I guess I should add, 2:59 was reasonable on a good day, I've ran 2:59 and 3:03 in 2011. Thought 3:30 was realistic and death marched to a 3:53. Amazing experience though, and my 3:03 was for 2013 so I'll be back!

Same story as everyone else. I threw in the towel after the half and took it slow to the finish. I also have the sunburn on the right side despite my best attempts to run on the right side of the road and grab what shade I could. Of course running on the right side resulted in wet feet giving me a blister compounding my slowness. Quads are pretty sore today, but thats about it. No regrets running this year and I plan to be back...

Another Badger who sweated it out! We actually had some hot weather earlier this spring, but the cold snap (overnight freezes) in the last 3 weeks or so made this a hard one. My sunscreen worked better - just have some bright red lines where my singlet moved. Gotta spray up before putting the shirt on next time...

Phrase of the day from watching the local news pre-race, "evaporative cooling". I never took so much water at aid stations before, but I didn't drink much. I'd hit the right side stations for Gatorade & water, drink the Gatorade, sip the water, then splash it in my face to get rid of the Gatorade slop & dump the rest on my head. Then veer over to the left side, grab 2 more waters, throw one down my back, and one on my chest. My feet got a bit shredded from running wet, but it kept me reasonably in the game...at least until mile 21.

We finished with the same time, what was your bib number?

Hey, you made it - that's all that counted on Monday.

Blame me too. I think I was the first one on this thread to predict a hot one. We were due.

I ran a 2:58 last year and in the starting coral adjusted to 3:10. Ended up in one of those ambulances after I went down right under the 25 mile marker. Very, very humbling experience. My first DNF and I have never ever walked in a "race" (including 2 ironmans) until that day. Will never forget.

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I *heart* weak, dumb ass people...

I know Boston was hot......I've raced IM Marathons in heat how was this so different? Just curious was it due to hills/heat/undertrained?

I've learned a lot more from this races than any good race I had

How true. I wouldn't have learned anything from hitting my expected time, other than that my training did what I thought it would - which of course I already expected.....

Grueling out the last few miles of this race reinforced that I'm capable of more than I knew. I also learned a lot about my hydration. I just do not drink enough in a marathon and need to tweak my approach to kill the last few miles better than I have been lately.

The biggest difference is intensity. An open marathon, that is raced, is done at a much higher intensity than an IM marathon.

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Portside Athletics Blog

So great to read these stories. Mine is very much the same. Broke at about mile 22. Reduced to the run/walk. Finished 3:23. Wanted to do sun 3 hours. So 24 mins off. But from what i am reading here that seems standard.

And like everyone else here, without the support of the crowd I would not have finished. I grabbed everything I could.

I had been sick for a few days prior and nearly didn't run at all (It took a phonecall from someone I respect and care about to persuade me). I am so glad I did now. The only thing better than a good race is an epic one, and this one was super epic. I'm so glad I got to be part of it with everyone, gusty performances all round.

p

4794. I bet 200 people passed me in the last 2 miles.

So, now the question is, where to run a fast, easy BQ in early fall.

My 3:13+ isn't going to cut it with 1 minute to spare, and there's no way they can make any adjustment for next years entry based on this years conditions. Haven't seen that topic broached yet here.

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I went out with my 3 teammates. We had a legitimate shot at the masters team title. On a cool day we all would have been targeting 2:40 but instead we aimed for a pace that was about 15-20 seconds slower. Unfortunately we ended up running more like 5-10 seconds slower for most of them. My teammates Jon and Robert (who is over 50 and so fast that he got to wear one of those special numbers on his back) drifted ahead for a few miles here and there. But they were always just a few yards ahead and on the whole we were together for about 15 miles or so. When we crossed Route 9 in Wellesley Hills, Jon seemed to falll off in the blink of an eye and it was down to Robert and I. At the 16 Mile mark, I looked back and Robert had fallen WAY back in just a very short stretch. I wasn't sure what to do but I figured he had really hit the wall and I was feeling good and we were going for the team title so I kept on, cautiously. I felt fine until the Fire Station turn on to Comm Ave. Then, suddenly, shit got real.

I kept it together until the bottom of heartbreak and then I started losing time. I was still passing people though. But by 23, I was really struggling. Every stride was like a knife to my quads. As is almost always the case with me at Boston, I had plenty of gas but could not take the pounding. Robert flew past me just before Coolidge Corner (I told him to keep right on going) and put 3 minutes on me in the last 2.5 miles. He finished 2nd in the 50-55 division. I struggled in with one of my team-competition opponents from the BAA. Only later did I learn that we had lost the Masters team title by all of one minute!

Basically this year was exactly the same race as 2004. Same temps almost right down to the degree. The only difference was that year I ran a 27 minute positive split. This year I only ran a 10 minute positive split. I feel comparatively lucky Finished in 2:51:30

I'm really enjoying the connections I'm making with all of your stories. I ran a 3:08:22 in Oakland 3 weeks ago on a 30 degree cooler day with a good amount of climbing during the first half of the race. I wasn't sure what would happen in Boston, so I was thankful for the weather making my decision for me, which was to expect a much slower time. So, I went out as comfortably fast as I could, but never got into any type of rhythm. Thankfully I didn't have the epic collapse I predicted beforehand! Even though I planned to take it easy and snap as many pics as possible and stop at every aid station to drink or dump water on my head, the heat slowly but surely cut my 7:30 - 7:45 pace to the mid 8's by the time I reached the Newton hills. Whoever said that the freeway overpass seemed like forever was right on! Nonetheless I high fived as many people as possible and felt the rush of a roaring crowd on Boylston. Now that was cool, despite a calf cramp that stopped me in my tracks as I attempted to sprint the last 800m. I recovered quickly enough to run it in from there. I thought I could make it under 3:30, but texted my wife on the Heartbreak ascent. Those were the precious 22 seconds I needed. Oh well, at least she knew I was safe! Now, I'm not sure what to expect from my body for Big Sur. . .

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Arnel

Okay it's day 3, what's everyone's recovery plan? My quads are still trashed after multiple foam rolls. I figure an easy bike ride today. I have a planned 5k with my daughter on Saturday and I hope I'll be able to move enough to keep up as my first planned run.

It's my calves that are killing me. I'm trying to get the knotting out, but nothing I've tried so far has worked. Next attempt will be appointment with the massage therapist that works in the store.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Drilled a hole in my big toe nail last night so I am feeling much better now. Quads are starting to come back and I will be out on the bike tonight. Masters class on Wednesday morning made my legs feel a lot better. I am thinking about signing up for the Cleveland marathon to avenge my performance if registration is still open.

My wife rolled me with a wheelchair out the door yesterday and put me on my bike so I could do four loops in CP.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

Finding that my calf responds best to being completely barefoot. Will probably rock a pair of Altra's in the store today to keep the body flat and neutral.

And trying to find a good race to BQ. Have to go back and this time want to earn my bib.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

One more to add to the chorus... I qualified with 2:52, was in about 2:58 shape for this one I figured. But I'm one who melts in a marathon if the temp tops 50 degrees. I can't do 10 mile training runs at easy pace in the conditions that were forecast. Was hoping maybe with all the water available I might survive longer than I did.

No luck. Took it out at easy run pace, covered myself in cold water every half mile or so from the start thanks to all the awesome folks on the course handing out bottles. Didn't matter. Despite four 20+ training runs that were nice and easy at the same pace I was running Monday, I was down to a shuffle by 8 miles and walking by 11. Called it a day when I got to some friends watching at 18 after walking most of the next 7 miles. First DNF in 15 years and 20 or so marathons. Hadn't even run one more than 2 minutes positive in that time. But just didn't have it in me to walk another 8 miles.

Even running as slow and little as I did - and walking down the huge hill in mile 16, my quads are still destroyed. Last time I ran Boston I couldn't run on them for a month they were still so sore. I don't think they're quite that bad this time - hope to spin on the bike today and hopefully take a shot at running again in a week or so.

Are you my twin?? I drilled a hole in my right big toe nail too, and I went to Masters last night too! With same results - pain is going away. Bike on the trainer for an hour this morning, will jog slowly tonight. you 2?

Well, if we are twins then we are definitely paternal only since my hole is in my left big toe. Have masters again Friday so I won't run until Saturday.

I can finally go down stairs today without lurching stiff-legged like a drunken Frankenstein.

I'm hearing a lot of chatter about targeting the Erie Marathon - its within the qualifying period.

May as well pile on with another story. Qualified with a Fall 3:13 (3:08 PB from a couple years ago). Trained my ass off all winter and had the best training cycle of my life. Consistency? Check. Miles? Check. Quality? Check. Running with really fast local dudes and hanging on? Check. Not getting sick despite 3 kids in school? Check.

Was *so* ready for my first Sub-3 to be Boston.

[sound of air escaping balloon]

My first sign that this was not going to go well was when I checked my flight Friday morning only to see that an Air Canada pilot "strike" had cancelled my flight. Many rebooked flights later (and an overnight in Toronto) and I landed in Boston at Noon on Saturday. I stepped outside and said "well there goes Sub-3!" I toyed with the idea of backing it off to a slight PB instead, but still had visions of the med tent.

Said screw it. Went to Fenway and watched a game, spent more time at the expo than I normally would have, went out for dinner, beers, etc.

As for the race itself? At Athlete's village, I pitched the idea of running the whole race together with two running buddies from Edmonton. We'd have fun, keep an eye on each other and just enjoy the course. One agreed, one said he'd play it by ear. He started in the corral behind us with visions of still hitting it, but within a KM or two he jogged by, said "screw it!" and joined us.

We jogged in a a 3:52. High-fived everyone in sight, drank beers on the course, stopped for a couple kisses, ate twizzlers, popsicles and freezies and sprinted for the timing mats to "beat" each other. On Boylston, two of us just about assumed the sprint start position to race for the finish line but decided to jog it in as a trio instead.

Saw a *lot* of carnage out there. People in the med tent at Mile 4(!), people walking everywhere, people on stretchers with oxygen, etc. Boston is an interesting race, because everyone has a bib on their chest that tells you precisely how fast they are (or were), so when you glance over at someone walking, you can pretty easily figure out how badly they blew.

Not everyone blew up though - a local fast dude was targeting a 2:35. He backed off and was able to run a 2:46 - including pretty much an even split.

Fortunately it was just a slightly longer training run for me - so now I just need to figure out what to do next.

Congrats to everyone that even tried!