Marathon Monday, one of the best holidays of the year! On Sunday Steph and Christina and I went into Boston to watch the Elite Invitational Mile and go to the Marathon Expo. It was a great day, despite the rainy conditions. It is always awesome to see elite runners up close and personal, just absolutely beastin' there way down the road. Notably, I got to see Sara Hall and Darren Brown run the road mile, and I saw Grete Waitz at the expo signing autographs, but I didn't stay to get one, although I would have loved to.
The road miles were fun to watch. First they did the high school races, then the mens and womens professional miles. We watched from the corner of Boylston and Exeter, right near a big screen that showed info about the runners, and live footage of the race for when they were out of sight. Before the women's race the screen put a little blurb of the runners accomplishments and other notable things like championships, olympic efforts, and first place finishes. Poor Sara Hall had under her name "wife of American marathoner Ryan Hall." Seriously? Sara is elite as well, they definitely could have put up a different fact about her. I mean, it was funny, but come on...
The expo was great. It's always great to go home with a goodie bag of free things! Although I tried a few too many energy drinks and bars for one day. Best Freebies: Tiara from the Disney Princess Half Marathon booth, Success Rice, and 2010 Boston Marathon poster.
Marathon Monday was a good time too. Got up early and met some of the cross country/track team at Coach's office and we had muffins and bagels and juice. Normally we meet up and watch the start of the marathon on TV, but the TV is no longer in the office, so we all just hung out there instead. We headed out to the streets to see the first wheelchairs come by and await the elite men and women. It's a really exciting atmosphere. Going to school along the course, in particular a key turning point along the course (Newton Firehouse), is really awesome. The entire school is out there on the streets, mostly drunk, but always enthusiastic. I love being out there cheering people on right before they turn onto Comm Ave, because I feel like that's one of the places that they really need it.
My heart races when the elites come by. It's really cool to watch the little specks in a pack off in the distance formulate into people as they get closer and closer. It's amazing how FAST they are. I can't even fathom how they keep that pace for 26.2 miles. USA had a great showing by Hall and Meb. Neither grabbed first place, but that just means that they'll be back next year for more!
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