26.2 miles give or take 23 or so
Today at 12 noon I was someplace I never expected to be: at the side of the road just a few hundred yards from the starting line of the Boston Marathon, watching and cheering as the 'elite' runners lead a horde of thousands on the grueling trek from Hopkinton to downtown Boston. My department manager invited me along as he transported some of our co-workers who were planning to run the race. One of the three was an official runner with a number and an RFID tag to track his progress: the other two were 'bandits' just jumping into the crowd to make the run for themselves.
We stayed at the side of the road long enough to see practically all the runners. They set off in two groups of almost 12,000 each. Since our 'official' runner had a very high number (nearly 20,000), we had to wait through most of the pack for his turn to sprint by our viewing spot. In the meantime we saw just about every kind of person, group, costume etc. imaginable as thousands and thousands of excited people ran by (plenty of energy at this point just yards past the starting line).
We had a much easier job of getting to the starting line than most spectators. With the help of some local employees who know the lay of the land, we were able to take back roads (back road as in dirt, not pavement) to bypass one of the roadblocks on a main route to the start. Then, reaching a second roadblock, we had another ace in the hole: the name and address of another employee living in a small neighborhood just beyond the roadblock. Under the pretext of 'just visiting' this person, we talked our way past the 2nd roadblock and entered that neighborhood, only to circle through it and drive as close to the starting line as possible. We estimated that our parking spot was only about 1.5 miles from the start. So that gives my total distance for the day at about 3 miles, just a bit shorter than the distance taken by the marathon runners.
Oh yes, our friends (official runners and otherwise) all completed the course in the ballpark of 3 hours, 35 minutes. Hooray for people in better shape than I!
Stay tuned for even more chewy back-dated posting goodness, as I continue to relate the trivialities of my life whenever I finally manage the time to sit down and actually write something. Up next, the real Patriot's Day and why the traveling carnival that comes to town is not your friend.
We stayed at the side of the road long enough to see practically all the runners. They set off in two groups of almost 12,000 each. Since our 'official' runner had a very high number (nearly 20,000), we had to wait through most of the pack for his turn to sprint by our viewing spot. In the meantime we saw just about every kind of person, group, costume etc. imaginable as thousands and thousands of excited people ran by (plenty of energy at this point just yards past the starting line).
We had a much easier job of getting to the starting line than most spectators. With the help of some local employees who know the lay of the land, we were able to take back roads (back road as in dirt, not pavement) to bypass one of the roadblocks on a main route to the start. Then, reaching a second roadblock, we had another ace in the hole: the name and address of another employee living in a small neighborhood just beyond the roadblock. Under the pretext of 'just visiting' this person, we talked our way past the 2nd roadblock and entered that neighborhood, only to circle through it and drive as close to the starting line as possible. We estimated that our parking spot was only about 1.5 miles from the start. So that gives my total distance for the day at about 3 miles, just a bit shorter than the distance taken by the marathon runners.
Oh yes, our friends (official runners and otherwise) all completed the course in the ballpark of 3 hours, 35 minutes. Hooray for people in better shape than I!
Stay tuned for even more chewy back-dated posting goodness, as I continue to relate the trivialities of my life whenever I finally manage the time to sit down and actually write something. Up next, the real Patriot's Day and why the traveling carnival that comes to town is not your friend.
posted by RoverDaddy @ 11:26 PM
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