We got on the train at 6:10am and started our way up to Park St.
I transferred over to the Green line and went another 7 miles to Newton Center. I walked up about 1/2 mile from the station to Commonwealth Drive where the route was. It was like a ghost town. I could see the barriers on the side of the road
ready to get setup, but nobody there. I was there 5 hours early though. The first runners wouldn't get to Mile 19 until probably 11 am. I walked up to the top of heartbreak hill. It was about a 2 something % grade so it wasn't terribly steep and only about a 1/2 mile long. Then I walked back down and continued on to mile 19 and found that Heartbreak consists of really two hills.
It starts at mile 19 at Walnut Street where the John Kelley statue is. There is a hill that lasts about a 1/4 mile, then it flattens out for almost a mile, then another hill that lasts about a 1/2 mile. But after that its all downhill.
While waiting for Cathi at mile 19, I froze my butt off! The wind wasn't going too fast, but it was cold and really chilled me. There was a concession stand right there and while waiting for her to get there over the next 4 hours I must have bought 5 cups of hot chocolate. It was cold! I started getting text updates of her race and she was running a high 9 minute mile. That would get her here at about 1:45.
When I got the 30K text update (18.6 miles) I knew she would be there any minute. I started stretching at 1:30 and by the time I finished stretching the text came. I started looking for her brown shirt and saw her far off. I took video of her when we met. You can see it below.
We ran up Heartbreak hill at a good pace and were passing people left and right. I felt guilty getting cheered on by all the spectators. I tried to zone them out cause they should direct their cheering for the real marathoners, not me, as a phony. I tried to be the carrot dangling in front of Cathi.
I tried to keep in front of her just enough to push her, instead of being behind her. It was too crowded to run side by side for long. So I tried to pave a path for her to follow as we went in and around people.
When we got to Mile 24 I texted to Roceil and she called saying they would be on the left side of the road at mile 25. I also took video when we saw them.
I was planning on bailing out of the race when we saw Mom and Dad, but Cathi told me to just stay with her a little longer. So I stayed with her until 26. I found a small place to jump over the barrier and so I gave her a pat on the back and she continued on. Within a minute I got the last text message saying she just finished with a time of 4:10:31
Click the picture below to see video highlights.
She did so good and her pace kept improving throughout the entire race. Heartbreak Hill wasn't an issue at all for her. She's a tough lady and I'm proud of her. After the race I walked up to Boston Common where I thought the reunion would be, but no signs were up there and Bill and Roceil found the meeting place. They found her and eventually we met up. One thing I noticed is that they could have done a much better job with signage. They could have put signs up showing were to meet runners after they finished.
Anyhow we finally met up and then caught the train back to Braintree where Cathi showered at the Motel. I had made reservations for dinner at Plaza III, a steakouse at South Market at Fenueil Hall. It was a nice 3 course meal that was quite fancy. I saw an opportunity to buy Cathi one of those nice Boston Marathon runners jackets so I went over and bought one for her after we were seated. I had flowers delivered to our table and that was a surprise for her.
It was a very romantic evening and very enjoyable. It started to rain and were were prepared with umbrellas and walked through downtown Boston for a bit. We then went back to the motel for one more night in Braintree.
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