I’ve spent a fair amount of time today trying to write down my thoughts about tomorrow’s Boston Marathon. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s simply bigger than I am capable of comprehending.
On the one hand, it’s “just a marathon”. I show up at the starting line, wait in the impossibly long line to use the porta-john, run at a pace I think I can sustain, grab water along the way as needed, and collect my finisher’s medal at the finish line. Just like any other race.
But, this is an event on par with the Super Bowl or the Indy 500. The best runners in the world will also be running. It’s the oldest and most prestigious marathon in the US. There will be 500,000 spectators lining the streets and cheering the runners on.
What makes this race different than most others is that people who don’t run know about it, and people who do run put it on their bucket list of races to enter. People can relate to me saying “I’m running Boston” in a way they simply can’t when I say “I’m running Stu’s 30K”. In short, people get excited that I’m in the Boston Marathon.
Simply put, tomorrow is shaping up to be a life-changing day. Today I should be able to run a marathon. Tomorrow, God willing, I will have run a marathon, and arguably the most significant marathon in the world.
But for my purposes in actually running the race, it will have to be “just a marathon” until I reach the finish line. This means sticking to my usual race routine, and more importantly not getting carried away and running too fast at the beginning. Because really, like any other race the way to get from the starting line to the finish line is to simply focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
Having said that, I’ll probably be up at 3am obsessing over what to wear. And hey, I’M IN THE BOSTON MARATHON, HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?!?
