Boston Marathon - Mark Stickley
Bob's friend Ed, who graciously let us crash on his hotel floor, accompanied me to the start. He was running too and, lucky for me, he had run Boston before. But neither he, nor any of the other Boston veterans, were prepared for the next few hours.
Eight hundred buses to transport the runners to the start in Hopkinton. A sea of humanity in line for the buses - thankfully it moved rather quickly - and a sea of humanity in line to enter the makeshift "athletes' village" on the football field at Hop-kinton High School.
We arrived at nine - three hours to go. But who could relax in such an atmosphere? Wall-to-wall people and mud. Fortu-nately, there was plenty of hot coffee and cold water in the tents. But a comfortable place to sit? Forget it. The concern was making sure we didn't get trapped in the back of the crowd and end up starting in the back of the pack. In short, the athletes' village was not as organized as we had been led to believe. Just over an hour before race time - where did the time go? - we were released from the athletes' village. After a brief panic, we found the bus on which we were to drop off our sweats so they could be hauled to the finish line.
An hour before race time and we were stripping down to our race skivvies.
Fortunately, Bob, a veteran of the 95th version of the race, had prepared me for this. "Take an old pair of sweats to keep on until you get to the starting line," he had told me weeks before. "Then toss 'em." Excellent advice, which I heeded will-ingly.
Fortunately, the day had warmed considerably since our 6 a.m. departure. The 50-degree temperature was perfect, as was the clear sky. Only a strong headwind made the day less than ideal. But the warm temperatures meant I had worn the wrong hat. It proved to be my only tactical error, aside from not enough training. I always wear a hat when I run, partly to avoid sunburn where my head is growing through my hair. But on this day I went hatless - the winter cap I took to the start proved too warm. And sure enough, my head got sunburned.
It probably cost me numerous minutes, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Standing at the start for some 20 minutes, I re-evaluated my
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