4:30AM – I imagine that many are already up, awake after a sleepless night. They are stumbling about their homes or hotel rooms, checking, double checking, triple checking their gear for the day. I am asleep.
5:30AM – Somewhat bleary-eyed, but full of excitement, thousands head for the buses at the Boston Commons. As sleepy as they may be, their bodies are buzzing. I am asleep.
6:00AM – The buses for the first wave are now leaving, with buses for the second and third wave leaving at 6:30 and 7:00. My alarm finally goes off, only because Jess still has to work today and I need to go down to the kitchen to pack her a breakfast and lunch.
6:00AM – 8:00AM – They will sit on the bus, some sleeping, some chatting a mile a minute, some silently staring off into space, contemplating what lies ahead. I will make myself a simple breakfast, have some tea and wait for my kids to wake up. No school for them on Patriot’s Day.
8:00AM – 10:00AM – They wait. This is one of my favorite parts of the Boston Marathon. They will nervously wait in the athlete’s village. If they are running with a charity, they will all sit together, otherwise, they will find friends who they only see once or twice a year – friends who they know through the blogosphere or Facebook or dailymile or Twitter. It will be comforting because these are people that, despite not knowing each other, they know each other. Some will be relaxed, others will be nervous, most will be a combination of both. Despite the comfort of the village, all will want to get this race started. I’ll shower and lay my running gear out…maybe I’ll double check it, maybe I won’t.
10:00AM – The first wave is off. I say a little prayer for all of the runners as the temperatures look to climb into the high 80’s. I am not so worried about the elite runners and those that will be near the front of the first wave. Though they will not necessarily have banner days, they will be finishing just as the temperatures get brutal. It is the later runners like my charge Lynda, who I will be pacing from mile 16 to the finish line, and my dear friends Mike and Judith and Brian who are experienced marathoners, but starting in the third wave, that I am concerned about. They are the heroes of Monday who will be subjecting their bodies the tough, hot, extreme elements. Meanwhile, I will drop one of my kids off for a play date and bring the other with me to run some errands.
10:40AM – The third wave will be under way. For those all the way in the back (as I was in 2010 – I was literally the last person to start in 2010) it may take as much as 20 minutes to cross the starting line. Brooke and I will finish up our errands and go home to play a little – maybe a little painting, maybe some reading.
11:30AM – The elites are probably somewhere near Wellesley College at this point – almost half way home. If they’re smart, they’ll stop for a kiss in the scream tunnel. Depending on how long it took to get to the start, my friends in wave three are somewhere between 4 and 5 miles in. Hopefully they are taking their time, soaking in the crowd and not worried about their pace. The babysitter arrives and I begin to check my phone for alerts on my charge Lynda. She is hoping to run at 11:00 to 12:00 pace. I check to make sure I have my Charlie Card so I can get back home via the T after I run her to the finish. I check the interwebs for the T-stop I need to drive to.
12:15PM – The alerts have been coming in, not just of my friends from wave three, but of my other friends as well. Maddy, Steve, and many more. At this point, Lynda is anywhere between 5 and 8 mile. She probably won’t be at mile 16 until 1:40ish, but I don’t want to take any chances. I hop in the car and head to the local T-stop, dressed to run, shuffle, walk – whatever it takes to get Lynda to the finish line.
1:00PM – Arriving at mile 16, I will make my way through the crowd and cheer on the runners, looking for friends, keeping track of Lynda.
Our 2 roads are about to converge…
