We arrived on Saturday. We had family already there and we went over to the Expo to pick up our packets and look around together. The weather was wet, windy and cold. The next morning was going to be even colder. I bought a jacket and hat to add to what I had prepared for the race. We enjoyed a nice evening in Boston and got to bed early.
Sunday morning was race day. I had run 10 miles 2 times over the previous week and felt ready for the half marathon. It was very cold but I layered up and was fine. In fact, I got warm in a hurry and dumped one of my jackets. It was one I bought at Goodwill for the purpose of dumping along the way. Many races plan for this and the extra clothing gets picked up and donated to shelters. The race begins!
We started at the Seaport and ran through some of the historical parts of Boston, running right by the Old State House. We went across the Longfellow Bridge and down by the Charles River. The highlight of the race was running past all of the police at MIT, getting "high fives" from them. It was their fellow officer, Sean Collier, that was killed by one of the bombers. The race was dedicated to him and some of his family were racing with us. This was very emotional.
We ran to Harvard and made the turn around back to Boston. I was maintaining a pace that I planned for which was about 11:30 per minute. We got back to Boston and ran by Cheers, Boston Commons and back to the Seaport to the finish line. I didn't reach my goal of under 2 1/2 hours but did do my best half marathon time at 2:30:58. Massachusetts is my 15th state in which I have run a race. I am blessed! Next up, San Francisco on Father's Day. Another half marathon that runs across the Golden Gate Bridge!
This is me, on the right, crossing the finish line:
