“Why Boston? Why not another, easier race for your first marathon experience?”

… Where to start?

Let’s just say that, even before I moved to Boston, I had heard about the Boston Marathon.  I knew that, for many runners, it is *the* marathon to complete. For casual runners, it might be at the top of their bucket list, while for elites it is one of the most prestigious races they can win.  (For charity runners like myself, there’s a highly competitive application process to go through – and you have to commit to raising a significant amount of money.)

In a general sense, I understood the appeal.  Apart from being the oldest annual marathon in the world, it’s one of the few marathons that sets qualifying standards (it was also the first to do so, in 1970).  Those standards are hard to meet; only about 12% of marathoners qualify for Boston.   The course itself is challenging too.  Though it’s a net downhill race (i.e. runners drop a total of 459 feet over the 26.2 miles), it’s quite hilly– and of course you only hit the big hills after you’ve already run close to 20 miles.  (My glutes and calves are starting to ache just thinking about it….)

Boston Marathon course map, with elevation shown in the bottom half.

So in general, I understood the appeal.  But it wasn’t until I moved to Boston that I began to understand why, for so many runners, it’s much more than just a famous road race.  Within a few months after I moved to Boston– as soon as I was able to surface from an intense start to business school, to be precise– I was engulfed in Boston’s running culture.

There’s a reason why Boston is often called the capital of running in the U.S.  It has the marathon, of course, which attracts more than a million spectators.  But in general, people here are a little obsessed with this whole running thing.  Bostonians run the most miles per week, on average, compared to all other U.S. cities; it seems like there’s a running club on every street (and at every brewery, for that matter); the November Project was founded here; and they won’t let minor things like blizzards prevent them from doing their daily run.

108 inches of snow and counting?  Whatevs. Gotta get my run on.
-Cambridge dude (below)

So it was with excitement that I showed up to watch my first Boston Marathon about 8 months after moving to the city.  And wow!  The streets were packed with people cheering on the runners and holding signs for their friends, family, and random strangers running the race.

Spectators at Kenmore Square (near my apartment) and holding signs

 

It felt incredible to be part of something that huge… an event that truly brings the entire region together.  While watching the runners pass, I decided — I had to have my Boston Marathon experience too.  I wanted to be a part of this, and not just as a spectator watching the marathoners pass, exhausted but exhilarated.  How amazing it would be to complete this marathon, while raising money for a fantastic cause at the same time.

That conviction only increased later that day, when two bombs were set off near the finish line.  The following week seemed like a blur, both to myself and to everyone else I knew living in Boston – but what I remember most was the way the entire city united and drew closer to each other.  The marathon, already the most widely-viewed sporting event in New England, became a source of fierce pride — even more meaningful, if possible, than it had been before.

2014 and 2015 passed without me being able to run (due to lack of being able to get a spot and injury).  This coming year, however, I will finally achieve my goal of running Boston while also raising funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  I am so thrilled to have been given this opportunity, both to raise funds for an organization that does amazing work to support those with muscle disease, and also to complete my dream marathon.

Here’s to Boston….. I’ll see you at the finish line!

2-minute trailer for “Boston,” an upcoming documentary about the marathon