Probably the highlight of any distance runner's career is earning the trip to participate in a prestigious race such as the Boston Marathon. I promised my wife if I qualified for this race, we would go. I am glad I didn't
disappoint her. This was a wonderful race with much history (111 years). I must say the amazing part of this race is that Heartbreak Hill really is as tough as they say. That point about 5-6 miles from the finish is where my energy was sapped. I could tell that I was the most tired at that point. The crowds, however, were awesome. So many people came out on this nasty day. A Noreaster storm came through the area and with such strong winds and rain, the night before the event they were unsure if it would even be held. Luckily, in the couple of hours before the event, things started to clear up, but it was not the nicest of days. I tend to thrive in the nonideal weather situations, however, so it didn't bother me. I was most proud of the fact that although going into the race I was bib # 5464 (which meant I was ranked 5,464th out of the runners in the marathon going into it), I finished in 3,138th place, so I made up more than 2,000 places relative to everyone else. I credit my training in Wisconsin's cold and snowy winters. It sometimes took a lot of ambition to get out and train on bad weather days. My time was 3:18:20 and I had an average pace of 7:34.
