Boston Marathon 2021
The Boston Marathon (26.2 miles long) is an annual race that normally takes place on the third Monday in April (Patriot’s Day). Because of COVID, the 2021 Boston Marathon was moved to October 11th. There are hundreds of marathons around the world but Boston is the one of the most famous (this was its 125th year) and very difficult to get into. In order to gain entry to the race you have to run a qualifying time in some other marathon (or raise a lot of money for charity). The qualifying times are very challenging for anyone that isn’t a serious runner. Staci has run Boston two other times but Rich has never never run it. During the summer of 2020 we decided we wanted to try to get into Boston and signed up for the Arkansas White River Marathon last November where we successfully qualified.
The marathon begins in Hopkinton, which is about 25 miles east of Boston, and passs through many towns before finally finishing in downtown Boston.
The day before the race we picked up our bibs and visited the finish line.
In order to participate you had to show proof of Covid vaccination or take a test.
We spent Sunday before the Marathon walking around Boston Commons and exploring the Freedom Trail.
The Freedom Trail visits many amazing historical sites.
Race morning. Almost 20,000 people had to be bused from downtown Boston to the start in Hopkinton.
Unbelievably our bus driver got lost and was unable to drop us off at the start. We had to walk an extra mile to get to the start (which was actually good since it enabled us to warm up and immediately start running).
We finally made it to the starting line, way later than we were supposed to start. Since it was a rolling start it didn’t matter that we started later.
Staci feeling good and smiling a quarter way through.
Rich at the halfway point (13.1 miles).
At mile 25 we finally arrive in Boston.
Crossing the finish line together and very happy to be done. Rich’s hamstring was bothering him for the last couple of months and that limited the type of training we were able to do. We finished in 3 hours and 36 minutes which was a little slower than we had hoped to run. We are both so happy to be able to run and enjoy the Boston Marathon together.
