Boston and Mexican beer

With the Corona virus ravaging the world these days it was no surprise that my plans of running the Boston marathon would also be affected. Having the run on the 20^th of April put it right in the middle of the pandemic so there was no hiding. But instead of it getting cancelled it got moved to September instead. 

The marathon is normally run on a Monday, on Patriot's day, which will obviously not happen this year. But they will keep with the tradition of running on a Monday so we will be going on the 14^th of September. This is the day after the Copenhagen half marathon that is run on Sunday the 13^th of September, but despite me looking forward to that, Boston marathon takes priority and all I can say to the Copenhagen half in the situation is "suck it".

Apart from the date change not much will change from the original plan.

12^th – 13^th of September

Flying to Boston via Reykjavik and arriving in the early evening. We have the Sunday for ourselves where we will be going to the Expo where we get to pick up our bib-number. I have never been in Boston so it’ll be interesting to have a bit of time to explore the city.

14^th of September

Race day. The run is on a point to point course so we will be picked up by busses near the finish area at Boston Public Garden that will bring us out to the starting area, and pickup will depend on what starting wave you are part of. The race starts in Hopkinton and brings the runners through the suburbs Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline before arriving and finishing in Boston near the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.

15^th – 16^th of September

We have a full day on our own in Boston (the 15^th) so another day to explore. I have no plans, but considering the Red Sox stadium is close by I am tempted to go to a baseball match just to see one of those now that I have the chance. On the 16^th we will fly out on the evening before coming back to Copenhagen on the 17^th mid-day.

There is another small change, though. Previously we were supposed to be staying at a hotel only a block away from the pickup and finishing area. Now we have unfortunately been moved to a different hotel, maybe 2-3km away from the finishing area. Won't be as comfortable getting back as was originally planned, but at least we are still (relatively) close by and not at the other end of the city.

I am very worried about what will happen if the race has to be cancelled/moved again due to Corona still being present in September. By grabbing this late cancellation I lost my guaranteed spot in 2024 so if I lose this spot for one or another reason I fear I'll be back at the end of the queue and have to start all over trying to secure a spot. Stressful times we are living in.

Canada postponed indefinitely

The trip to Canada was one I was really looking forward to - the country is beautiful and we would be spending close to two weeks driving through numerous national parks and getting to enjoy the sights along the way.

And then Corona happened.

First the marathon in Calgary got moved to the fall at a yet unknown time (so practically cancelled for me), and then the travel company cancelled all departures globally until the end of June. And then the airline crapped itself over the situation, too. 

So my trip to Canada has now been shelved for an unknown period of time. 

There seems to be no end to this.

Superhalfs pandemic update

As mentioned previously I have decided to participate in the Superhalfs - 5 half marathons in Lisbon, Prague, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia, two in the spring and three in the fall. You can complete them over 3 years from the first run to get get into the Superhalfs hall of fame. And originally my plan was to power through all 5 in one calendar year.

And then the Corona pandemic happened.

It pretty much ruined all my plans for the first half of 2020 (after coming home from Antarctica). The organizers were forced to cancel or move the runs, and therefore my schedule has changed quite significantly. The schedule now looks like this:

Lisbon (September 6^th)

Prague (March 27^th 2021)

Copenhagen (2021)

Cardiff (October 4^th)

Valencia (October 25^th)

Lisbon got moved to the 6th of September, and a week later Prague was moved to the same day. A lot of criticism was voiced on the Prague HM facebook page, but apparently the organizers couldn't find another day that would fit everybody's schedule (city, organizers, etc.). So my Prague run will be postponed for next year. And I have had to postpone my run in Copenhagen until next year, too, as the Boston marathon got moved to the Monday the day after, and that run takes priority by a wide margin.

So here's to hoping that no more delays will happen, but I guess nothing is certain these days.