Volunteering for the Boston Marathon

The big day for so many runners came today--the Boston Marathon. While many friends and training buddies were running, I decided it was worth checking out from the volunteer side. . .

My marathon training partner and I ran 20 miles on Saturday in Boston along the Charles River--so nice--traveling from Boston, through Cambridge, and back around into Boston where we met our spouses and friend for brunch and a walk through the city. It was a nice 53 degrees and this felt hot to us after training in single digits for so long. We had a great run, with the first 17-17.5 going great and the last 2.5 ish not feeling so hot. Apparently we both felt fine Sunday, so we attributed it to an increased calorie need throughout the run--more "gu" needed.

That said, we found ourselves "out in front" so to speak at the 17 mile PowerBar Gel station of the famous Boston Marathon today (Monday) volunteering with many of my Wicked Running Club friends. Decked out in our awesome bright yellow jackets and PowerBar t-shirts, we passed packets of a 110 caloric gel substance (some flavors are thick like icing and others more like thin jelly) to over 25,0000 runners in need of a pick me up. Yes, those are rubber gloves we are holding and for good reason--this stuff gets sticky!



We were able to watch the handicap division and the elites go by us at what looked like lighening speed (the photo below is the wheel chair winner). One guy ran on two polycarbonate "springy" legs and got the crowd roaring. We also watch two groups of military personnel walk the marathon with full gear and packs. I'd like to note that a woman led the second group:)





Then, the "hounds" were released and the remaining 24,900 runners came at a steady pace for about 2 hours. We were out at the beginning of numerous stations with gel in 6 different flavors for the runners and got a great look at the crowd. Some runners looked strong and steady (what we vow to look like in 5 weeks) and others were struggling. We yelled words of encouragement, provided gel, and screamed the names of anyone willing to write or print their names on themselves. We even saw some friends: my neighbor, a co-worker, and my beloved running club friends that I have trained and exchanged encouragement with throughout the winter. They looked so strong! We took notes on good form, ways to grab gel most successfully (make eye contact, point to the person you are headed towards, and reach out), and what to and not to wear.

The rest of this week is an easy week for me. I cut back to almost half my current miles (43 per week now) and am to get lots of rest. I have a 5 mile race on Sunday just for fun and as a reward for training. Then, next week is the last long and hard week before we start to cut back in preparation for our big day. I was inspired today by those running with amazing form and speed, but was also touched by the people I saw struggling. While I hope to look and feel stronger, these people pushed on and reminded me that my ultimate goal is to finish what I set out to do--run a marathon and smile--no matter how long it takes:)