Boston Marathon Recap

...I've had something written (deleted, re-written, etc.) about this for awhile and debated on whether I should keep it or not. I don't want this post to seem like I have been impacted more than those who were truly affected - so this is simply my "race report" for what it is.



Starting a marathon dodging and weaving people is pretty annoying. Especially when those people are dumbly sprinting at the START of a marathon. But that's a small price to pay for being able to run 26.2 miles with spectators cheering you on 99% of the time.

I passed both CSU cheering spots feeling great, and even able to make a lame joke that, "I thought I had already passed Wellesley college!" That was the Newton Hills, and I imagine my horrible joke got a pity-laugh.

Around mile 23 I passed Kathleen & Steve feeling good and I was glad to see friendly faces. Well into the city, I went under Mass Ave wondering if my legs would get wobbly on the small uphill as they did last year, but they didn't and I held my form well - ready for the finish. I kept an eye out for Elizabeth, Mike, Katherine, Mary and Annie - hoping that my mind was sharp enough to catch them in a crowd. Just as I was turning onto Hereford I heard, "Uncle Patrick!" I immediately smiled and waved to the Bugbees of Boston holding up the (hopefully annual) cheering sign from Mary & Annie.

At that point I assumed I had somehow missed Elizabeth, and so I hugged the corner and turned onto Boylston. Seeing the finish line and feeling strong I gave a few high fives before settling in for the finish until I heard "PATRICK!" and saw Elizabeth leaning over the fence with a big smile waving toward me. After returning the smile and the wave, I continued on and crossed the finish line in a just a few more strides.

I ran a time of 3:23:54. After months of almost entirely cross training to recover from an injury I kept an even pace.  I didn't cramp.  I didn't crash.  And I didn't slow. I finished at around 2:15 in the afternoon and the bombs exploded around 2:50.  It frightens me and amazes me how very easily I could've had a bad race and slowed enough...

I was about two blocks away with Elizabeth, Mike, Katherine and the girls when we heard the explosions.  Groups of people came from the side streets.  I walked back onto Boylston to ask the baggage check if my cousin's bag had been picked up yet.  It hadn't, but he was ok.  I asked a news truck if they knew what happened, and they said that they think that bomb(s) went off.  I looked down Boylston and saw the smoke, then looked back at Elizabeth who was still standing at the barrier.  I was torn as to what to do, but Elizabeth put out her arms as if to say, "what are you doing? get back here."  We ended up going to Elizabeth's work on Beacon to get online and let people know we were ok.  Then we walked across the Mass Ave bridge to get picked up by Kathleen and head back to our place where we met up with Doug & Kristin and we all sat around watching the news.

The next day I went for an easy jog at the Harvard track, and the day after that I went to the Marathon Sports in Cambridge for the weekly 4-mile Half Marathon Training Run. I took Thursday off, and then was inside that Friday.

I received a phone call from my Aunt in early morning telling me to wake up and make sure my doors were locked as "they are throwing bombs out their car window."  That felt so over the top I thought it couldn't be true.  But living just over a mile from the boat in Watertown, we could hear just about everything.  We heard the gunshots in the afternoon along with the flash grenades - then heard them again, seconds later, on the TV. A short while later it was unconfirmed that the one idiot who survived might be going to Mt Auburn Hospital.  So Elizabeth and I put on running shoes and ran there. We weren't the only ones with this idea, as the streets were crowded with cops, news trucks, and people who were gathering around.  He ended up somewhere else, but it was a worthwhile experience as everyone seemed to be in a similar state of mind.

It was an exhausting and sad week, but seeing those injured maintain positive attitudes, and the overwhelmingly positive response from the city and country has been encouraging. Hopefully, out of this tragedy people can maintain the positive vibes, but the cynic in me expects people to go back to staring at their phones and nearly hitting runners on a regular basis.