Slow! Who says it's slow. The only thing that has slowed down are the qualifying times. They have slowed down a lot but the course can and should be a fast course. It's all down hill except for the hills in Newton and they aren't really all that bad for anyone who is hill trained. The problem is where thay are placed; at about 21 miles, just where things will start to go bad if you started to fast which is easy to do with all the downhills. So keep your head at the start, which is amazing with the corrals, no crowding, you start to run right from the gun. Remember, you want to be fast from 21 on, so be conservative up to that point, then just let it go! Good luck, you just might see a PR! And besides, marathon week in Boston is one of the best weeks in running.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Thanks for this thread, TheMonkey! I'm doing my first Boston in April, and I'll take all the advice I can find. From what I've heard and read, Sweeney's post sounds about dead-on. Unfortunately for me, I live in an extraordinarily flat region of eastern Ontario, and traveling to decent hills in the winter really isn't very feasible. I shall do what I shall do. If you haven't found this book yet, you might want to search for it - "26 Miles to Boston" by Michael Connelly, 2003, The Lyons Press (www.lyonspress.com). It's largely historically anecdotal, but for each mile he gives a pretty good description of what one is in for, both in terms of topography and the crowds. I'm hoping to drive the course in a few weeks when I'm down there, and it will be a refresher about the Newton Hills, as I'm originally from the Boston 'burbs. What corral will you be in? I'm a 3:29. Maybe I can pick you out from the other 15,000 runners! Good luck with your training, and for god's sake - STAY HEALTHY!

I have run it a few times and it is a GREAT experience...Wellesley alone is worth it! The course can be fast depending on our training, but when you take the right hand turn at the fire station in Newton about 17 miles in, well, be ready. It isn't even so much the climbs, but the cumulative effect on your quads from the downhills that can slow you down after Boston College. The crowds are great late but the legs can get heavy. Nike sold a T-shirt on the 100th running in 1996..."Wicked hard, year after year."

Fast or not so fast, it is a great classic day. And this year you might see Dave Scott in the field!

Mark

 
As you said, you can PR on the course if you run it properly. The first 15 miles are downhill, with the most significant downhill at approx. 15.5 miles as you descend into Newton Lower Falls. If you try too hard during the first half of the race, you'll burn out your quads (ask me how I know!).

The FOUR Newton hills aren't that bad (people tend to forget the hill from Lower Falls up to Newton Wellesley hospital, just after the previous downhill). I run tougher hills in Penasquitos Canyon out here in San Diego.

Another big factor is always the weather. Boston weather in April is unpredictable. Last year it was 60 degrees at the start, 70 degrees at Wellesley and back down below 60 at the finish line. We also had a headwind through Newton and Boston.

Be sure to run your own race (don't get caught up in the "swell", hydrate well during the race and find someone to draft off and, most important, have fun!

Martin

20 years ago when all I did was run, I ran three marathons in a 5 month span. Didn't really point towards anyone of them in particular and just ran them off my 10km training at the time (70 - 80 miles per week).

The three marathons were:

Dallas White Rock in December 83, 2:30:45

Houston Tenneco in January 84, 2:30:27

Boston in April 84, 2:30:06



the seconds might be off a couple here or there, but I do know that Boston was the faster of the three for me, and that included a 2 minute pee stop that I just couldn't hold anymore after feeling the twinges at mile 2, and finally started cramping from it at mile 20. Also at the time, I was living in Beaumont Texas where the biggest hill was an overpass. Hills are great and really will make you stronger, but nothing beats just getting out and putting the miles in and just plain training!!

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

thanks for the heads up on the book! looks like great information.

my qualifying time is 3:07. i know i can clean up 7 more minutes. i have yet to assemble my best marathon. i'm just not sure if boston is the place..... what am i thinking though... of course it is! i'm fixing on leaving everything in bean-town.

funny thing is that my flight leaves logan at 5:50 after the race, so i have no choice but finish asap. apologies in advance to whoever i sit next to on the plane (read as no shower).

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It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day - Homer Simpson

Mike,

That is some rock steady consistancy - 2:30 in three marathons in 5 months. You must have had a built in metronome at about 5:40 - 5:50 mile pace.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

hey man, if your flight leaves Logan at 5:50, you'll have 2:51 minutes to make it to your flight after you run 2:59 :-). Seriously though, a buddy of mine logged the Boston altitude profile last year on his Polar HRM. Its basically downhill for 5 K and after that it is a reasonably rolling course, but nothing super steep (either up or down) after that. As one poster alluded to, the pace in the first 5 K can be super fast and you might trash your quads for the rest of the race. Everyone at Boston is 'fast', so the inclination is to head out a bit faster since there are so many fast folks and it starts pretty well downhill. Ensure that you practice running fast both up and downhill in training. I used my treadmill and stuck a few enyclopedias in the back and would practice running for 20 min stretches at around 10 mph to get used to being smooth running downhill quickly. It worked in 2002 (2:59.52), but I did not do the same in 2003 and did a 3:04 ! Personally, I think Boston is slower than most marathons because you run for 42.2 K into a headwind. It starts at noon and by then the land has heated up more than the Atlantic ocean in April. You are guaranteed a headwind in most years, especially if it is a warm day. As soon as you crest at Newton, it can feel like a windtunnel, and don't look at the Citgo "1 miile to go sign". You can see that F**ing sign forwever, and you never seem to get past it. The final stretch on Boyleston is also pretty long, so if you are planning a PB, it can be a long "sprint". The crowd is just fabulous though !

Boston's not a tough course, as long as you keep your head in the first few downhill k's. I ran 2:50 at Boston when I was in low-2:40 shape, but I'd decided not to kill myself trying for a PR, instead just to run and enjoy the day. I ran a 1min30s negative split and had no trouble at all. I think it could be a PR or close course, depending on conditions - obviously headwinds or heat have been factors in past races. Plan for a PR, and modify your goal depending on weather on the day. With cool weather and mild winds, I think a PR is quite possible there.

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview