kind of fun that marathon monday was also billy and drew's birthdays. so billy gets a fun trip to accompany his b-day every year, even though it hasn't been on his actual birthday since he's run the race. i waited in line with the guys for a little while and then headed back to the hotel. when i was almost back there, i got a call from a number i didn't recognize, but i checked the voicemail to learn that billy had left his garmin watch in our room. so i called him back on the stranger's phone, hustled to our room, and ran as fast as i could back up to boston common. it was perfect timing, as they were next in line to get on the bus. so after i got that unexpected little workout in, i walked around boston common, the public garden, and even into chinatown and the theatre district. it was a beautiful, warm morning to be out there, which did not bode well for the thousands of runners.
26.2 miles from boston
corrall #1 :)
church where elite runners hang out before start
runners village - lots of port-a-potties
start line area
billy & drew (blog is messing up and won't let me rotate picture)
blurry picture of the guys loading the bus right after i delivered the watch :)
love how they tend to use a lot of welsh terriers in signage - apparently terriers aren't allowed to swim in the frog pond
make way for ducklings statue - again, issues rotating
pretty tulips in the public garden - i want to live in boston just to be able to hang out there (among other things)
swan boats
addidas display container with all the participants' names you can see up close
finish line prior to the chaos that would come a couple hours later
in past years, i had always gone to the same area near the finish line to watch the race, which was fun, but so crowded, and it meant rushing up the street around the crowds to meet up with billy after he finished. so, this year, i decided to take the t out to watch the runners further out on the course. i had intentions of going to boston college to see the trek up heartbreak hill and offer some encouragement for the last 6 miles of the race. but time ran short, and instead, i watched from a residential area around mile 24. it was a perfect spectating spot. i was right on the street, there were no crowds, i got lots of sun, and the t stopped basically behind where i was standing (no station there - just a street side stop). definitely will watch the race this way again. maybe i'll make it to heartbreak hill next year. a little disappointing that billy didn't see me, but i guess he didn't know where i'd be, was suffering in the high-80s weather, and was pretty focused at that point. i was waving and yelling and even went into the street where they were running. oh well, maybe next time :) after he passed where i was standing, a train came right away, so i hopped on and took it a few stops to where the runners exit from the post-race food station, medical station, etc. it worked out perfect, and i think i've mastered watching a race in boston (and getting around on marathon monday) :)
men's leader (i think he ended up finishing 2nd)
i always like seeing the military people who do the marathon in full gear
looking strong!
once we met up, we headed back to the hotel and rested for awhile. drew and his family came by our room for some birthday cake, so we had a nice little celebration for the guys there. after they left, we walked around in the public garden and down a few pretty streets in that area, grabbed a beer at a convenience store, and headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. we joined the same crew from saturday night at the cactus club, which was just a 5 minute walk from our hotel and has decent mexican food and very good margaritas. we ate there our second year (i think) in boston, and i had the best chimichangas ever. unfortunately, they aren't still on the menu, but they have plenty of good options. we had a nice dinner with everyone and celebrated all the runners' accomplishments as well as the two birthday boys. after dinner, we stopped by mcgreevys with the midlands for a pitcher of sam adams 26.2 beer and then headed back to the hotel.
finish line area is almost gone
tuesday, we got up, worked out, and decided to check out the uss constitution in the charlestown navy yard. we thought about going to harpoon brewery but picked culture/history over beer (rare occurrence) which was good for our wallets and diets - haha! it was really neat to tour the old ship, and we were able to go on a destroyer from world war two that was also in the navy yard at the time. we walked back across the charlestown bridge to the north end and grabbed sandwiches at a little cafe on hanover, one of the main streets for dining in that area. after that, we walked to fanueil hall/quincy market area and went to bill rodgers running store. the store is pretty small and doesn't have much stock, but billy got a shirt from there, and we saw bill rodgers and bobbi gibb (first woman to run boston), who were signing autographs, so that was neat also. after that, we headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and go to the airport.
it was a great trip, much needed time away, and a fun chance to continue exploring boston. also, i think it's the first time i haven't really gotten us lost (that i remember), so that's a good accomplishment! and i'm always very proud of my husband for his dedication to running in crazy weather for crazy distances!
