Boston Marathon
October 11, 2021
6:19:21
We got to the bus pickup
later than we had planned. This turned out to be a fatal mistake because our
wave was already gone and then our bus driver got lost and made us 30 minutes
late to the start. By the time we got to the start line we were already at the
back of the pack. By the time we got through, a lot of spectators had already
left. John worked hard at getting the crowds riled up so they would cheer me
on.
Boston is a beautiful
course which was accentuated by the fall colors. Normally this race is held in
April when the trees are bare. Much of the course is a huge block party for
some of the neighborhoods so that was fun. Unfortunately due to my excessive
walking and late start, the course was being taken down around us. Water stops,
barricades and timing mats were being moved as we were coming through, which is
a really frightening feeling. We are not sure if this is why our official time
is not registered yet at the finish, but they were also folding up part of the
timing mats there and they routed us over a different section. John is trying
to get this rectified. But that feeling of turning onto Hereford and then
Boylston and seeing the Boston Marathon finish line with John by my side was an
experience I will not soon forget!
Wednesday, October 13 was
an amazing Birthday hanging out with John and Nicholas. We started off with the
Duck Tour where as a veteran, John got to sign his name and dates of service on
the roof of the Duck. We then walked parts of the Freedom Trail. We stopped at
the Beantown Pub, “the only place where you can have a cold Sam Adams while
looking at the real cold Sam Adams” across the street. We even ran into our CA
friends at the Paul Revere house, where I forgot to take any pics. (Thank you
to everyone who sent texts, FB messages and private messages. It will take me
some time to get through them but I’m feeling the love and I’m committing to be
more intentional with my friends over the next year!)
We started off Thursday
with a tour of Fenway Park. The cool part is that the Red Sox team busses were
boarding to head to Houston to play ALCS starting on Friday. Somehow, the media
started talking to John, who ended
up interviewed TWICE for local news
In the afternoon we took the Boston Tea Party Ships tour and learned about the start of the American Revolution. Very interesting tour! Friday morning we drove to Salem, MA and visited the Salem Witch Museum and had a fun time strolling around historical Salem. These people take their Halloween decorations seriously!
We continued our little
road trip on into Maine, looking for lighthouses, fall colors and lobster. We
stopped off for a visit with John’s cousin, John and Linda Duncan. John had
stayed with them in Connecticut most of the times he ran Boston, but they had
just moved to Maine this year. LOVED all the little towns along the way!
The whole 10-day trip was
a celebration of my son, Nicholas. We planned a trip to celebrate his nursing
school graduation, now almost 2 years ago, but our previous plans were COVID
cancelled. He has been a Patriots fan since he was a kid. So when we found out
there would be a home game right after the Boston Marathon we had to make it
happen! The game was against the Dallas Cowboys and just like the Red Sox game,
it went overtime. I’m so excited we got to have this experience.
The next morning, before we flew home we stopped for breakfast. While walking out of the restaurant, Nicholas ran into a Patriots player and said “Look mom, it’s Devon McCourty” while I pretended to know exactly who he was. I was impressed that Nick knew his team well enough to recognize this guy in street clothes who looked nothing like a football player to me. But it was a really neat way to end the trip!!
This was Marathon #173; 33 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian
provinces.
Our Marathon and trip photos: VIEW ALBUM
Marathonfoto pictures: VIEW ALBUM
