We decided to take a red-eye non-stop to Boston because (1) it was the cheapest option and (2) worked out best for our schedules. We rolled into Boston at 6:30am on a Saturday and it was truly magical to see the city still asleep. It was a quick transit ride to our hotel where we met up with Beverly, Lloyd, and Trisha! We don't get to see her much, so spending an entire weekend with her was such a treat! Bevan and I were both still running on adrenaline so we decided to make the most of it. We went to the Boston Marathon Expo, stood in line forever, and saw thousands of very athletic people! He and Trisha picked up their bib numbers, we wandered around the overpriced vendors, bought some edible goo for Bevan, and just soaked up all the runners energy (which was good because, by this time, the red-eye was starting to catch up to me). No time to waste though! Off to Fenway Park! These tickets were several birthday-presents-worth from Beverly and Lloyd and they were very appreciated. It was a close game, but the Red Sox pulled it off! I never realized how small the ball field is, compared to other major league fields. They really like it that way. We didn't get to see any home runs over the big, green, monster wall, but it was still very exciting! Those are some dedicated fans! Each of us ate an entire sweet Italian sausage with onions and peppers. It's all about the experience, right? Including the after-breath.
Sunday morning was amazing too. We took the "T" up to Cambridge for church. Can you imagine taking the subway to church every week? I'm sure lots of people do. Some of the Pocatello running possy was there too: Elissa, Kristen, and Rachel. They were actually staying at our hotel and it was fun to see them so much. Wherever you run, you have friends! I'm glad we got to the chapel early because it completely filled up! Bishop Tagg Romney (yes, looks JUST like his dad) was presiding and he asked all the runners to stand up. It was almost the entire congregation! Totally gave me chills. Anyway, the speakers were amazing, the musical numbers were amazing, and for being a church, there was a ton of energy! After sacrament meeting, we went back over the river and went for a lovely stroll through Boston Common. The formal gardens were pretty too... with 100 port-a-potties adjacent to it, ready for race day. We lunched for sandwiches right on the finish line. I'm glad I got to at see it all, because it's pretty impossible to see it on race day. Can you just imagine the prep work for such a race? 30,000 runners + 2,000 volunteers + 500,000 spectators creates a lot of work!
After lunch, we went to more church... kind of. The "Blessing of the Athletes" is a tradition of the Old South Church. The (unadvertised) 1pm session was empty so we got primo balcony seats and a great view of the entire floor. It lacked a little bit of modern ventilation, but it was still fun. The finale was a pipe organ/ drums/ bagpipes ensemble that really gets the energy going! I feel like that was the theme of this whole trip: energy! Bevan and Trisha needed to save their energy so there wasn't a lot going on the rest of the day. We just stayed around our hotel and didn't do much, which was perfect for them.
The Boston Marathon is a different race because it doesn't start at the crack of dawn, like every other marathon. Monday morning was very relaxed. Bevan and Trisha still had to leave by 7am, even though they didn't start 'till 10:25. That's so late! For many reasons, it just works best that way. I wasn't complaining. It's a big deal! It SHOULD take up the entire day! It's a holiday! We were able to watch a lot of tv footage from our room, and then walk 10 minutes to where it passed by us! I went down early and watched the wheelchairs and hand-bike racers. Those guys are serious! It took a couple more hours for Bevan and Trisha to pass us. I can't believe we actually saw them! Lloyd spotted them first and it was a miracle. We got some quick pictures and video, and then jumped on the T to meet them at the end. The train parallels the runners for a while so it was fun to watch them run ahead (because the train was really going THAT slow!) We knew seeing them finish was impossible so we just went to the meeting area in the park. I was so happy to see them, still alive! They finished in 3:35! They looked great! All the runners looked great! (but I guess if they weren't doing great, they were back in the first aid tent). Anyway, they did so good and had so much energy, they wanted to walk the Freedom Trail as a cool-down. Who does that?! Amazing runners do! So we did it. All the way through historic downtown, through the north end, across Charleston Bridge, Bunker Hill, and the USS Constitution. We took a water ferry back across. I was just soaking up all the history and the very old buildings. Nothing back home is THAT old. It was crazy. We ended with some amazing seafood. I ate my first lobster and Bevan had a pound of shrimp. You know they're fresh when their antennas are still attached. Yep, fresh off the boat. Still had their last meal inside them too! Anything tastes good dipped in butter, garlic, and cajun seasoning.
Beverly, Lloyd, and Trisha had to leave early Tuesday morning. It was sad. We had so much fun together! And it still left me and Bevan with another day to kill before our plane left at 8pm. We didn't want to backtrack to our hotel before the airport so we just hauled it all with us, in backpacks. We saw many of the things we missed before, like Chinatown, the TOP of Bunker Hill monument, historic Charlestown, TP Garden, Italian district, and even the swan boats in the park. Bevan was such a trooper. It was weird to see other runners around town wearing their jackets AND their medals. My first thought was, "is that cool?" It really was, because it gets them free beer and other goodies! They really milk it! We still had to pay for our pizza in Regina's, but that was totally worth the experience. At the end of the day, I was able to sleep on the plane... and I NEVER sleep on planes! That's how tired we were! It was a great trip and I never knew you could cram so much much energy into 4 days!
