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Boston Marathon '07

It has always been my M.O. to pick one spot to watch the race. Usually it is BC, one year the firehouse, once at Fairbanks in Brookline and even once standing at the finish line handing out medals. This year I figured I'd try to hit a few spots by bike (I even bought a new one for the occasion) but the weather dampened my enthusiasm. I ended up joining with Arlene and Emily to do a "car chase" of the leaders. Em mapped out a plan with predicted times that were made a little easier when the race went out slower than usual. We caught them at 10K, 20K, a close miss near the fire station and a make at Cleveland Circle, then hopped on the T to catch the after race festivities.

10K Mark. A backup at the toll on Rt. 90 (we didn't have the "Fast Pass" car) had us missing the women's leaders by less than a minute. We were well ahead of the men who started 25 minutes later than the elite women.

Then it was the men's turn.

People unaware of what was happening with the leaders were excited to see these two way out front. In my write-up I'll cover why those in the know didn't think much about it.

The lead pack rolls through.

Two of the three KImbia guys are easy to see in long sleeve white shirts. They dropped the shirts when it was clear they'd be too warm. Usually runners have a number on both front and back. Due to the weather, they were allowed to wear one number on an outer shirt and the other on the race shirt underneath. In this way they could discard the outer shirt. Last year in Chicago it was necessary for the guys to cut a hole in the outer shirt to make the number underneath visible.

Ben Maiyo is looking to his left while James is staring straight ahead.

We beat the leaders to just past the 20K mark. Arlene gives Matt (Matt is back in the press room) an update of the temperature, wind and other weather conditions. Emily is waiting to video the runners.

The women roll through.

They are still just short of the halfway mark and you can see the seriousness in their faces.

American hope Deena Kastor fell off the pace earlier than expected but held on for 5th.

A random picture of the elite field.

We were staked out on a slight incline that had the "push-rim" (formerly wheel chair) athletes working hard.

With the long line of sight, you could see how spread out the runners were. The crowd was OK, but not the usual size.

This GBTC runner wasn't hard to remember. Strangely, we were on her schedule. I saw her at 10K, 20K, Cleveland Circle, passed her while I was on the Green Line, and as I got off the Hynes Station she was just headed toward the finish.

The lead pack was down to 13 at 20K. It wasn't raining much, but the road was slick.

Ben is just off the right shoulder of repeat winner, Robert Cheriot (sp)

Emily checks out the camera at Cleveland Circle.

This is the view as the runners swing onto Beacon Street.

At this point the pack is down to 6 including all three KIMbia runners.

I stopped in at the women's press conference to listen to Deena.