scoolover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2006
My girlfriend and I went to Newton, MA on Saturday and stayed at the hotel at the end of the D subway line at Riverside station. We walked to the station and went to Boston for some touring around. She went to college in Boston so it's pretty easy.
Good sleep Sat night.
Up at 5:20am to catch the 6am train to Boston. The night before it took 45 minutes. This morning it took about 20.
Having scouted the area and researched the whole thing, I had a plan. For the men's trials in November I had a plan but it was tough to execute. This time all went well. We got to the spot I wanted an hour and a half before the runners would get there. We were literally the first ones there. After going for something to eat in Cambridge we went back and there were about 15 people there. It was a big intersection so it was no problem. We set up and waited. I was wearing my Goofy had and two 50 in 50 guys started chatting and they ran the full this year at Disney. They were impressed with my maps of the area and the fact that I had the roster for all tha ladies running.
Anyway, fast forward; by the time the runners got to us for the first time (about 3.5 miles) there were a few thousand people there going nuts. It was really cool. I got some great pictures to redeem myself from the men's trials where I took awful ones.
You can probably look up the detailed results somewhere but here is a quick recap from my perspective:
My picks were Kastor, Russell and O'Neill. Anyway by the 3.5 mile mark, the leader was Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Who? She was in front by a minute after 3.5 miles. The first chase pack had all the big guns. Kastor, Russell, O'Neill, Akor, Dryer and others. The order stayed like that for a while. By the thirs of four laps they had spread out and Kastor and Russell were the only ones in the first chase pack. Surprisingly, Lewy-Boulet was still in the lead by a good margin. I thought for sure that she would slow. By the start of lap 4 (of 4) Kastor had over taken her.
By now we were near the finish line which was about 1.5 miles from where we started. We tried to secure some VIP seating but were thwarted. We blended in about 200 meters from the finish line and waited. As we waited for the leaders, the last place girl came through and was holding her right arm by her side. She kept looking back to make sure she wasn't going to get lapped. The crowd cheered very loudly for her and I think she thought the leaders were comming. I think that she had tears in her eyes which brought tears to mine. She was fighting with everything she had to not get lapped despite an obvious injury. That was awesome.
Joan Samuelson was there running her 5th qualifier. She is a New England girl and you could tell. She must have thought the crowds were crazy because as she would approach the roar would get 2 or 3 times as loud as it already was. That was also cool.
As was no surprise, Dena Kastor was the first to arrive. She grabbed a flag with about 1/4 mile to go and ran with it. She had a nice smile on her face. Lewy-Boulet (who had the 43 fastest qualifier) held on for second and Blake Russell who was passed in 04 by three people in the final mile to miss the last olympics held on for third. The battle for the alternate position was great. They were seperated by seconds at the finish (not sure who).
After I happened to run into my college buddy who was running the marathon on Monday. He is a BAA member and an elite marathoner. I asked him his goals and he said, "top 30 and top 10 american". I tracked him during his run and he ended up 23rd overall. I'm not sure of his american place. He ran a 2:24:31! Wow.
We went to the expo which was incredible. We got a picture with Mr. Hoyt. There were so many vendors there that we didn't see them all. It got crowded so we left. The thing was huge. Even as a Disney smob, I have to admit that Disney doesn't hold a candle to this thing.
That was pretty much it. We walked around Boston for a while and left the city around 3pm
Fenway on Saturday night. Even though they suck I can respect the tradition enough to post this picture.
A picture that I snapped as I was walking to our viewing spot
What our corner looked like an hour before the race
The leader at mile 6
The chase group at mile 6
Some chick was must have been smitten with me at mile 6.
The girl that didn't want to get lapped
Another mile 6 (or 11) pick. All the big names in this group. #1 Kastor, #5 Akor, # 17 Russell, # 10 ONeill, #2 Dryer
This was my corner after the crowds arrived.
I snapped off this next sequence of pictures on the Mass Ave bridge around mile 15. It only looks like I'm in the middle of the street. I swear I wasn't.
400 Meters out
200 Meters out
Another personal favorite
Mr Hoyt, Kathy and Me
I was hoping she would come to us but that was it.
Joan Samuelson
Good sleep Sat night.
Up at 5:20am to catch the 6am train to Boston. The night before it took 45 minutes. This morning it took about 20.
Having scouted the area and researched the whole thing, I had a plan. For the men's trials in November I had a plan but it was tough to execute. This time all went well. We got to the spot I wanted an hour and a half before the runners would get there. We were literally the first ones there. After going for something to eat in Cambridge we went back and there were about 15 people there. It was a big intersection so it was no problem. We set up and waited. I was wearing my Goofy had and two 50 in 50 guys started chatting and they ran the full this year at Disney. They were impressed with my maps of the area and the fact that I had the roster for all tha ladies running.
Anyway, fast forward; by the time the runners got to us for the first time (about 3.5 miles) there were a few thousand people there going nuts. It was really cool. I got some great pictures to redeem myself from the men's trials where I took awful ones.
You can probably look up the detailed results somewhere but here is a quick recap from my perspective:
My picks were Kastor, Russell and O'Neill. Anyway by the 3.5 mile mark, the leader was Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Who? She was in front by a minute after 3.5 miles. The first chase pack had all the big guns. Kastor, Russell, O'Neill, Akor, Dryer and others. The order stayed like that for a while. By the thirs of four laps they had spread out and Kastor and Russell were the only ones in the first chase pack. Surprisingly, Lewy-Boulet was still in the lead by a good margin. I thought for sure that she would slow. By the start of lap 4 (of 4) Kastor had over taken her.
By now we were near the finish line which was about 1.5 miles from where we started. We tried to secure some VIP seating but were thwarted. We blended in about 200 meters from the finish line and waited. As we waited for the leaders, the last place girl came through and was holding her right arm by her side. She kept looking back to make sure she wasn't going to get lapped. The crowd cheered very loudly for her and I think she thought the leaders were comming. I think that she had tears in her eyes which brought tears to mine. She was fighting with everything she had to not get lapped despite an obvious injury. That was awesome.
Joan Samuelson was there running her 5th qualifier. She is a New England girl and you could tell. She must have thought the crowds were crazy because as she would approach the roar would get 2 or 3 times as loud as it already was. That was also cool.
As was no surprise, Dena Kastor was the first to arrive. She grabbed a flag with about 1/4 mile to go and ran with it. She had a nice smile on her face. Lewy-Boulet (who had the 43 fastest qualifier) held on for second and Blake Russell who was passed in 04 by three people in the final mile to miss the last olympics held on for third. The battle for the alternate position was great. They were seperated by seconds at the finish (not sure who).
After I happened to run into my college buddy who was running the marathon on Monday. He is a BAA member and an elite marathoner. I asked him his goals and he said, "top 30 and top 10 american". I tracked him during his run and he ended up 23rd overall. I'm not sure of his american place. He ran a 2:24:31! Wow.
We went to the expo which was incredible. We got a picture with Mr. Hoyt. There were so many vendors there that we didn't see them all. It got crowded so we left. The thing was huge. Even as a Disney smob, I have to admit that Disney doesn't hold a candle to this thing.
That was pretty much it. We walked around Boston for a while and left the city around 3pm
Fenway on Saturday night. Even though they suck I can respect the tradition enough to post this picture.
A picture that I snapped as I was walking to our viewing spot
What our corner looked like an hour before the race
The leader at mile 6
The chase group at mile 6
Some chick was must have been smitten with me at mile 6.
The girl that didn't want to get lapped
Another mile 6 (or 11) pick. All the big names in this group. #1 Kastor, #5 Akor, # 17 Russell, # 10 ONeill, #2 Dryer
This was my corner after the crowds arrived.
I snapped off this next sequence of pictures on the Mass Ave bridge around mile 15. It only looks like I'm in the middle of the street. I swear I wasn't.
400 Meters out
200 Meters out
Another personal favorite
Mr Hoyt, Kathy and Me
I was hoping she would come to us but that was it.
Joan Samuelson
