Boston Marathon: Changing Faces

This year it was great event for an old friend of mine who now lives in Burbank, California where he is a pastor. He had an enjoyable marathon this year in his first Boston Marathon that I suppose, he did as a training event for a twenty four hour race he has entered a little later this summer. Here is a happy photo of Anthony whom I have know since he was in his teens, taken after he crossed the finish line. Here is his own race account of the 2017 race.

Finished my first Boston marathon!

Short story: the most fun I have ever had in a pair of running shoes!

Long story: The plan was to go out easy, aiming for a relaxed 3:30 - 8mm pace. Got to the start late and so was rushed into wave 1, corral 1 - right at the front.

Everybody was streaming past me for the first 12M, but I still got dragged along - ran a few sub 7 miles on the early downhills. Gradually eased back until I was doing 7:45 pace at around 8 or 9M.

I was having so much fun though! High fiving all the kids along the route. There was this constant energy from the crowd all the way along. Honestly, this was runner's high from mile 1 for me! I was happy at the start and happier out on the course. Couldn't stop smiling! And then in the distance there was a wall of noise...

The Wellesley girls! Approaching half way and you could hear them from a mile away. Plenty were stopping to take advantage of the "kiss me" signs - a slow mile for many, I think! Just the one lady for me, so no stopping, but their energy was contagious and hysterically funny. I was suddenly running faster!

I was feeling great but knew the Newton Hills were approaching, so I tried to hold it back. But I was now running with the same people and not being swept up any longer. The 7:45 miles dropped to 7:30s.

You dip down at mile 15 and that precedes the 4 hills from Newton. A great time to be feeling good. Honestly, the first hill, the longest one, wasn't really much of a hill. I felt strong, HR went up a chunk, but pace hardly changed. I ran these hills with enthusiasm and great joy, feeling strong the whole way.

Then we hit Heartbreak Hill. By this point joy was becoming ecstasy. I started singing "Don't go breaking my heart" out loud, encouraging the runners around me, interacting with the crowd and responding to the witty signs. I put the hammer down a bit, got the HR up to 140+bpm and ran mile 21, which included all of Heartbreak Hill, in just 7:13. One of my fastest miles of the race.

Downhill to the finish from there. Some faster miles, feeling strong. Crowd unbelievable! Almost in tears of joy by the end! "Thank you, Boston!" I shouted. I meant it with all my heart!

3:15. Negative split. Super strong at the finish. Great joy!

As I said, the most fun I have ever had in a pair of running shoes!

Well done Anthony and the best of luck for your upcoming endurance event.

Then I have to thank my friend Christine Holyoake for posting this story once again on Facebook today. I have simply copied it here showing how times have changed photos here of Kathrine Switzer in her first Boston Marathon when she was treated so badly and then her latest effort at 70.

When Kathrine Switzer first ran the Boston Marathon in 1967, a race official tried to physically remove her from the route after he discovered that she was female. Today, 50 years later, the now 70-year-old Switzer has successfully completed the marathon once again -- this time running it in 4 hours, 44 minutes at the head of a team of over 100 women! Switzer was a 20-year-old college student at Syracuse University in 1967 when she registered for the race using her initials, K.V. Switzer. Not realizing that she was a woman, who were barred from participating in the Boston Marathon for over 70 years, race officials issued her an entry number.

During the race, marathon official Jock Semple ran up to her yelling "Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!" When he grabbed Switzer and attempted to rip off her race number, other runners, including Switzer's coach Arnie Briggs and her boyfriend Tom Miller, blocked Semple and she was able to complete the marathon. Dramatic photographs of the incident and the story of Switzer's participation in the marathon made global headlines. Switzer's record-setting run as the Boston Marathon’s first registered female runner came one year after the historic run of Bobbi Gibb, who disguised herself and snuck in to run the marathon in 1966.

After the marathon, Switzer became deeply engaged in efforts to increase girls’ and women’s access to sports and she and other women runners finally convinced the Boston Athletic Association to drop their discriminatory policies and allow women to participate in 1972. Today, nearly half of Boston Marathon entrants are female. Switzer also helped lead the drive for the inclusion of a women’s marathon in the Olympic Games -- a victory which was achieved at long last with the first women's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Today, on the 50th anniversary of her historic run, Switzer ran with a team from her non-profit organization, 261 Fearless, named for her original bib number. As part of the team commitment, today's participants aimed to raise $1 million for the non-profit to fund non-competitive running clubs, train coaches, and provide a communications platform for women runners in the U.S. and across the globe. Reflecting on the tremendous progress in women's running over the past five decades -- women now participate in more running events than men in the U.S., with women making up 57% of finishers in U.S. races last year -- Switzer says, “If young women today take for granted the fact that they can compete like men in the sport of running, that’s fantastic. That’s what we wanted when we began working for acceptance."

 

Then here is a reminder of the 2013 Boston Marathon. No words needed.