Recap on the Boston Marathon

I ran my first Boston Marathon in 2014, the year after the bombing. The energy and excitement of the spectators lining the streets of the 8 cities and towns along the race course was so special - it felt like we were reclaiming the city and coming together after the previous year’s race was marred by tragedy. Leading up to this year’s race, even before flying up to Boston for race weekend, I felt similar emotions. The city would be coming together after being apart for so long due to the pandemic.

Having grown up in Massachusetts and living there after college, marathon weekend is one of my favorite events of the year. After putting a lot of pressure on myself leading up to my last marathon at the Olympic Trials in 2020, I knew my primary goal going into this training cycle and race was to enjoy the training and, as much as possible, not let myself become overcome with self imposed expectations. Racing in Boston was a way for me to ensure I had a race I cared deeply about for reasons beyond my own performance. I knew however good or bad my race was I’d have family and friends lining the course, so excited to see me race and be part of the experience.

To get to the numbers (I am a competitor after all) I ran a small but very meaningful 32-second personal record (PR) to finish in 2:36:33 for 19th place, 7th American. On the course, I felt the exact swell of emotions I had hoped to and the excitement of the crowds was exactly the push I needed to race with joy, ditch the numbers on my watch, and race based on my instincts and experience.

After an early morning wake up, a walk across the Boston Common in the dark, and a long bus ride out to Hopkinton, suddenly I was at the start line. The gun went off and the race quickly split into 3 packs – the lead pack, then a mid group and the back group that I settled into. The middle group was only a little ahead of us for the first few miles, and we caught up to and merged with them. I checked splits the first few miles and saw 5:55-6:00 range - a bit slower than I wanted, but I knew I was in a good crew of 10 or so women and the pace was generally right so didn’t look at my watch after that. My legs felt a little flat, the pace was comfortable but it felt the way I’d hoped a slightly faster pace “should” feel. I knew that between the slight humidity and the cold I’d battled during the last few days of my taper that this was where I should be even if I wanted to go out a little faster.

Over these first miles I felt fine but not great, then after I took my bottle at 15k I got a big surge of energy. I found myself coming out of each bottle stop pretty strong and so I went with that surge a little bit and pulled 20m ahead of the pack. I was happy to do my own thing if that’s what ended up happening but also hoped people would match the pace and join me, which they did after a mile. The pack shrunk to roughly 7 people after that. I could see how we all had different moments of feeling great and then settling back into it because we’d cycle through leading the pack. Early on in the race there weren’t as many spectators as in past years, but I got tons of energy from the crowds in Natick Center and around Wellesley College. It was really fun to run by the crowds and I truly think I could only have raced as hard as I did because of all the crowd support.

As the miles went on I started to see people I knew – I saw my cousins in Natick, an old family friend a few miles later, friends and family at different points in Wellesley, and I heard my name from a bunch of other people I didn’t even see as I ran by. I teared up running through the Wellesley College scream tunnel because I felt so much emotion from that crowd. Every time we ran through an intersection packed with spectators I couldn’t help but feel a push of energy that made me feel momentarily invincible.

Miles 12-17 the anticipation of turning into Newton grew and grew, and if I’d been feeling any emotions I would’ve been nervous, but mentally I was in a great spot of just observing and reacting to the moment. At some point, the group shrunk down to me and 3 other women. When we hit the half marathon mark the group noticeably picked up the pace. I got nervous but I thought that I might as well match that pace and see what happens. On the big downhill coming out of Wellesley the 3 of them pulled away. I was a bit more conservative and fell back maybe 20-30m because of some quad tightness. Coming off the downhill I gave a little push and caught back up to them on the highway overpass, but it wasn’t until we turned onto Comm Ave that I fully caught the group. We started up the first of the Newton hills and it surprisingly didn’t feel much harder than the flat sections. I told myself it was a nice break from the downhills and framed it as a good way to use new muscles.

Our group broke up slightly over the next few hills. We were all in focus mode at this point – there are some photos of us all looking very zoned in. When I got to the top of Heartbreak Hill my legs felt on their way to being “cooked” as I call it, but I felt like overall the hills hadn’t been too bad and that was really encouraging. Coming through mile 21 I realized I only had 30 min left and was done with the hills, which was a big mental boost. My quads felt wobbly but not too bad, and then when I hit 5k to go coming through Coolidge Corner I all of a sudden wanted to be done very badly. I just told myself less than 20 min to go and that it was easier to keep running than to choose to stop.
One highlight of the last few miles was hearing someone yell “do it for Gus!” (my dog) at mile 24 which made me laugh a ton and actually was the little boost I needed. I caught a few more women in the last 2k and at that point had a good gap behind me and felt like there wasn’t anyone coming for me. That last mile felt LONG and Boylston - as always - felt VERY long. And then I finished the dang thing with a smile on my face (though finish line photos show more of a grimace)!

Marathons have bookended the past 2 years for me - a so-so race at the Olympic Trials in February 2020, and a redemption of sorts in Boston. My race in Boston reminded me to race with joy, run the race I’m capable of on that day, and allow myself to be happy with the outcome. I truly love running marathons and am so excited to see what else I’m capable of at the distance in 2022!

~ Emma