My 2009 Boston Experience

With the Boston Marathon approaching on Monday, I've been thinking a lot about my own Boston experiences. Although I've qualified for the past 3 Boston Marathons, I've only run one--2009. I qualified in my second marathon, Rock & Roll Arizona 2008, with a time of 3:38. A few months after that race, I started running with Sara (my former coworker & friend who's wedding I met Todd at) who introduced me to Emily and Tracy. The 4 of us ran together every weekend and Em & I typically ran together during the week. We all had a goal to qualify and run Boston in 2009. I was lucky enough that I already had my BQ but still trained throughout the summer of 2008 with the girls and ran the Columbus Marathon in the fall in 3:34. Em also qualified at Columbus, Tracy qualified at the Akron Marathon, and Sara had deferred her Boston entry from the previous year.

Despite Sara moving to Pittsburgh in the fall of 2008, the 4 of us still trained for Boston together. We took a roadtrip to Pittsburgh for one 20-miler and Sara came to Columbus for another one. We had a blast training together and wanted to have just as much fun running Boston. We worked so hard to qualify that we were going to use Boston as our victory lap. Running the Boston Marathon was a dream of all of ours and I ran all 26.2 miles with a huge smile on my face.

Entrance to 2009 Expo

Em, Tracy, Sara, and I at dinner the night before the race

Oh, did I forget to mention my brother was also running?

The 4 of us in Athlete's Village before the start

We had matching outfits (thanks to Sara who worked for Mizuno!) and were still all smiles at mile 17 despite Heartbreak Hill on the horizon

Running strong with less than 1 mile to go

Our official Boston finish line photo....quite possibly one of my favorite all-time pictures

We did it! We ran 3:55 and it was a day that I will never forget