I’m training to run Boston for the first time. I was looking at the topography map today and it looks like it should be a really fast race, since on average you lose about 400 feet of elevation. I had heard it was actually a “difficult marathon”. Any veterans want to comment?? And yes I did see the one hill at 21 miles.
As a “veteran” of one Boston Marathon, I would recommend training on a lot of downhills. Your quads will get beat up BAD in this race. Also, pace yourself easy during the start. The first mile or so is downhill and it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and go out too fast. This course will definitely chew up those who haven’t paced themselves well throughout and who haven’t done their homework and trained a lot on hills - both up and down.
Have a great race and enjoy the show!
I’ve done Boston 4 times.
Pacing? Depends. If this is your first Boston, many just want to enjoy (and you should) vs. throwing down a PR. It is basically downhill until the girls at Wellsley (the halfway mark), but you really pay for this later since you are running with people your same speed all around, pumped up, downhill etc. The actual “hills” are nothing. Really.
My advice - hit the 1/2 the same as any other mary - NO faster. It will seem very easy since it was downhill. Then, use the girls energy at Wellsley (you will see what I mean) and slowly start to pick it up. AFTER you crest Heartbreak Hill, let her rip for the next 5. The last mile or so and the turn on Boyleston you will feel no pain with major crowds.
Enjoy!
Ditto what the others said. As well, most people qualify on courses that are a lot flatter than Boston. If you qualified on a flat course then, yes, Boston would be classified as a “difficult” (a.k.a. slower) marathon course. If you have a lot of downhill running in your legs, have a meaningful understanding of your goal pace, don’t go crazy in the first half when it’s more downhill, and have decent weather, it’s not a super-hard course. Even if you control what you can, the weather will often conspire against you. The bottom line is even with great weather Boston will never be as fast as a flat course. But it is a blast. Have fun.
Ditto on running lots of downhill. My one attempt at Boston was the easiest first half marathon ever followed by a 13 mile shuffle because my quads were tight. The first half loses a lot of elevation, but it is a rolling loss, not a nice gradual slope, so the downhills pound you. My heart rate was really low, but it didn’t matter.
I have only one good memory of the Boston Marathon: Wesleyan College. 
Chad
I have only one good memory of the Boston Marathon: Wesleyan College.
You might have gone slightly off course - Wesleyan is in Connecticut
This is a cool Boston spreadsheet that has a lot of useful info on it, including a very good elevation map and useful pacing tools.
http://www.box.net/public/75o3rqgty9
As others have said, the downhills will get to your quads if you haven’t trained for them. On my first Boston it was the long downhill at mile 15.5, right before you pass over 128 (I think) and start the first of the Newton hills that I really noticed the pounding my legs had taken. The run from the top of Heartbreak to the finish line was one of the more painful experiences I’ve had. Not as bad last year knowing what to expect and training for it.
Mike
all of these reply’s have been really helpful. That spreadsheet is amazing, that should keep me busy on my flight from california
This is a cool Boston spreadsheet that has a lot of useful info on it, including a very good elevation map and useful pacing tools.
http://www.box.net/public/75o3rqgty9
As others have said, the downhills will get to your quads if you haven’t trained for them. On my first Boston it was the long downhill at mile 15.5, right before you pass over 128 (I think) and start the first of the Newton hills that I really noticed the pounding my legs had taken. The run from the top of Heartbreak to the finish line was one of the more painful experiences I’ve had. Not as bad last year knowing what to expect and training for it.
Mike
Thanks for that post. Some good info there. I’ll be running my first Boston this year and expect to go out relatively conservatively.
Thanks for the link. That sheet is awesome!
Take clothes for every condition, Boston in April is very unpredictable! You could get 85 degrees or 40 degrees and a nor’easter storm.
does the “bag system” work? will I actually get back the clothes that I strip off before the race starts?
I’ve had good luck getting my bag back the past two years.
Go down to Goodwill (or something similar). Buy a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt for $3 each. Wear those out to the starting corrals. 2 to 3 min before the gun, strip off the Goodwill clothes and drop them on the other side of the barrier, off the race course. After everyone has left the starting area, volunteers come through and collect the clothes and donate them to charity.
Bring a garbage bag or $5 rain poncho in case it rains. Drop this on the side of the course next to your clothes. Some folks run with them for the first mile, but I don’t like the idea of littering the course.
Mike
You’ll get your bag back, it just depends when you finish and how crowded the lines are. I always seem to get the bus that’s filled with senior citizen volunteers…Not that there’s anything wrong with it!
Rod, are you planning to try to qualify this year again?
Nah - not unless I do so at IMWI which is highly unlikely since I’m focusing on road racing this year (and that I’d need to over 15 mins off at that!).
It did seem like I was out there a really long time.
Somebody remind me the name of that all-girls school along the route. They rocked.
Chad
Ha ha! It’s Wellesley … no wonder you got them mixed up, the names are almost the same, and who has time to think about the name of the school right then, anyhow?