Christopher Robin: Our FIRST Marathon

Ok, so we did not actually RUN this marathon, but by the time the day was over, I think we walked at LEAST a half marathon!

We were up bright and early, working on a way to ensure that we would get to cheer on Heath and see him at least a couple of times across the course. The marathon began at 10:00 am. Lovely Kristine, Chris, and I headed to the bus/subway to start migrating toward the proper stop. Unfortunately, the bus we were wanting did not come : ( But that actually ended up being a good thing, as with the massive number of onlookers, we would never have gotten where we wanted to go. SO we made a quick back up plan and hopped on another bus to the subway system.

We were fortunate enough to get on the first sardine-packed subway train. phew! It was seriously WALL-TO-WALL with people-I mean there were around 23,000 individuals competing in the marathon, not to mention the THOUSANDS of onlookers and locals who were there that day too. It took about an hour for us to get to our first viewing point, but we were thinking of Heath right as the marathon was getting ready to start:

(pic of Chris' watch about 5 til the start of the race)

We arrived at our destination, cow bells and camera's at hand. Chris had signed up for a text message update for when Heath crossed certain checkpoints in the race. This message would tell us Heath's pace at the 6 mile point. We would also receive updates at the 10K, 1/2 way, 30 K and Finish line. Unfortunately, we did not receive Heath's first update, so we were not 100 % sure where he was at on the course or what his mile time was.

These are pictures of the "power gel" the runners would eat for energy along the course. Check out that TUB of it!

And all the flavors!

BUT it was not too long before we saw him trotting up the hill, running past us.

Heath (the blond, lanky fellow) was suited up in his unforgettable "America Shorts" and a red t-shirt/tank top. Chris took a video of when we saw Heath run by:

He looked like he was determined and going strong. YAY! but there were SO many people, that he did not see us at that stop. "Oh just you wait"-I thought- He will hear us at the next stop!! And he did : )

Here's another video-this one is actually really good- he had around 1/2 a mile or less (I think) left-so he was doing all he could just to make it to the finish.

AND with a final time of 3:03:05 Heath finished his FIRST BOSTON MARATHON! Here's his final stats:
Pace: 6:58 minute miles
Place: 1673rd OVERALL!
**23,162 total individuals started the race.**

That's a sweet finish-especially for a 1st timer!
(I would like to take a special time to note that Heath was just UNDER an hour behind the 1st place winner-the Ethiopian, Deriba Merga, whose time was 2:08:32 )
CLOSE but no cigar! : )

Chris was reading an article about the marathon as we were waiting on Heath to recover, and the article stated that this year's marathon was slower than the pace of the past years. IN FACT- we are impressed with Heath's finish, as he made a NEW personal best...AND he qualified for NEXT YEAR'S BOSTON MARATHON by his time at this year's race! GO HEATH! Who knows, maybe we will be back there next year...?!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Here we are before the day started, waiting for the bus.