It may have been the perfect storm of the weather heating up right when most of us in wave 1 were hitting the Newton Hills. I saw guys walking left and right once we hit the hills and it was surely due to poor pacing/nutrition. At this point I was 17-20 miles in averaging ~6:30 and these guys were in front of me so they were all strong runners. It’s an easy enough race to screw up in good conditions so I can understand how high temps that late in the race would really catch some people out.

Someone Virginia Plain & I know posted this elsewhere

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I was a red bib and I blew up. I don't blame anything other than my training though (or lack thereof). It was definitely warm but nothing that I really felt made a big difference. I just made sure to pour water on myself at every aid station too keep myself cool.

This was my first Boston so don't have anything to compare it to but I figured most walkers or people having a lot of difficulty were people that just went for the all or nothing approach. I know I kind of did that and it didn't work out haha.

Go big or go home! I like your style lol

I ran red bib this year and at the start they said everyone in the red bibs had to have run sub 3:07 to get in red bibs. the would be the last wave of red bibs.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/11645943 https://www.instagram.com/timeforicecream/

At 10k you could see a lot of red bibs working, not unsustainably but certainly tricky with the conditions.

At 25 miles a lot were still going fairly strong, but you could see they'd been baked. The half marathon to 21 miles was the tricky bit, if they got through that & picked up the next split they were doing very well.

You see the carnage in Boston every year from the Newton hills to the finish. A lot of people go out too hard.

I also think a lot of people in the first wave are benefiting from seeding inflation: qualifying at flat or downhill courses, wearing VPs, etc.

The number of these I saw in the race was unreal. It seems like 1 out of 10 people or more were wearing them.

I had a red bib. I blew up hard core.

I qualified with a 2:59. I was targeting 2:59 again on Monday. I was on pace for it through 10 miles. But by mile 11 I realized there wasn't any way I could sustain the pace. I slowed a bit and crossed the 13.1 mark at 1:30:37. OK so not *too* bad, but not what I wanted.

Then I fell apart completely. And ran the second half in 2:00. Yea... I blew up that bad.

Really not sure what happened. Maybe the unexpected heat/humidity? My quads burned with the fire of 1000 suns by mile 11 from all the downhill running. Not sure why that happened as I ran Boston before a couple years ago and made it to the Newton Hills before blowing up then.

I never walked any of it (save a few steps at aid stations in the second half just to get gatorade in and not all over my face), but I wasn't moving nearly as fast as I am capable. I was just wrecked.

I am usually good with acronyms and such but this one is escaping me. What is this you are referring to?

These are usually numbers that are provided to sponsors. When my wife worked for John Hancock in the early 2000s, any employee who wanted a number got one.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Yes, I agree there were a lot of walking reds at the end. However, like myself, it seemed like from what I overheard in the village tents before the race, there were a lot of red bibs that admittedly weren't in great shape for Boston either due to injury while training or lack of training. Also, the timing of Boston (while it is a prestigious race) falls at the beginning of many people's annual training volume. I am sure more than half of the Red bibs qualified at a fall/late fall race.

Myself? I was an under-trained red bib who went out too fast and was barely getting by the last 10k. Walked through every aid station from 20 on and was barely able to avoid major cramping in quads and hamstrings. I qualified in 2:59, planned on running 3:45-4:00 based on training volume to that point. Ended up with a 3:37. So despite my poor fitness for a fast race, I was still happy to be there. Also, first time at Boston and hit the hills at peak heat and definitely was not prepared for them.

I understand that to get into Boston you have to run an "elite" time, but at Boston, I see as more of a celebration of getting there, not really a race in itself. I get that most of our competitive mindsets push us to really give it our all, but i'm not disappointed in how it turned out.

Reading this thread and to run sub 3:07 means your fairly damn good and SMART athletes. I think I'm mostly amazed at reading this thread and the "blowing up" that everyone seemed to have done by not having great fitness coming in. I think the surprising part is that the self admitted lack of fitness yet still "went out to hard". I guess that "pressure" to run fast even when not there must be there cus I'm shocked at the amount of "stupid" racing that has been admitted in this thread.


And no I'm not talking about having to run the same time as their BQ time. I'm saying running a smart race for their fitness levels at the time of the event.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

In my case I can't figure out the reason. I came in well trained to run sub-3. I just couldn't actually do it on Monday.

It's a tricky course that really lulls you into pushing too hard before dropping the hammer when it really starts to hurt. Combine that with the fact that

1) It's Boston...people get way too hyped up and do stupid shit
2) This was probably the first "warm" run for most of the field, I bet 90% of the athletes hadn't done a long run in temps above 50 before Monday
3) Most probably qualified at a flat, fast course in cool conditions

And you get a whole bunch of otherwise smart runners walking at the end. I wasn't one of them but I felt like I was in mid 2:40s shape if the weather had been cooler and wound up running a 2:54 with pretty much even splits. I went out conservatively in 1:26 (just ran a 1:15 half in cool weather), nailed my nutrition, and was planning on really dialing up the pace the back half but I just didn't have anything left. The good news is that how the Boston field performs is the #1 indicator for what the cut is going to be for the following year so maybe a bunch of walking red bibs means the cushion this year won't be as big as in years past.

There's a multitude of factors for that, but part of it is the course will lull you into a sense of security -- there's so much downhill in the early part of the course that it's VERY easy to wind up go out ahead of pace and wind up out of gas when you hit the 128 overpass and begin the climbs. That's pretty much what everybody expected would've happened in the women's elite race -- except she never came back to Earth.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Yea I will admit that I am self coached and don't do a very good job haha. Every year and every race is a learning experience for me since every year is different. I only do about 1 or 2 marathons a year so the learning is slow. This year I trained injured which changed up my training a little (I am seeing a doctor and PT so I made sure I was ok to still train). I felt strong during my training and hit a lot of the same times and distances as I did last year when I BQed so I figured I had a decent shot at running fast again. That's a big nope.

So now, what did I learn from this race? What was the reason that I missed my time by 15 minutes? This is where my lack of experience and minimal racing hurt. Was it just that I didn't get enough training weeks in or was it that I went from running on a hilly section for 50% of my runs down to 0% of my runs on hills because of my injury? Was it just a bad day, maybe a bad taper? Who knows but if I do get a good training block in before my next marathon I will go out hard again and see what happens. It's painful lessons but fun for me!

I for one am very happy to see all these folks who blew up like me ! I'm slower with a PB at Boston of 3:09, but only a 3:15 BQ this year so I was in wave 2. I thought I'd paced well. I hit 1/2 way at 93:xx which was just where I was when I did my PB. My plan was to run the hills steady and not too hard, give up minutes and then resume running for the final 5. Well I blew chunks starting at mile 23 and had to walk-run-suffer. I collapsed after the finish line, briefly unresponsive and remember hearing the catcher comment, "he feels cold." My self diagnosis is dehydration, I didn't pee until 10 pm despite drinking over 100 oz of fluid afterwards.

I thought my training was decent, but maybe not. Next year I'll plan to lengthen the long run so I get at least 4 20-22 milers done. Notably we haven't had much in the way of warmer weather to aid in acclimation. Hindsight says I should run the hills slower and taken more liquids. I got 2 cups at each aid station, but there were fans handing out water bottles and I should've taken one or two. I got 800 calories in and 7 salt stick capsules, so I don't think it was a fuel issue. Overall Boston is hard, as it should be. I've been rewarded when I get it right and punished when I don't.

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Brian
“Eat and Drink, spin the legs and you’re going to effin push (today).” A Howe

I had 2 things working against me at Boston. I was red bib that blew up at mile 21(top of heartbreak).

I had spent so much mental and physical energy the last 4 years trying to qualify for Boston that I didn't really have the motivation to train for another marathon. Kind of a weird thing actually. I worked so hard to get there but I didn't want to but the work in to run well there.

The other factor is I got really sick in February and missed basically 4 weeks of training.

The fact that I was sick and un-motivated led to me running an awful race. I qualified with a 3:04 and ran 3:28 in Boston.

The actual race itself was a freaking awesome though. I drank a beer at mile 5, high fived little kids and all the girls(no kisses).

I told my wife and family that Boston would be my last marathon but I want to re-qualify now and run it motivated and healthy. The atmosphere there was incredible.

Another red bib blow-up story. Ran a 2:59 qualifier at a cool, flat, fall race. Trained well all winter (Michigan), felt I was in condition to go sub 3 but the course/temps got me.

Ran conservatively through 15mile but that meant putting on the brakes downhill, for 15 miles. Ran 16-20 Newtown hills solid. Got to 21 and was mentally prepared to cruise downhill to the finish but physically the QUADs were demolished. Every foot fall hurt. Walked remaining aid stations just trying to survive. Finished in a disappointing 3:07.

Boston is an epic race for so many reasons...despite the warnings, it still chewed me up and spit me out.

Her full race report is here

http://chrunners.net/...x.php?topic=122416.0

Full disclosure: she was NOT a Red Bib

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Replace "Michigan" with "Pennsylvania" and "3:07" with "3:10" and this is my exact race report from Boston 2017...

And as I said above, basically similar this year except I blew up much earlier.

Boston is a no-joke tough course. All that downhill is nearly impossible to truly prepare for, and then even if you survive that, the hills show up at the WORST place.

Boston is a no-joke tough course. All that downhill is nearly impossible to truly prepare for, and then even if you survive that, the hills show up at the WORST place.

Yup. The key to this race is holding back in the first 16 miles due to the gradual drop in elevation. The worst part is the big downhill out of Wellesley into Newton Lower Falls around miles 15-16, only to be followed by the long slow gradual climb over Rt 128/I-95 and continuing past the hospital. I've done Boston nine times and have always felt that this is the hardest part of the course, since your quads and lower back have taken a pounding from the downgrade the whole race and now this is the first shift in muscle groups. This is also the point where the lead pack usually breaks apart and whoever is still in contention starts to pull away.

The challenge for anyone running Boston is to stay in control during the first 16 since it so easy to go out too hard given the excitement of the day, the crowds, and the downhills fooling you into thinking that you are feeling great. That and the weather can be a mixed bag where Monday had a little of everything and last year was a cold wet slog for everyone. There have been years where it's been unseasonably warm and humid, which sucks for those who live and train in colder climates, plus there is no shade where the trees haven't returned their leaves, so there is nowhere to hide if its a bright sunny day.

Congrats to all STers who raced this year!

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

^^^ this, pretty much.

I BQ'd for 2017 with a 3:04 (didn't make the cut) and then a 3:02. It wasn't an A race for me so planned for it to be more a victory lap, but actually felt pretty fit going in to it. Really didn't want to be that guy who blows up so I spent a decent amount of time reading and coming up with my conservative race plan.

Heart rate was through the roof from mile 1 and never came back down. It just wasn't sustainable without seriously slowing down on the back half, coming in at 3:38. My worst (and most painful) marathon to date including three IMs.

I still haven't figured out what happened that day. Also had severe stomach cramps during the race that had never happened before and never since. Anyways, a few thoughts:
- I think the late morning start really affected me, even though I tried to adapt my routine around it
- Similarly, I think people underestimate how different the heat is later in the day compared to most early morning races
- As mentioned, trying to run easier downhill at the beginning (being conservative) is almost as hard on your quads as running harder/faster