I have almost nothing in common with marathoners. I occasionally binge on pasta, but that's about as far as it goes. Despite this, I love the Boston Marathon. Patriots Day is my favorite completely arbitrary holiday (Flag Day is 2nd, FYI). The Marathon, the Sox, the barbecues... it doesn't get much better.
Growing up I'd always watch the Marathon at my Great Aunt's along Washington Street in Newton, but this year I decided to make the ultimate trek into downtown Boston.
Here are some observations, photos and failed attempts at witticisms from the 112th Boston Marathon.
- I'm convinced the only thing more difficult than running a marathon is planning your trip into Boston on Marathon Monday. Boston isn't exactly a world class city when it comes to public transportation (hint: when your public transportation stops running before your bars close, you may want to rethink things.) After planning my trip about 20 different ways, I finally chose one that was relatively painless and easy. I'm convinced Rosie Ruiz was a genius.
- This was the first time I'd ever been behind the Finish line. When you're tens of miles away, the area seems like it would be some sort of a runner's mecca, with masseuses at the ready, food at hand and all the seemingly innocuous weird silver blankets you can handle. Not so; it's just a bunch of tired people being cattle-called to a recovery area while they sweat, cry, vomit, etc. Not even every runner had a weird, seemingly innocuous silver blanket! Also, a lot of runners have to walk back on the overcrowded sidewalk amongst the fans.
- Bruins fans were out and about all over the city for the first time in far too long. It was a sight for sore eyes. Of course, naturally, they'll lose tonight and continue to be the butt of jokes.
- Companies were out all day handing out free schwag to the fans. The four most prevalent: Adidas, Nike Livestrong, New Balance and.... Dianetics. Hmmmm..... one of these things is not like the other.
Speaking of Livestrong, two Lance Armstrong related notes:
- Lance didn't get the biggest of all ovations when he passed by. Of course I was packed into some tiny Public Alley when he passed by and everyone was hard to pay attention to the road. Also, they were playing a Sheryl Crow CD at the Finish Line. I'm not sure what this means, but look, it's Lance!:
- The biggest rockstar of them all: Mayor Menino. People just flock to the guy and he was swarmed with well-wishers after he left the Media area.
Well, that's it after an awesome Marathon Monday now it's on to a sadly nickname-less Tuesday.
