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.

Going to the old city

So, as I mentioned in my previous post it isn't necessarily easy to sign up for the marathon majors. Either good run times, a big chunk of money for charity, through a partnered travel agent, or a bit of luck in the ballot draw.

There is another option, though: Be very lucky. Like, really, really lucky.

I was sitting at work on a Tuesday and at 0955 I received a mail basically stating "We've had two late cancellations for the Boston Marathon and therefore two available spots, first come first serve." Despite having just spent 3 weeks on a ship with too much food and barely any running practice (the magic number is 14.320 – that's how many photos I need to sort through before any updates get published) I gave them a quick call and quickly grabbed one of the two spots. Less than 20 minutes later another mail was sent out stating that they were now sold out. Boston can be hard to get a spot for – I have a guaranteed spot in 2024, but being impatient I loved the prospect of being able to cut the waiting time down to only a few months.

18^th – 19^th of April

Flying to Boston via Reykjavik and arriving in the early evening. We have the Saturday 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.

20^th of April

Monday, Patriot’s day, 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. Bonus is that our hotel is a few hundred meters from the finish area, so it’s easy to get there and more importantly getting back after the run. 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.

21^st – 23^rd of April

We have a full day on our own in Boston (the 21^st) 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 22^nd we will fly out on the evening before coming back to Copenhagen on the 23^rd mid-day.

The Boston marathon is the oldest annual marathon starting in 1897, making this year’s run the 124^th in a row. But the number of participants is only around 30.000 runners so it’s a fair bit smaller than New York, Berlin and Chicago. In any case it will be an interesting race, and with so many places taken by those qualifying it’ll likely be a fast race so I do not expect to be well placed. But never mind about that – participating in the Boston marathon will be a great experience.