Boston’s Run to Remember 2014

I went to the Expo on Saturday to pick up my packet and shirt. There were 20 or so vendors at the Seaport World Trade Center and at 2PM the crowd was still pretty strong.

Finding a parking spot was a challenge and I may have violated one or two traffic laws. Eventually I found a metered spot that cost 75 cents instead of $15 for the 30 minutes I was there.

As I walked towards the Trade Center, I could not believe how many porta-potties were lined up on the sidewalks. For a race of this size I shouldn’t have been surprised. There is so much construction going on in South Boston, there are few lots left for porta-potties. The sidewalks are the only option.

I get to this neighborhood a few times a year and normally those sidewalks are empty. Seeing hundreds of porta-potties lined up just seemed so odd.

The sidewalks were full of fit people in running shirts from races from all over the country. Many BAA race shirts of one type or another.

As I approached the Trade Center, security became more obvious with several state and Boston police officers and cruisers in front of the Trade Center. It wasn’t intrusive and they spent most of their time stopping traffic for pedestrians.

Due to construction on the Longfellow Bridge the race organizers had to make a course change this year. In 2013 the race went over the Longfellow Bridge and took a sharp right down the ramp onto Memorial Drive in Cambridge. This year the course goes down Charles Street to Beacon and then crosses the Mass Ave bridge. We will then head East down Memorial drive, pass The Longfellow and then turn around. They had a map of the new route up in a dozen spots, or so it seemed.

I gained an appreciation for the length of a half marathon when I saw that we would be running out Memorial Drive past the Western Avenue bridge. And then back to Mass Ave before crossing over back into Boston. 13.1 miles is a long way, but we may actually finish the race in less time than it takes to drive Memorial Drive in heavy traffic.

They wind us through Boston pretty good on the way out and on the way back. It will be fun to run down the middle of these normally busy streets. 10 water stops this year and clocks at every mile. Nice.

I’ll try to have a race re-cap by Monday. I’ll also have frames for the finisher’s medal available on omnirunning.com.

Run Well my Friends!

Andy