100 Things About Running Entry #5
Boston.
The marathon that is.
The Boston Marathon takes place on Patriots Day - the third Monday in April every year. I'm not really one for the whole "Bucket List" thing, but this is one of those races I want to do. Which...well...
To get in on your own, you have to meet very fast qualifying standards. Standards that I'll likely never meet. (Put it this way...my time at the WDW Marathon wouldn't even get an 85 year old woman in on her own.) So the other option will be to get in through a charity team, meaning I'll have to raise a ton of money. I've already promised my friends and family I'm not going to do any charity things until I do Boston, so they'll be able to donate and help me out. :) My initial plan had been 2013, but there's generally a 6 hour time limit, and so like San Francisco (another post), I want to make sure I CAN do a marathon in under 6 hours (another post) before I sign up. And by the Disney marathon 2013 it'll be too late to get into a charity team. So 2014 maybe?
This past Monday this year's Boston Marathon took place. In record or near-record heat. The BAA offered qualifying runners a chance of deferral...and reportedly somewhere in the 350-437 range of runners are eligible for that deferral. A few thousand others just didn't start. Now, some of those may not have been due to the heat but injuries or other reasons why they wouldn't have started anyway, but my guess is a number of those were due to the heat. They were especially encouraging "unfit" runners to not start - ironic as they would be charity runners and thus not eligible for deferral. And they encouraged people to let their time goals go and be safe on the course, using their heads in making decisions. They also extended the finish time from 6 hours to 7 hours.
A friend of mine who ran it said that last year over 10,000 people requalified for this year in the race itself. This year it was around 2700. That (and the fact that the winning time was around 10 minutes slower than last year) really tells the story of the toll the heat took on everyone.
One of my running club friends ran it and made it to 16.5 miles in before she had to stop due to medical reasons. She got an IV and was at least able to joke that the only bling she was bringing back was her patient's belongings bag. I'm still so proud of her and so in awe of her abilities as a runner. She ran smart and listened to her body and stopped on her own. And she's awesome!!
So yeah...it's a race I'd love to do someday. I just have to get my time down and my funds up! :)
The marathon that is.
The Boston Marathon takes place on Patriots Day - the third Monday in April every year. I'm not really one for the whole "Bucket List" thing, but this is one of those races I want to do. Which...well...
To get in on your own, you have to meet very fast qualifying standards. Standards that I'll likely never meet. (Put it this way...my time at the WDW Marathon wouldn't even get an 85 year old woman in on her own.) So the other option will be to get in through a charity team, meaning I'll have to raise a ton of money. I've already promised my friends and family I'm not going to do any charity things until I do Boston, so they'll be able to donate and help me out. :) My initial plan had been 2013, but there's generally a 6 hour time limit, and so like San Francisco (another post), I want to make sure I CAN do a marathon in under 6 hours (another post) before I sign up. And by the Disney marathon 2013 it'll be too late to get into a charity team. So 2014 maybe?
This past Monday this year's Boston Marathon took place. In record or near-record heat. The BAA offered qualifying runners a chance of deferral...and reportedly somewhere in the 350-437 range of runners are eligible for that deferral. A few thousand others just didn't start. Now, some of those may not have been due to the heat but injuries or other reasons why they wouldn't have started anyway, but my guess is a number of those were due to the heat. They were especially encouraging "unfit" runners to not start - ironic as they would be charity runners and thus not eligible for deferral. And they encouraged people to let their time goals go and be safe on the course, using their heads in making decisions. They also extended the finish time from 6 hours to 7 hours.
A friend of mine who ran it said that last year over 10,000 people requalified for this year in the race itself. This year it was around 2700. That (and the fact that the winning time was around 10 minutes slower than last year) really tells the story of the toll the heat took on everyone.
One of my running club friends ran it and made it to 16.5 miles in before she had to stop due to medical reasons. She got an IV and was at least able to joke that the only bling she was bringing back was her patient's belongings bag. I'm still so proud of her and so in awe of her abilities as a runner. She ran smart and listened to her body and stopped on her own. And she's awesome!!
So yeah...it's a race I'd love to do someday. I just have to get my time down and my funds up! :)