Marathon Monday
Monday was the Marathon. I got a sort of late start, and didn’t leave the finish line until 7:15. I made to the starting line in Hopkinton just about two hours later. It was quite cold. Had to wear my early spring jersey, gloves, and shoe covers. There were a lot of bikes out on the route. Moseyed around Hopkinton for a while, then rode back. Tailwind on the way out, headwind on the way back. Brrr. Even though the route isn’t very nice, it’s a good day to do it since parking is banned and it’s the only day of the year you can be sure that the road has been swept of debris. Except in Natick which never cleans their streets for some reason. Got delayed a short bit on the way back on Heartbreak Hill for a youth race. That was pretty cool. There is just a huge number of side events all the way along the route.
Watched the race on tv. Channel 5 did the best job, as usual, with Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson as commentators. Uta Pippig stopped in for a bit as well. Channel 4 scored a new low with some clown standing by the side of the road trying to interview runners at, like, mile 12. Darting out into the crowd of runners (the Boston Marathon has huge numbers of runners) and trying to interview them while running. I think I’d smack him.
The millions of spectators all go for beers after the race, and many of them end up at the bar down on the corner. (Luckily, the one next door is closed, but there’s still the one down the street.) Some drunken idiot was walking away from the bar, talking on a cell phone, stopped in the front garden of the building, puked four or five times, then walked away finishing the cell call. At least this time it was the garden in front of the other half of the building, not in front of my window. The projectile colouring cross referenced with the bar menu leads me to conclude it was Killian’s Irish Red.
You know, I really like this marathon. (By “this” I mean the Boston Marathon in general, not necessarily the 2006 Boston Marathon) It’s one of two events held in Boston that are truly top of the order, world class events. (The other is the Fourth of July celebration.) It’s telling, I think, that both of these are privately run and financed events. The mayor is not allowed to say anything or give away any medals, he’s only allowed to stand there. In the back. Heh. For marathons, I think Boston, NYC, and Chicago are the three noteworthy ones in the US. Beyond that, I’m led to believe London and Berlin are two other top-notch ones. (There may be others, but it’s not an event I follow.) But there really is something special about the Boston one, even the runners say so, and I don’t think it’s just because they’re on the spot and have no choice but to say so.
The commentators were talking about bit about Ernst van Dyk, the men’s wheelchair winner, and his training regimen. The more they talked, the more it sounded like Lance Armstrong. Just a total, single minded, driving focus, and a nearly inhumane training schedule. But I guess that’s how you win six Boston Marathons in a row. I got to see one of the wheelchairs up close. Whoa! Those are cool machines! Very bike like. Maybe that’s why I like watching the wheelchair racers better than the running racers.
The Hoyts were there again, for the 25th year. They’ve got their own starting spot marked but my photo of it didn’t come out.
Kenyans won both the men’s a women’s running race. I can say without any fear of contradiction, that the Kenyan national anthem sucks. Switzerland is nice if a little dirge like, South Africa is okay, but Kenya…ick.
Anyway, lots of good pictures and coverage at the Globe Less good coverage at the Herald, but this one is good.
And not a single sighting of GoldenPalace.com!!! Hurray!
