Official you ran Boston 2022 thread - post your experience here

My first Boston and second marathon. I ran my first in 3:26 on a flat course. Finished Boston in 3:28 even though I was in much better shape. Was hoping for better results and I positive splitted by 4 mins. That said, I’m happy with my results. I was strong on the ills but couldn’t keep it together for the last 2-3 miles. Had a great time!

Since I'm training through Boston in a buildup for VT City at the end of May, the goal was to run at around ~95% of goal pace and keep my legs fresh enough to run a workout later in the week. Ran 2:37mid and had an absolute blast, aside from getting clipped from behind and falling at around mile 19. It was my first Boston, and I was kinda skeptical that it could possibly live up to the hype, especially given what a pain the logistics are, but it absolutely delivered. No soreness on my run this morning; I actually felt really good, so mission accomplished.

Qualified with a 2:57 and got a bit injured towards end of training and didn't do a longer run for last 6 weeks leading up to race. So, was shooting for a 3:05-3:10 and ran a 3:06 with a 2 minute positive split. Have done the race 4 times and this was the best overall experience overall by far and in terms of not having the last 4 miles turn into a death march (last was in 2018 and though my time was better that day, it was not fun and last 4 miles were terrible). I'm always a bit amazed at the logistics it takes to pull the race off, so the organized chaos aspect of getting to start, etc. is probably best case scenario. I do wish they would do gear check/retrieval a bit differently so as to randomly assign people to numbered buses to make it easier to get your bag at the end of the race (on bad weather days like 2018, standing in line for 10+ minutes to get a sweatshirt from your bag can be dangerous) but I'm sure there is a reason they don't. One other weird thing was the clocks on the course: some seem to have been rest to indicate elapsed time since 10:00 wave start, and some seemed to have elapsed time based on elite men's start. Could be confusing to people if you are at all relying on clocks to get a sense of your splits.

Was I the only one who didn't think the weather was great? It's true the temps were low, but I felt like I was absolutely baking in the sun. I got a terrible sunburn and felt hot basically the entire race. I did the classic positive split, finishing in 3:06 despite hitting the halfway mark right at 1:30. Died on the hills.

So which amazing shoes were you wearing?

And what amazing shoes were you wearing?

You should feel proud. It's hard to finish when things go to crap, yet you did. Well done, regardless of the time.

Sinus Cold Marathon Study: Second Boston, 3:27 A goal, sub 3:30 B goal, 3:35 BQ C goal, 3:36+ actual

A minor sinus cold got worse by Sunday, but I felt good enough Monday morning to toe the line (probably adrenaline) and Dr. Internet said I was OK to run because it wasn't in my lungs, yet. I ran by feel and HR at B goal pace expecting to crash, but YOLO. Everything was great until mile 21 when the wheels fell off and my legs started to cramp despite perfect hydration. I limped in with 4 or 5 walk breaks.

Conclusion: You can run a decent race (even a marathon) with sinus or head cold that isn't in your lungs. There were a lot of other runners no Monday that weren't at full strength, but some crazy virus could shut the world down again, so we have to race when we can and embrace every moment, including the suck.

Alphafly. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think at least half of the effect the super shoes have on race times is from what they allow you to do in training.

I should clarify that I mean race times at the elite level

Agree. I'm not particularly strong in the hills let alone with a headwind. I found the second part windy especially from mile 18 onwards. My form falls apart easily with a headwind even though it's not that strong. I need to work on this. Both hamstrings cramped really bad and my ankle too also in this section. I thought maybe I wouldn't finish so I'm very happy to have run only a minute slower than my PR on a flat and fast course even though it was a big postive split. Still had a blast. First Boston and the experience with the crowd was second to none. Crazy.

Vaporfly FK. I’ve had some feet issues and the knit gives me the flexibility I need. These shoes did not do me well. Miserable experience from mile 1-26. I would have preferred traditional flats over them. Oh well. Not sure what I’ll choose for my fall race. Maybe try those brooks.

Morning started off rough when the bus leading the caravan of busses to the start got lost. 10 busses doing a 3 point turn in someone’s driveway was interesting. Then the busses drove directly to the start instead of the athlete village. So we all just got off and walked to the village. That didn’t do anything to settle the nerves.
Goal was simply to avoid blowing up. Ended up running 1:30 off of my PR of 2:58. Completely imploded the last mile, which in hindsight I think was due to dehydration. I’ve never been so sunburnt in my life.
I thought the first hill in newton was the worst of them all. Least favorite part of the course was actually the portion in Boston. It felt like this never ending straightaway. Heard about the downhill to start by definitely underestimated how it makes your legs feel.

First time running. Goal time was <3:30, felt I was in ~3:23-3:25 shape assuming things went well and I didn't want to be 'racing' and instead just enjoying the run. Actual time 3:34 low. Really focused on staying relaxed and saving my legs the first half, evidently I was not successful. First two Newton Hills were ok, slowed a bit on the third and Heartbreak. The last 5 miles were incredibly tough, and while it was net downhill, there are still plenty of small climbs throughout that last part. I've run NYC 9 times and did just about every workout and long run on the hills in CP, with a lot of time spent running Harlem Hill loops. TBH none of that prepared me for how hard that course was.

Logistics are definitely tough. I'm not sure they're as bad as NYC, cab to SI ferry to bus, but isn't the easiest.

I think I was most surprised by leaving the first athlete village to walk to the start and hearing multiple people asking where they check their bag.

First Boston. Qualified with a 2:56 in November 2020 in what was essentially a time trial race. Had to carry my own water in a Camelbak along with the rest of my fuel since there were no aid stations. That was a tough course with tough conditions and I was surprised that I even qualified that day. Assumed I would have a much better day at Boston with normal race conditions.

Based on training and recent race performances I was shooting for 2:45-2:50 yesterday. Best shape of my life despite a huge health issue last summer/fall that knocked me out of running for ~3 months. Went out conservatively for the first few miles, then fell into my goal pace from 3-16. Planned to let the hills win in Newton and give up some time, but make things up with the downhill finish. I live in Boston so I am very familiar with the course and spent all winter training on it.

Was on pace through ~19-20 but wound up getting a really bad R foot cramp around 20-21 and had to stop to work it out at the top of heartbreak, then shuffled for another mile or two until it resolved. Closed my last mile at goal pace. Came through in 3:06 which was extremely disappointing but I still very much enjoyed the experience.

The crowds were absolutely unbelievable. Loved the kids on trampolines along the route somewhere just before halfway I think? Made me smile. Newton was an absolute zoo. Felt like a stadium.

This was by far the largest race I've ever run in and the hardest part for me was navigating aid stations. It was a miracle that I was able to grab gatorade every two miles without getting tripped up by someone.

I felt really good and am unfortunately not super sore today besides my R foot.

As a Boston rookie, I made all of the classic mistakes. Didn't check myself at the start and got caught up in the moment/the downhills so ended up on a bit too aggressive of a pace in the first 4 miles. Then, even though I realized the mistake, I kept unconsciously letting myself get swept along with the rest of the pack and therefore stayed just 5-10s too fast over the "flat" miles. Finally, I underestimated the effects of all the downhills and by the drop into Newton just before the hills my quads were already feeling it. I started experiencing some stomach cramps around the same time, and I ended up reduced to a run/walk on all of the downhills.

Finished 10 min behind my goal, but with a lot of lessons learned and a ton of appreciation for the event and the crowds.

Ran my first Boston and had a blast! After running 2:53 on a rough day at Chicago, I came in to Boston with a goal of running sub-2:50. Left the day with a 2:42.35 PB! I stuck to my gameplan of starting controlled and keeping relaxed through 16, pushed the hills, and spent the last five seeing what was left in the tank. I didn’t have any issues with the larger hills, but got rocked by the small hills closer to the finish.

The crowd support was some of the best I’ve ever experienced, and it was a beautiful day to run. Only thing I could have done without is the excess time on the legs waiting for busses and getting to the start line from the Athlete’s Village.

My second Boston, but first racing it and first time on the course since 2009. I had a short but good buildup. Wanted to break 3. Went out in 1:28:55 at very even pace. Felt well-positioned but my quads just ended up trashed by mile 20 and I couldn’t keep rolling. I faded to as slow as 8:00 for mile 25 and finished in 3:03:55. My heart rate continued to drop just because I simply couldn’t turn my legs over fast enough to keep it up.

I felt like I was holding some back on the first half but maybe I was going faster than I should have. In any event, I’m happy with my strategy but just wasn’t strong enough today.

The race is well organized and environment was great. Crashing and burning on the second half took away some of my ability to soak in the environment, but overall had a great time. It’s nice to see how proud people are to finish and achieve their goals—you just don’t see that at other races.