Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Boston Marathon Essential Runner's Guide
2.2k Plays10 days ago
In this series, we dive into some of the world's biggest marathons to give advice and tips for runners taking part.
Boston Marathon is more than just a race for many people, it's a celebration of the effort required to get in through the tough qualifier process. As a result, Boston is a hive of activity for the whole weekend, with hundreds of events, pop-ups and celebrations. In this video, Tom and Kieran talk about their experiences of the race and discuss what you can expect on the the day.
If you're running Boston, give it a listen.
Big thanks to Fear of Tigers for the killer intro music. You can listen to more of his stuff over at https://www.patreon.com/fearoftigers
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey Tommy from the Run Testers and welcome back to the Run Testers
Focus on Boston Marathon
00:00:04
Speaker
podcast. In this episode we're talking about Boston Marathon. So this is part of our series of race guides that we're going to be doing for a number of the big marathons where we'll be explaining everything we know about those marathons from doing them in the past and hopefully giving you some useful tips and advice for you taking part in it as well.
00:00:23
Speaker
Make sure that you read all of the information that you get from Boston Marathon about the race, because even though the information that we give in this podcast is accurate based on our knowledge, there might be changes to some of the information in there.
Casual Conversation & Marathon Plans
00:00:35
Speaker
Right, let's dive in and do the podcast.
00:00:42
Speaker
All right, mate, how doing? Really good, thanks. Yeah, you Not bad. Can't complain. now covered up Coming up to marathon marathon season. so yeah London soon. but yeah yeah I think I might do a second one.
00:01:00
Speaker
but ah It's just a training run but for Manchester. wouldn't even class this marathon season for me. It's just um getting through it. It's some dignity. Not shooting for ah for a PB then at Manchester?
00:01:14
Speaker
Absolutely not. i'm sure I'm just shooting to beat my mates. Normally it's quite easy, but they've been training lot harder than I have at the moment. Are they going to pushing you? Yeah, so it could be quite a depressing year for me, finally get beaten by my mates from Lincolnshire.
00:01:27
Speaker
Manchester's a good race though, and they've changed the finish, right? So now you're finishing in town as well. so Yeah, thatd be that's a nice touch to it I'm looking forward to having that as my first one. I think it's going to super interesting to see how it fares that they've popped it on the same weekend.
00:01:42
Speaker
yeah Yeah, that is an interesting one. yeah we'll so cause I'll see when I get there. I don't know if Manchester normally fe fills up completely. um It's pretty popular now, isn't it?
00:01:54
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. is i think it's and Although there is a couple of hills, I think it should be fairly fast. i'm Yeah, it's not the most scenic, but I think you can once you're out of a few twisty-turny bits. The first bit can be quite narrow. I think we've got to put it through almost like crowd control in some sections, but then it opens up and you can run. there's a few hills to watch out for, about mile 16, I think. But yeah, nothing like the hills we're going to discuss for this No, the actual marathon that we're talking about.
Boston Marathon Insights
00:02:21
Speaker
yeah so So this podcast video is part of our marathon guide series and we're starting off with a bigger one. So we've done London, but this one is Boston, where I think and me, the only two done Boston out of their ancestors.
00:02:34
Speaker
yeah um yeah And how long ago was it when you did it? So I did it 10 years ago. it's my 10 year anniversary of doing Boston. so Yeah. It seems like a long time ago. I did it after coming out of, ah did the Marathon du Sable and then it was something like five days later I flew and did Boston.
00:02:57
Speaker
And then i came back and I think a week later I did London. So i did like basically equivalent of seven marathons. I think it was inside 20 days. crap. And Boston was in the middle of it.
00:03:07
Speaker
Yeah. Was this just before your sub three days? ah Did I? No, I think I'd already done. i did my after my first sub three. So, ive yeah, I think that was maybe my sub three was how I qualified for it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:21
Speaker
Which I'd done in London and then qualified for Boston. I just thought it's one of those races that when you get the opportunity, if you've qualified, I always think yeah I'm going to take it because I never know if it will ever happen again. Yeah, yeah. It's it's a risk, isn't it? That's why I did as soon as I i got in because I definitely couldn't get in this year.
00:03:35
Speaker
Well, let's... So we're talking in this pod about Boston Marathon. The idea is that we're going to talk through everything we can think of for the race so that people listening or watching this who are planning on doing Boston can get some useful insights ah into what they can expect on the weekend and for the race itself.
00:03:54
Speaker
I didn't mention this in the London one, but all the information that we give in this video and podcast do still read the guide that the um the Boston Marathon sent out to you because they might change
Boston Marathon Experience
00:04:06
Speaker
things. We might have things slightly wrong. So don't take everything in this as gospel. Look at the start times, look at your waves, all those sorts of things.
00:04:12
Speaker
So a bit of a history on Boston Marathon. So the Boston Marathon is, let's say one of the most revered and wanted to do marathons in the world. um It's been around since 1897, apparently. like Did you know that?
00:04:25
Speaker
I didn't. I mean, i it's the 129th. running of it this year isn't it I think somewhere the maths probably stacks up to that i don't know yeah I put two two together I forgot I just ignored that number on the on all of the advertising but it's a very old race and it's it's It's probably, mean, the main reason that it's so popular is because it's a qualifying, and you have to qualify to get in. So it's it's almost like a a seal of ah effort, what to to do in what Boston Marathon, which is why you see so many people wearing their Boston Marathon jackets and tops and around all the time.
00:04:59
Speaker
Yeah, so it's a badge of honour, isn't mean, it's one that, yeah, you've kind of worked so hard to get that qualifying time that the race, often as well, I think people don't necessarily go and run their fastest times in Boston because it's not just the nature of the race. You've got the time. Yeah, and it's like, this is almost like the sort celebration lap for some people, I think. You get there and try and enjoy the process of being in Boston. So, yeah, it's a big event and you've definitely earned it. So it's important.
00:05:26
Speaker
Big time, big time. And I speak to Nick about this sometimes. And Nick's not that bothered about Boston because obviously his time is so much quicker than the Boston qualifying times. that It doesn't matter to him. He can do any year he wants. And it's not like a big deal. But I think for for a lot of people, a big percentage of the people doing it, getting that time is is a driving force. And it often is why they're training, just to get to get into it. And it's ah it's often why you see people so annoyed that they don't quite get in because qualifying times change a little bit. um but we will we will talk about how to get in and the qualifying times and everything ah towards the end of this so people know how how to get in because the first chances are most people listening to this who are actually do in Boston um so they'll have the qualifying time they'll be ready to ready to do it so Boston is it's a pretty big marathon but it's not as big as some of the some of the other majors so if you look at things like London and and Berlin and New York.
00:06:15
Speaker
It doesn't have anywhere near the same number of people. though I think its it sits at around 30,000 that take part. I haven't got the exact number it took part last year. um So it's a bit smaller than those ones, but it's very much it's it's made up of qualifiers. um And one of the One of the things you notice is it doesn't actually have that many people signing up. If you look at London, and because it's a ballot, you get you know almost 900,000 people signing up.
00:06:38
Speaker
The actual qualifier at the entries for Boston is pretty close to the the number of people that actually ended up running it because you know you have to qualify to get in. So yeah it's a little bit of a smaller the smaller one. it's still It's still a big marathon, but it definitely ah has a different vibe to it than a lot of the other marathons as well, um I find. don't if you you'd think that as well.
00:06:58
Speaker
Yeah, as I said, that there is that there is that kind of celebration. And, you know, everyone who's going there knows that they've worked very hard to get there. and I think that lends it a certain kind of kudos and a certain, and yeah, there's just a certain atmosphere to the whole thing. i also just think the setting of the city feels different to other city marathons I've done.
00:07:17
Speaker
You know, Boston's still a big city, but it feels like the whole city has taken over. You know, London, the marathon happens in pockets and you do feel it. And particularly on race day, you obviously notice it, but then it dissipates quite quickly outside of where the the yeah actions have in Boston. I felt on that weekend, you know, all the stores, all the streets, it it felt very much more like it it kind of took over the whole city.
00:07:39
Speaker
yeah And it has this kind of, yeah, it has this history. It has this kind of legend that goes with it. It's a sort of magnetic effect, isn't it? Where obviously ah everybody wants to do London as a bucket list thing. Everybody who lives in New York wants to do New York Marathon. But Boston is is it's different than the other majors because of this qualifying time to get into it. So if you've got through few of the majors, you almost have to do it to sort of complete it.
00:08:05
Speaker
Whereas a lot of people who do London don't have any aspirations of doing any other majors. They just want to do London. Yeah. Yeah, it it was the first, I don't really know, it was almost like after I'd done a couple of marathons and started to get quicker times, I heard about this race, you know, as a new marathon or a new runner, heard about this race that had this qualifying time and all of a sudden it just asked the question,
Race Logistics & Preparation
00:08:24
Speaker
am I good enough? You know, and I think that gives you a personal target and the fact they're all kind of age rated means that you can, you know, there are different goals for people and it feels very sort of personal. can i Can I go as fast or fast enough? So it's a, yeah, it sets a different challenge in training and racing.
00:08:38
Speaker
and Well, let' that's um we're going to follow the same format we did for London and we're going to do that for all of these. But another bit I did mention, we did mention we did talk about at the end of the London london podcast, um is make sure you download the app, make sure you go to the website because Boston Marathon have a very good app. which is you can use for all the information that you about about the race but also ah for tracking as well so it's worth getting that now um so you don't suddenly realize you've got to get it on the day um and also Boston Marathon has an athlete village part of their website that has all the information you need to know about the race and everything and how you sign up and and that sort thing
00:09:24
Speaker
So let's start off with ah where we what we did last time, which is um before the race. So there's a couple of things we spoke about with London, which is where do you stay in in Boston, it's especially you're coming from outside of Boston, which many, many people do, obviously, when when when they're doing Boston and the expo as well. So let's let's talk about Boston as a city for visiting.
00:09:46
Speaker
where Where did you stay when you did it? Do you remember? I stayed in one of the big hotels in downtown. i i So I was not too far from A, where you get the buses to go to the start line, but also I was probably a short cab ride away from the finish as well. And it felt kind of nice and manageable. I know so some people will talk about staying further out and you've got the option of staying at the start. This is an out and back marathon, of course. So it's not out and back, sorry. It's a point to point marathon.
00:10:12
Speaker
which means that you're going to start a long way from the finish. So some people maybe think about starting out nearer or or staying nearer the start where it's easier to access that. I personally feel like I wanted to be in the city, particularly as a visitor, and I much prefer being close to the finish than the start. I think that's the best way around to do it. i One thing I did remember is think coming from Europe, US hotels do feel quite pricey. If i you know if you were doing this, I would be...
00:10:37
Speaker
if if you're If you're watching this now, you've probably already booked your hotel, but book early if you're thinking about doing it in a subsequent year, get in there early and and find somewhere. How about you? Where did you stay down? So I went on my own, so I was trying to save a bit of cash. So I stayed a bit further out. It was about 30 minutes.
00:10:55
Speaker
Is it Tube? Underground? Metro? What's it called in Boston? I remember. But it was about a 30-minute ride out, and it was so easy. I think Boston is a very good city for public transport. And I definitely say, but unlike some marathons like London, where the start and the expo and the finish are all in different places, Boston is very centralised. So as long as you get into the centre pretty easily...
00:11:17
Speaker
you're good you're good because it's all around there anyway so and if you're trying save a bit money you can't can go further out you don't have to worry about going a bit further out is very easy to get in the tubes are running really early on the day and i had no problems at all with transport whole time i was there so it's definitely an easy access marathon and yeah i i if you are trying save bit cash definitely look bit further out because it does get very pricey Another reason I've seen, i went on my own as well. I saw a friend came and met me from New York. But if you're traveling with a family or you've got people who might want to watch, I didn't have this experience, but I've seen people say that it's it's easier if they stay further out because you can't, well, the road closures make it complicated to go and view. So if you're coming from out in to watch bits and pieces, it's a bit easier than trying to get out in cars. So that's maybe another factor if you've got people who want to watch on course. But...
00:12:05
Speaker
Yeah, we'll talk a bit about spectators later because it is a bit of an odd marathon for spectators for because it's a big long line, basically. So it's not like London where you can strategically go around to different points.
00:12:17
Speaker
So the other thing as well is the expo. um So the expo is at the John Behin's Veterans Memorial Convention Centre, which is but slap bang in the middle near the finish line, and which is really nice because that's not very common with with marathons. Normally they put it in ah in a centre or something that's a bit further out because they need the space and it's obviously quite expensive to have that space but in for for boston marathon it's all in that area and it's the same area that everything is happening so you can go to the expo you can get your stuff then you can go down to look at all of the events on and you can go around all the running shops and everything like that so it's really nicely placed in the middle and very convenient and from what i remember the expo it's a very impressive expo as well there's a lot yeah there's lot of stuff going on as you'd expect from boston marathon
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, I remember it being, I can't remember which day I went on. It obviously runs Friday and Saturday, isn't it, this one? because Yeah. and Is it on Sunday as well? Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, because you're racing on Monday, which is a bit different as well.
00:13:13
Speaker
Normally, races often are on the Sunday. I don't remember it being too busy as well. I remember it being quite well organised. Yeah, it was um if it felt quite sort stress-free. Maybe I was just at the the quiet time, but... No, I think it was when I went, and I think that is because it's in that location, because people are, you know, you're not taking a big trip for half an hour to get there, and it's, you know, everyone wants to get there as quick, get out of the way.
00:13:37
Speaker
This one, you can go, I'll go for dinner, I'll go shopping, I'll nip in while I'm while i'm there. So it's a nice, it's and a much more relaxed place. experience i think definitely than you know london where you've got to take a big journey out to a place that you're never going to go again yeah cool so yeah uh the expo as with all expos make sure you you take all your information you need to pick up your bib i believe you need id with you to do that I remember it being a very smooth procedure to to pick up your stuff, very nice and simple, no issues from that side of things.
00:14:08
Speaker
And then afterwards, there's loads and like as you'd expect from Boston Marathon, there's a lot of brands there that are showcasing all of their stuff. There's a lot of talks going on. um There's loads of like little events and things you can join in with. There's lots of freebies I remember when picking up when I was there.
00:14:24
Speaker
And the other thing as well about Boston is every marathon you have like a big store to go and buy memorabilia and stuff and souvenirs. But Boston is something else when it comes to people buying memorabilia because it's Boston.
00:14:38
Speaker
ah ah the The guys make fun of me quite a bit because I bought so much stuff from Boston. But like you said at the start, it it's because it's like a badge, isn't it? yeah you're not yeah You're not just getting a top because you go, I want to remember this nice day. It's like, I want to prove that I've done Boston. I want people to see that I've done Boston. Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
And I think that's the one thing I don't often buy the, more very rarely will buy, like the marathon jacket. But with Boston, you know I always, the year I did it, they didn't have the blue and yellow jacket, which I really wanted. That was kind of the classic design.
00:15:09
Speaker
can't remember. We got, like I think it's like a purple and orange. It was sort of a slightly wild design. But yeah, that's one where i have bought the jacket and other bits and pieces of you know just to have that. So it's one of those that people with, yeah, if you go and wear it around, people know you've done it. It it is a bit of a badge of honour.
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah. And it's, it's normally really nice kit. Quite often when you go to marathons, the, the kit will generally be, you know, the brand that's sponsoring it. They'll just have badged some of, some of their running kit, but Boston seems to really put a lot of effort in. I've got, I run a lot of my Boston stuff cause it's really nice kit.
00:15:41
Speaker
Um, and I actually she got there that they tend to do, I'm assuming they do this most years, but that you can print some, your name on the the jacket. yeah Um, and I did that. I've got, I've got run tester because I didn't have enough, uh, characters.
00:15:55
Speaker
It doesn't quite work. You're not allowed to, you weren't going to pay for the S. No, it didn't have enough space on it. I think it just says run tester. I couldn't even like get that that on the honour.
00:16:09
Speaker
So yeah, so the expo is really good. And when you come out the expo, there's a street, I'm trying to remember what it's called now. It's called Newbury Street, which is the street where... Everything is happening. It's all of the brands there, Tracksmith, ah Rabbit, all of all of the big brands, that they all have either pop-ups or an actual store on on that on that road. And it is buzzing.
00:16:30
Speaker
It's just runners left, right and center shopping. There's running clubs going all over the place. There's events going on. There's free stuff getting given out. When I was there, um there was there was a van. i kind of who It might have been Adidas. They were just giving out free shoes. Yeah.
00:16:44
Speaker
um I was like what's going on here yeah just um you know the first 100 people get some free shoes from this van yeah go and get involved yeah that's that's amazing yeah you don't get that yeah that's not that's not a common thing no and the tracksman's play because the tracksman have been know when you when you went over no it didn't exist but they have their store there is massive it is enormous and they have so many events on all the time runs constantly they've got you know like um special showcases that of their kit and everything like that but they from what i saw when i went tracks used to be the owners of that that street that vibe yeah all the run clubs and everything that so it's well worth um nipping in there and uh seeing what they've got because
00:17:25
Speaker
The other tip as well is that a lot of people don't like to buy the actual kit from the brand that is doing the marath the marathon, these marathons, but tracksmith for the majors produce their own clothing for it.
00:17:37
Speaker
And a lot of people go, I'd rather have that than pay the same or almost the same amount of money for the, for the race stuff. So they were, I mean, they, they sold out and very quickly of a lot of stuff. Um, when i was there. Okay. So yeah, there's loads stuff going on there. We're worth spending a bit of time now. I went, I went there every on that street every day for three days just to yeah see everything.
00:17:55
Speaker
Okay. And then, yeah, there's lots of other the run clubs as well, which you can go to, but they're very easy to find online. I think there's also a Boston 5K race on the Saturday as well. I think they do that every year. I think most of the big marathons do something like that.
00:18:08
Speaker
Or at least Chicago definitely does. Yeah. think Neil does. Okay. All the shakeout stuff will happen as well. You know, there'd be, yeah, loads. I think, I think some of you go have to kind of sign up and register and they might, by now they might be booked out, but yeah, and yeah there's lots of those. There'll always be something. When I, I did a couple of them when i was there and people just turned up, just started
Marathon Day Experience
00:18:29
Speaker
running.
00:18:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:38
Speaker
All right, so let's talk about the day itself, Marathon Day. So the it's a bit of an interesting marathon, Boston, because it's not like a lot of others, um because you don't go to the start line. You get taken to the start line from the center of Boston.
00:18:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, on the buses. And yeah, and the buses are done in waves, which is you'll all know from your bib number. and the lower the bid number, the earlier you go. And I think, you know, from memory, I think the whole process can take up to three hours from leaving your hotel to sort of queuing on the buses and getting down to Hopkinton. You've obviously an hour bus ride in the middle, but there can be long queues to get onto those buses. It's all done on the big old yellow school buses, which if you're coming from the UK, it's the only time I've ever ridden on one of those. and that's a bit of ah ah a treat as well, I guess. You know, it ticks a box um as a touristy thing to do. And yeah, I mean, there's there's a few other interesting details. like that If you want to drop a bag, you have to do that ah near the finish yourself on the morning before you go and get on the bus, don't you? Which is...
00:19:42
Speaker
Yeah, that's a funny one. forgot about that because I never dropped bags off, so I never did it. But yeah, the finish line, which is near ah where the expo is, yeah, you you basically have to it's a separate thing altogether. If you want to take a bag, you have to go over there first and then you go over to the, um and then you go over to the, ah buses So you won't have your bag for quite a while.
00:20:00
Speaker
um yeah and So if you're going to the start line, you might want to take some other stuff with you because essentially from the time when you you're waiting for that bus to the time you start the race, yeah it's you've got a while.
00:20:12
Speaker
But that bus itself, so um it it goes to, is it Hopkinton? Yeah. Hopkins. I was always mispronounce it. and So yeah, you look at that an hour's journeyed Hopkins, which is basically a little town, 25 miles away from Boston.
00:20:29
Speaker
And when you get there, you're, you're in this, you're in the race start area and it's not bad actually um as race start areas go. You basically just walk into this big area of all these runners just waiting for their, their start time for the race.
00:20:44
Speaker
I seem to remember when I was there that they did have drinks, water, and they had some sort of energy drink. And I think they were giving out like little bits of bagel. When I went, they had in within the, because there's quite a lot of tents. So there is, there are bits of cover.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah. Those, I remember it was a, so I think, but you know, one of the things to talk about Boston, it can be, i know you had a brutally hot day, Tom. When I went, it was, it was quite cold. So I was on one of the big wet, windy ones. And, So you get there, i think I was in sort of one of the early waves. I probably arrived at Hopkinton at almost like, let's say, i maybe eight o'clock. So can be a couple of hours before the start.
00:21:21
Speaker
And you've got these tents. all of By the time I got there, all the tents were kind of full and everyone was sat on the dry bits. It was wasn't a lot of space, but there were big tables full of loaded with loads and loads and loads of bagels, and which I didn't partake in But if you if you want that when you get to the start, you could I think you could it wasn't too difficult to get coffee and stuff as well. So yeah there is some...
00:21:41
Speaker
food but Just going back to the bus though, I think one of the things that's really important, when you're drop bag, you you have to use the drop bags that they provide, the clear drop bags. They won't take them at the finish if they're not.
00:21:52
Speaker
And then there's ah there's also a bag, the only other bag you're allowed to take on the bus is ah a smaller bag that you can only put food in. You're not allowed to take other stuff in a bag on the bus. So you can wear extra clothes to keep you warm, but if you want to take you know anything else is that in that little bag, it has to be kind of food or drinks. A lot of people, what they'll do is they'll have their breakfast because you're on the bus roughly two hours before your start time.
00:22:14
Speaker
That's when they'll have their breakfast so they don't rush it at the hotel. Yeah. i um My other tip for this is just I made a terrible mistake for this. I drank quite a lot of coffee at the hotel. I bought myself a big coffee and got on the bus with it.
00:22:27
Speaker
Immediately, I got on the bus and didn't realise how long the bus ride was going to be, needed the loo, was absolutely busting for the loo for 45 minutes of that bus journey to the point where i was looking out the window. i was thinking about ditching the water I had in my special kind of drinks bottle and was thinking I was going to fill that up. I was thinking, this you're on a highway. I was thinking, going to have to walk from the back of the bus, get the driver to stop on the highway and let me off?
00:22:49
Speaker
I was in a desperate state, Tom. It was not great. You get very stressed, so that's the last thing you need for a marathon. It was just... I mean, I honestly, you know, you're there, as we've talked about, you've run, you've come to run Boston. It's like a dream sort of scenario. And I'm sat on the bus thinking I'm going to wet myself at the back before get to the start. So go to the toilet before or don't drink too much before you get on that bus. It's also a big bumpy bus. But yeah, that's, that's one tip I wanted to get out.
00:23:11
Speaker
But once you get to the the start, there's the Athletes Village, there actually there's actually quite a lot of port-a-lose as well, if I remember. Yeah, ah there's there are there are plenty of toilets I remember around Boston Common, where the buses are going from.
00:23:24
Speaker
And the toilets actually in the in the runners area are absolutely fine. I went a couple of times when was there. The thing about Boston is that because of the way that the waves are spread out, it's it's quite well spread out. So there weren't too many people there at any one time but while while I was there. um i was I think I was in the first the first wave um or the first bunch of bunch of people that were there, but it didn't seem too bad to use the toilet. So it's pretty good. um So other things about the start area. So basically, when you're in the start area, you're not actually at the start.
00:23:56
Speaker
and You then get cordoned off into ah separate little waves, which which then then you then you then you walk to the start, which is quite a bit of a walk away. um from from that main area. and So it's worth taking that into consideration as well. You need to get there and um and then pop along to the the start line. And then you're waiting at the start line for a bit as well. It doesn't happen straight away.
00:24:18
Speaker
yeah um But what i find funny about the Boston Marathons, a lot of the big marathons, the start line is pretty exciting. Yeah. You know, look at New York or something. it is you stood at the, you know, looking over this bridge, looking at Manhattan and it's all very much overwhelming. Boston isn't like that. Boston is very relaxed because it's it's just in Little Town.
00:24:36
Speaker
You're just on road in Little Town. So it doesn't it doesn't feel that overwhelming, I find, in Boston. So, yeah, but I did find it quite confusing where I was meant to go. i remember at one point because you do walk for a while and people seem to be like going all over the place. so Yeah, I remember it. But yeah, it did feel quite small. when I know when they played the Star Spangled Banner, that that was kind of a moment. I felt that was, yeah there was there was atmosphere then. And think, again, you're surrounded by people who've, this isn't their first marathon. They've obviously all done them before, often
Course Challenges & Strategy
00:25:03
Speaker
many. So there's a sort of, there's all an air of sort of calm confidence, I think, compared to some other city marathons that can be a bit more...
00:25:10
Speaker
yeah i suppose the percentage of people like say people who've done one before but also you've got a much higher percentage of people who are probably running at higher paces than you know the sort of london crowd which may be completely new to running and some might be you know walking bits of it and stuff it's very unlikely that there's going to be that many people doing that boston because of the qualifying times um so yeah it is a bit of a different vibe isn't it yeah that's the start line So the start waves, there's four start waves. first The first one for the general runner starts at 10am, so a bit of ah a later start than than than a lot of marathons.
00:25:43
Speaker
All the other races start just before that, so you've got like the professional runners, um the wheelchair and hand cycles and things like that. They all go before then. But the main bulk of it starts at 10 and there's four waves and they continue to go until 11.15. So it's a bit spread out.
00:26:05
Speaker
Let's talk about the race itself. Yeah. i mean, that's, yeah. And this is where it gets really interesting because it's, it's very different in a way to many other. so you know, it's got the, the, the hills, not just the ups, but the downs and it's, and then I think you throw in the fact that weather can just almost do anything. And I think Boston presents lots of different challenges that you might not encounter and,
00:26:27
Speaker
many other city races about how you do your pacing and how you manage it and how you approach it. it's um yeah It's a different kind of challenge. Well, I think... Sorry. Go on, I was going to say, I mean, your day was, again, I think we had sort opposite ends, the extremes. You had brutally, oh, mine was sort of cold and windy.
00:26:46
Speaker
Well, I think with Boston, if you've if you've done any of the other majors or any big marathon, there's very few that are like Boston because Boston is, even though it sounds like you know one of the biggest marathons in the world, it doesn't feel like that a lot of the way because you're going from somewhere that's 26, 25 miles away from Boston itself. So you're running through these little towns, villages, quite quite empty areas. I mean, it's not there's not it's not populated the whole on the the whole way along that road. There's yeah just like greenery. So it's a very different feel altogether. It's completely different than London because obviously you're in the middle of the city the whole way.
00:27:22
Speaker
So mentally, it's probably a little bit different than what people would expect from those other marathons. It's very nice, like going through all these little towns and things like that. But the other thing as well I find is that it's not as densely spectated along the way as as as a lot of other marathons because it's so it's not convenient for everyone to get to those places along the way. Yeah, and it has its noisy moments or it has its dense bits, but that you're right, I think...
00:27:45
Speaker
you know it's funny when you do these races and they sort of blur. The one thing I do, memory sort of stands out, is just running through sort of lots of green trees, you know, on what felt like quite quiet roads apart from the runners around you, which I wasn't really expecting. And it's, yeah, it's quite nice at points because you can settle a bit.
00:28:00
Speaker
Yeah. But at moments then you kind of, maybe if you if you really like having those crowds geeing you on, you might miss that for sections of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. and Well, that's... Boston is famous for hills and it it isn't the hilliest race around. it as There's one particular hill that people talk about all the time. And um it I think there's a certain type of person that really notices that that hill or a certain person in that race who's where you're at in that race.
00:28:27
Speaker
But Boston is um is a funny race because it is relatively hilly. It's it's basically undulating for the majority of it. And I really noticed that because in the mid stages and later stages, it just constantly feels like you're either going up or down. It's not massive hills, but it's just rolling the whole way, which is very difficult to sort of maintain ah as you go.
00:28:46
Speaker
But the first bit, the first, i think it's five miles, no, about four miles is largely downhill, which is really, really difficult. Well, it's easy at the time, but it's difficult to pace and do that properly.
00:28:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, and this is where it immediately gets difficult because you know there's that the usual marathon kind of adrenaline pumping. People go off quite quick and if you're in the crowd, you can get swept along and then you so you might be moving too fast. But when you're on the downs in Boston, you've got this dilemma about you know how much do you let it go and and move fast?
00:29:20
Speaker
And how much do you put the brakes on? If you put the brakes on too much, going do damage anyway. If you go too fast, you might regret that later on because you're going to have spent a lot. yeah So it's you're almost trying not to brake too much but and then flow sort of freely to to make the most of the downs without doing the damage so that when you get to the the climbs and the hills, you're yeah still feeling fairly fresh. Yeah.
00:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, so from a pacing point of view, i mean, my tip for this, this is one where I do strongly feel like if you're used to running on feel or it's more a race that you probably want to run by ah sense of effort rather than looking at a pace on your watch.
00:29:56
Speaker
So trying to go out and run at marathon pace on this course and sustain it is probably not necessarily the most effective way to do it because that's going to change depending on where you are on the course of going on how am I feeling at the moment. But definitely taking those first 10 miles, 16 miles, maybe a little bit more contained than you might do otherwise. Oh yeah, I completely messed up mine because of the first five, four, four, five miles. I went flat out the first bit. I got very excited because this is great. I'm feeling brilliant today.
00:30:24
Speaker
I wasn't later on. I was in a lot of pain later on. and But yeah, that, that, that odd sort of undulation just continues for the whole of the race. It's quite windy as well, even though it's a straight road. I always felt like i was sort of nearing a corner and moving around. It's not like you got a line in front of you. It does sort wind left and right a bit.
00:30:43
Speaker
um And there's a lot of trees and stuff there. So it's not it's not as, know, you know You're looking at the horizon the whole way. But the hill that people talk about a lot is Heartbreak Hill.
00:30:54
Speaker
you remember Heartbreak Hill? I do. Yeah, I do. I mean, this is – and I was – because you think about it whilst you're running. If this is you know this is the first time doing Boston, you think about it because everyone talks about it. So you're like, when's it coming? When's it coming? When's coming? You fixate on it.
00:31:07
Speaker
In fact, there are other hills in this that I think are probably almost just as challenging. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's the only race, and I think it was after I got off Heartbreak Hill, this is the only race that I've ever had that's made my quads almost cramp up.
00:31:21
Speaker
oh Like calves normally, you know, you maybe get that, my quads were gone. And so I did suffer on that hill, but I wouldn't build it up. too much in your mind, you know, know it's coming, be prepared for it, but I wouldn't fret about it all the way. I was quite kind of, it was in my head a lot of the way and I don't think it was really necessary. It's not that crazy, but you've got to be, yeah, you've got to leave some for it for sure. yeah.
00:31:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think Heartbreak Hill comes quite a lot later in the race. and What is it? like twenty I think it's twenty like between 20 and 21, isn't it? Yeah. So if if you were to go out on that hill, a of people talk about Heartbreak Hill in advance like it's some sort of Snowdon.
00:32:01
Speaker
um But in reality, it's not that hard. If you were going for a run at 10K, you wouldn't really talk about that hill. You'd say, oh, yeah there's a hill near my street. go up But the point that you're at, if you are, and and I noticed this when I was doing it, because hi I was in an awful state.
00:32:18
Speaker
i was I was not feeling well by that point. And then you really go, oh, just can't be doing this. Because it's it's still quite a long way from the finish. yeah if it was in the last 2k you might go fine i'll just power through it but it's just too far from the finish and if you're struggling at that point and that's when you really notice it because it's it's just it's it's the time it's at that point where the race is going to bite but even if you're on the flat right and you're and so when this comes is yeah yeah and what i was saying about never not being able to see you know the horizon the straight line you can see that you're just looking at this hill the whole way you can look you're going down looking at it and then you're going back up looking at it so
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's a tough one. But um yeah, people talk before and before i did it, people were talking about like training techniques and stuff for doing it. And they don't think
Finish Line & Post-Race Atmosphere
00:33:00
Speaker
there really is. It's it's just how fit you are at the time and how you've managed the pace throughout the course of that race. Yeah.
00:33:06
Speaker
And I saw some, also I think a good piece of advice is you know, you you don't attack the hills, you survive them is the best way to go at it. So you're not you're not trying, youre not you know, there's no ego. You just sort of get to the top of each of those climbs alive, basically, and feeling in control. And that will stand you in good stead. If you go and try and take any of them on, you're probably going to regret it.
00:33:27
Speaker
Yeah, psychologically, it's it's a tricky it's a tricky course, I found. Yeah. And then and then you you come into the last, it's only really the last couple of miles that you you're really back into Boston and you're you're coming up to towards the finish and you you know you're and amongst all the big buildings again. it's ah It's an interesting finish line because you see it a lot when you're in when you're just hanging around at Boston before because it's right in the center of one of the main streets where all the shops and everything are.
00:33:54
Speaker
And it's quite a congested street as well. There's not loads of space on it. People are sort of stood on either side of it, but it just hits you. You're sort of running down and you turn a corner and you go, well, there it is. Yeah. yeah You're not looking in the distance at it.
00:34:07
Speaker
Yeah. You've been thinking about it for a long time, but yeah, all of a sudden it's on you. Yeah. Yeah. and it is quite I mean, it's it's quite an epic. Yeah, I quite liked it for for that feeling. I don't know, maybe because it's got this sort of iconic status, but yeah it does i do I did like the placement of the finish and the fact that it's so central. and Oh, yeah, yeah. That you can go to the finish line the day before yeah and it's all painted and all that kind of stuff. I think it's brilliant.
00:34:31
Speaker
yeah it's good it's good and um and the crowds there are massive as has you been imagine i i went actually went to boston to watch boston marathon the year before i raced it so two years ago and we went to a bar near the finish line and it was every bar was heaving it's it yeah it's a big It's a big deal there, but like once you get around there, the noise in the crowds is phenomenal. Better than London when you get around to the actual finish line because yeah um it's completely surrounded by people just cheering you on at yeah as you cross the finish line. i was Yeah, my finish was soaking wet. Oh, yeah. so
00:35:07
Speaker
Yeah, that made that finish, the after the crossing the finish line, was interesting because it was ah yeah it was like I just needed to get out somewhere to get somewhere dry. but Yeah. Okay, so anything else about the course to bring up? Oh, there's plate there's loads of water on it. Yeah, Morton.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. ah Yeah, if you're a Morton fan, you'll get Morton, I think, in some of the state at the aid stations from or the water stations from about 11 miles or something in. Yeah. 11 or 11 k's. Just looking at the map now, there's three Morton stops.
00:35:37
Speaker
um It's also got Gatorade and then... there's obviously loads of water but though it's just everywhere there's you you don't have to worry about um those things so obviously you've got morton i remember people at finishing and going uh who weren't even taking the mortons just filling up their pockets with mortons i'm gonna make gonna get myself 60 quids worth of morton on the way around yeah i'm gonna get my race entry back yeah it's a pretty pretty nice gel it's better than uh getting some cheapo one yeah just fill it up but that's ah a nice little perk of the foster marathon there's There's a couple other things. i didn't know this when I did it, but sort of saw today whilst doing a bit of research for this. There are some banned items on this race, and I don't know how um how enforced this is, but if you're on the on the list of the official website, camelbacks, so I think bigger hydration vest camelbacks, apparently a band, personal hydration systems like that, and also selfie sticks. um so i think that's a good thing.
00:36:35
Speaker
But I mean i imagine the ah the the bags is security, isn't it and Especially because you're on the buses and everything. Yeah, yeah yeah like yeah. So you're not allowed to carry those along. And then, yeah, the selfie sticks.
00:36:46
Speaker
um And they're very kind of on it with the GoPro footage. They're very adamant whatever you've shot shouldn't be used for commercial use or those kind of things. so I think... But the basically the overriding feeling was like, don't come and shoot this, just come and run it.
00:36:59
Speaker
Just come and run it, yeah. Just come run it enjoy it. and yeah But yeah if you're thinking about that, that's quite important. yeah Particularly the hydration one, if that's how you've been training and running and you're thinking of taking one of those, that could be a bit of a change for You're allowed belts and whatnot, but um yeah not the not the big vests.
00:37:25
Speaker
So you've crossed the finish line. It's a bit of a, yeah you know, with London finishes in the big park. So it's a very logical place to sort of go and sit somewhere and and and relax.
00:37:38
Speaker
You don't have that at Boston. You're basically just, you' you're funneled through the finish line and then you're just walking down the main road that's been called off obviously to pick up your medal, to pick up a drink, like water and stuff like that.
00:37:50
Speaker
But there's there's no real respite, I find. just you're just um You've got to get out of there somehow. And it does take a very long time to get out there. You've got to go and pick up your bag and from where you dropped it off. But you're a long way from just finding a really open bit of grass or something you just lie down on.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think just looking at the... The way that you you have to go and get your, if you take a bag, it's a sort of different direction to then coming back to going down and the family meet points, you know, where they have the A to Z where you can go and meet people under under a certain letter.
00:38:22
Speaker
yeah so if you're going to do that, you might have to walk out and and back. It might just be better off. pick it i I think because it was so wet that day and the actually what I did, i got my bag and i just legged it, got it out of there and went as quickly as I could to the nearest Irish pub that had room in it. Yeah.
00:38:38
Speaker
and just yeah hold up there so i think if yeah it might be better you might better off just admit having a meeting point like that yeah yeah well i suppose with with things um at london and new york because london you're both finishing parks it's quite a it's all contained in that area so once you get out of the park you're just back to going on the streets again but yeah because you're in the center of boston there's a whole area of for the for the finishes that is cordoned off so you can't cross that And I was there with Ed Budd when we were over with Puma.
00:39:07
Speaker
And we were trying to get to Tracksmith, which was the other side of there the finish line. and Couldn't get there. We tried like three different routes to get around, but obviously the whole route was called off either by the runners coming through or the runners being siphoned off um to get out.
00:39:22
Speaker
So it is ah it's quite a difficult finish line to sort of work your way around, so and which has a massive part to play and how easy it is to meet people afterwards. Yeah. yeah and If you're not running, well, you'll you'll have picked up your bag, so you might have your phone in there. and But it's yeah it's I can't remember anywhere really easy to meet people afterwards. It wasn't like London where you have ah you know the the the letters there or you can just get in Trafalgar Square. It was quite difficult. So I actually walked quite far to meet somebody I was with.
00:39:53
Speaker
Yeah, like I can't remember how far it was for this Irish pub, but I'd taken my phone actually died. I ran with it and because it got so wet, it wasn't working. So the person I was supposed to be meeting, we hadn't really arranged a meet point.
00:40:06
Speaker
So I had to go into the Irish pub, hand them my phone and try and get them to dry it out and drink Guinness until it came back to life. Oh. Because i I literally had no other way of, I didn't have any money even. I was like, you know, basically had to get Guinness on tick until my phone worked so I could get my yeah phone, my friend who would come and sell the tab. So yeah. um Yeah. I definitely, if you can arrange somewhere before that's a bit further out or make sure you've got your phone working, I think that's, yeah. A good a good place I've found is, so ah well, back around to that sort of Boston Common way.
00:40:37
Speaker
yeah um because it's big open space and it's easier to sort of like like say, i'm got I'll be at a coffee place there or I'll meet you at this bar near there because then if you' if you've not got a phone or anything, you just go to Boston Common and it's easy. yeah If you're trying to find your way around streets when you you know like your phone's broken, you can't find anything because it's it's it's chaos and you don't know where to cross or anything. But Boston Common is fairly easy to find afterwards. It's bit of a walk, and which you might not want to do, but is logical place go and it's easy to get transport from there to wherever you're going.
00:41:05
Speaker
okay uh where to go after there's lots of places in boston to go to i yeah as a you're not it block like most marathons you're not going to want to go in the immediate area of the finish line because that's going to be absolute madness um and also it's slightly different in boston because it is um it's a monday um which is a a holiday in the state isn't it when they're in the city Yeah. um So it can be harder to find places to to to go immediately afterwards.
00:41:33
Speaker
But ah yeah, ah my advice would be to go and find somewhere around like Boston Common um just because it's easier to like locate people. And there's loads around there. Yeah. Yeah. i think the other thing to say about being in, you know, US marathons, I think when you're wandering around the city or going into bars or restaurants or cafes and you've got your medal on, you get such a good reception. Oh, yeah. They're very proud. Yeah.
00:41:54
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You know, people buy drinks or people, you know, everyone talks to you and it's, yeah, there's a really good atmosphere for that.
Spectating & Entry Challenges
00:42:01
Speaker
So, yeah, I i enjoyed being out for a little while after after Boston for sure.
00:42:05
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And Boston has a very similar drinking vibe when it comes to... marathons post marathon drinking and that uh sam samuel adams is um is based in boston isn't it and they are they have a in fact the brewery isn't actually located in boston now it's a bit well it's in boston but it's further out it's in one of the suburbs ah but they do have an actual big pub there and that's a great place to go because they sell a lot of uh boston merchandise there pint glasses i think they've got a pint on uh which is about the marathon pint 26.2 i think it's called and so that's a really nice place to go and i think if i'm sure they do some sort of deal but i went to the brewery the day after before my flight and i think you get some sort of free entry or something like that or free free stuff uh if you go down there so it's well worth going going to check that out uh it's quite a nice beer as well
00:42:58
Speaker
Okay, so we pretty much covered all that. Spectating, I mentioned earlier, it's a tricky one, spectating at Boston Marathon, because obviously you're not going to, if you drive all the way out to almost the start line, you've then got to drive all the way back in to see someone the finish. So I i imagine, i i didn't have any I didn't know anyone spectating there apart from some some people that were part of like what what Puma were doing when I was there.
00:43:23
Speaker
um But I imagine that most people generally stay in the city and wait for you to come in at the end because, you know, it's it's a long way to go out and and and stand waiting for somebody if you miss them and then you've got to drive all the way back in. Yeah.
00:43:37
Speaker
Yeah. I didn't, again, i this is I didn't really have much experience of this because i i did exactly that. and My friend just hung locally in the city near the finish. Hmm. um because it I remember at the time it was we looked at it and it was going to be very complicated for them to get out and then there was a chance that if they were out I would finish and they wouldn't be back and yeah so we we didn't do that and yeah and of course you've lost the ma the a road to drive down so you're obviously going to have to take a ah different route around so yeah spectating is pretty tricky it is quite busy It reminded me of, um have you done Venice for?
00:44:09
Speaker
No, no. So Venice is his point to point, very similar layout. I mean, you start 23 miles or away, something like that. and the people that were out on the streets were the people that lived on the in those places. And it wasn't that you got back into Venice that it the kind of crowds were all there, which I i assume is a similar thing that happens in Boston.
00:44:27
Speaker
Yeah. yeah So, yeah. ah What about, let's talk about, so i think that pretty much covers it for Boston Marathon as an event, but, um and for people that are doing it. So chances are most people watching or listening to this ah are going to be doing it and they want to just get a bit of advice.
00:44:44
Speaker
and for the big day but a lot of people might be listening to it who haven't got into boston marathon and want to know what are their options for doing boston marathon and i think it's pretty well known amongst seasoned runners but it's a very different scenario to pretty much every other marathon Yeah, i mean, you can, so yeah, qualification, obviously, so you need to get your your time. I don't know what all the times are, but yeah whatever your age bracket, I think the rule of thumb, you need to be a certain amount under that qualifying time as well. i think that's the important thing.
00:45:14
Speaker
So it's no good just if you've got to do like a 305, it's no, that's the qualifying time. You want to be probably, you know, under three and the more time under your qualifying time, the more chance you've got because, know,
00:45:26
Speaker
If it's oversubscribed with people who've hit qualifying times, it will work back based on how far you are away from the qualifying time. That's the main thing. guess there's certain qualifying races. but Yeah, same exactly the same scenario. Basically, it's same as London's good for age. they are The qualifying times for getting into Boston are different depending on your gender, depending on your age, and each one of those ah has a different time based on, you know, obviously...
00:45:53
Speaker
faster runners are the other ones that are are the youngest in the group and then it it gets a little you get a bit more time as you get older as you found out this year Kieran yeah yeah well london for London but it's the same it's always the same times for for for Boston um so the main so that's the main route in but as as you said um i think it was was it The actual difference in time was you had to be six minutes and 51 seconds faster than the actual qualifying standard that was on there for this year's one, which is a lot.
00:46:26
Speaker
if you're if you know If you're trying to get a sub three and you get 259 something and then you realize that you needed to knock off six minutes. that's i mean some people i mean that That's exactly what happens every year. People get really upset because you know they've trained really hard to get into it and then there's this big gap.
00:46:43
Speaker
There's not actually many other ways to get into Boston. it's not like ah or From what I can see, it's not like London where there's a few different routes you go in. There are also obviously tour guides, tour operators, and then you can do a similar thing that you do all the marathons. You pay for a trip.
00:46:58
Speaker
And then as part of that trip, you you can do Boston Marathon. and But as I always say on these ones, they're not cheap. They're good, but they're not cheap. And and the other the other one as well is obviously charity spots.
00:47:10
Speaker
and But there's i don't think there's as many charity spots in Boston as there are for things like London. So yeah, not as easy to get into Got run quick. Actually, it's saying that saying it's not as easy to get into. It's actually, if you can hit the times, it's one of the easiest marriages to get into. yeah You get guaranteed spot.
00:47:27
Speaker
I'd said that earlier. think you know the The number of people apply for it is very close to the number people who do it because it's a qualifier. so If you really want to do Boston and you have you know you and and you have the ability to do it, it's yeah it's a look it's a good one to aim for because... Easier than Tokyo. Tokyo's a faster time as well. I think some of them are, yeah, you need to run a faster time to get into Tokyo qualifying by time. so Yeah.
00:47:52
Speaker
yeah And a lot of people do Boston as they get a bit older because, I mean, this is changing a bit now because people are getting faster over time and you're seeing that these qualifying times go down quite a bit ah since yeah what they used to be.
00:48:06
Speaker
But if you are... you know if As you get older, those quality times start to loosen up a bit. um But if you retain your times, it might be more likely that you can do it as you get older. and You do see that a lot. A lot of um lot runners ah have been waiting for a long time to get in and for those qualifying times to sort of adjust yeah a bit. Because the ones the ones um the sta the normal times are pretty tough.
00:48:27
Speaker
I think it's sub-three now for um you know men under remember what the times are. It is three hours of 18 34 year old men at the moment, um which is, you know, going to end up being 20, 24 minutes, maybe.
00:48:44
Speaker
Yeah. Sorry, two hours, 54 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. So it' feasible, but that's for some people. That's a very fast time. um Yeah. And a bit scary. But if you look at like the the time for 60 to 64 year old age group for men, it's three hours, 50 minutes at the moment.
00:49:01
Speaker
So, you know, um bit more feasible okay so let's just finish off then with uh any any top tips you've got for boston marathon oh god i i just think the biggest is to relax i mean you know more almost definitely negative idea of sort of negative splits and all of that kind of i'm going to run on my watch and run on pace and run on time i would i would relax about all of that if you've qualified trying and you know It's definitely one of those where it's an experience, you want to try and and enjoy it.
00:49:29
Speaker
And if you're going to go for a time, the chance of running a PB at Boston, I would say, are probably just quite limited. But if you're going to go for a good Boston time, my advice would be to to relax and try and run it on effort rather than trying to hit a certain goal pace.
00:49:43
Speaker
That would be the biggest thing. And that means if you're running on effort, you're probably more likely to have an enjoyable time out there because you're going to run it under control and you can enjoy
Preparation & Closing Remarks
00:49:52
Speaker
the moment. how about yourself? Yeah.
00:49:53
Speaker
ah My advice would be prepare for the weather. Yeah, yeah. Because as well. Yeah. that's When I did it, it it it was really hot.
00:50:06
Speaker
ah maybe It wasn't not hotest one of the hottest marathons around, but that course, it's very open. i wasn't prepared for that heat. It comes directly out. It's quite early on in the year. It comes directly after winter. You're not ready for it. If it's hot, you're not ready for it. um So ah you won't know until you you know that about three or four days before what the weather's going to be like, and it might still change.
00:50:26
Speaker
ah But it was a really hot the whole weekend I was there. So you ah you just keep planning for it. You might need sunglasses. You might need some suntan lotion. you might you know take um There might be other things. that You need to take a jumper to the start line, long sleeve top if you don't want to and get sunburned whatever. But likewise, it might be really wet, really windy.
00:50:46
Speaker
um So, yeah, it's very changeable. Whereas a lot of the marathons, especially, you know if we do Spanish marathons and stuff, it's pretty guaranteed the weather. But with Boston, same with London, you've got to just keep your eye on the weather all the time. do you want If you're travelling from international, maybe you want to pack two kits, but essentially. So you want to have, you know, if you like, depending on you want to run warm or cold, or yeah it might be worth thinking about taking those both for so you've got all bases covered. Yeah.
00:51:12
Speaker
Cool. All right then. think I'll do this for ah Boston. If you are running Boston Marathon this year or any year, good luck. You're going have a great time. And I would say it's probably my favorite city to spend some time in while the marathon is on because that everybody there is obsessed with running.
00:51:29
Speaker
It's just great. It's it's really, really nice. And you're going to get a brilliant medal this year. I think it's a real, yeah, it's a good medal. Looks good. so Well, everyone, that's the Pride of Place medal, isn't it? that's yeah I've got it in the middle of my medal wall.
00:51:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's the one. yeah yeah Yeah. Enjoy it, enjoy it. It's those you never know it's definitely one where you never know if you're going to be able to run it again, you know, for many reasons. So I think this one's, yeah, go and enjoy it.
00:51:53
Speaker
To add, ya yeah, mean, you know, if you if you hold off and you wait 10 years, the qualifying times might be very different. Yeah. Right, catch you guys later.
00:52:04
Speaker
This episode of the podcast was presented by Tom Wheatley and Kieran Algar. It was produced by Tom Wheatley. The music was by Fear of Tigers.