Official you ran Boston 2022 thread - post your experience here

I missed the first wave of busses and had to wait probably an hour for more to arrive is that normal? I had less than 10 min in athletes village before having to start for the corrals. Not the worst but a little unexpected.

Second Boston but first time racing as well. 11th total marathon, sixth raced seriously. I had a good buildup, averaged about 90/week for 18 weeks, and went in with a 2:30 goal. I hit the half right on, just a few ticks over 1:15, ran a 5:30 downhill for mile 16, then got absolutely rocked in Newton to go 2:39.

A few thoughts and observations:

1. Although my legs felt snappier than ever during the warmup, I never really hit the relaxed, serene "I could run forever" feeling I've previously had between miles 5-20 in Chicago and other flat courses. The warning signs of impending fatigue were there from about mile 4 onwards - I wasn't struggling, but also didn't feel as if I could accelerate at will.

2. Newton seems to set up much better for power runners. I'm 5'9" 125 and have never broken a minute in the quarter, so that should give you some indication of how very much a rhythm runner I am. For anyone with a similar profile, I can't stress enough how much I wish I would have lifted regularly through the buildup. I think it's worth it to run okay workouts on sore legs from lifting, rather than trying to run fast workouts without the lifting. Also, do core - I was pretty lax about that and today my lower back hurts a ton from trying to keep myself upright on the hills.

3. People tend to rag on the rigmarole with the buses, village, etc, but I think that's an important part of it that shouldn't be missed. I had a delightful ride out to Hopkinton chatting with an 8th grade teacher from Ohio, and I shared a tarp in the village with a Boston first-timer and a grizzled vet. It was fun hearing their qualification stories and the ups and downs of their training. Nobody having a cell phone adds to the experience.

Finally, overall, I think Boston teaches you more about yourself as a marathoner than any other course. I've come away with a sense of pride at having rolled the dice and gone out at goal pace, but a sense of wasted opportunity at not having held it together on the hills. I'm sore in places I haven't been sore in after any of my other marathons. Boston has a way of exposing your weaknesses, and so I'm grateful to be headed into my next buildup wiser for it.

My 17th Boston and on an age-graded basis my third best after 2011 and 2010, thanks to the weather. 6 mins faster than 2021. I love this race. So much more complex and challenging than others, and so full of great people. From the runners to the volunteers to the cops to the fans to the Bostonians who clap when they see your medal. The post-race vibe is incredible. Reliably the worst and the best day of the year.

My 2nd Boston. M 50-54. Logistics went smooth enough. I was wave 2. Got dropped off near Boston Common at 7:00, checked my bag, used porta potty, and was on a bus by my scheduled boarding time of 7:30. Typical long wait in athletes village where I sat, chatted with a couple other runners and another trip to the potty before they called white bibs to the start.

Set my goal at around 3:20. Legs didn't feel fresh right away, probably from being on my feet a lot over the weekend, but I stayed on target since it was already a conservative one for me. Ran well over the Newton hills. Was hurting a bit after that and let up some in the final miles and finished in 3:24.

I think weather was great, because it was cool for us runners, but still pleasant enough for the spectators. But yeah I did get a bit sunburnt. Crowds were great! Notable points were Natick, of course Wellesley was amazing, then in Boston. Kenmore Square they were super enthusiastic, like forcefully cheering you on. Hereford and Boylston they were a massive roar.

This race went much better than my first, so I really enjoyed it.

My first Boston, and second marathon. Was looking to run anywhere between 2:30-2:35. Ended up with just under 2:32, so it went pretty well and I am happy with the result. Went out a little too quick, hard not to get caught with the early downhills. Came through halfway in a little over 1:14, and at this point thought there was a chance I could go sub 2:30 but figured I would most likely slow on the hills. Quads started feeling beat at around mile 16. Heartbreak sucked, and the last 5-6 miles my mindset switched to survival mode, to just keep moving even if it's a jog. Both quads completely cramped up immediately after finishing and stayed that way for the next 1-2 hours.

nice race pops!

My goal going in was sub 2:54, which would be a course PR for me at age 54.

I ran 2:51:44, splitting 1:26:24 - 1:25:20.

Super happy with it. I've run Boston 12 times and this was probably the best weather day I've had yet. Almost perfect.

The B.A.A. does it better than anybody else. I can't think of anything that I would like to see changed.

Qualified last June in 2:57:52 at age 61, wave 1 number 5104. I fell hard on ice December 30, badly torn supraspinatus tendon (shoulder) so I have had constant pain for 4 months, haven't slept much. Goal was 3:09. I ran 3:09:33, 21st in M60-64 out of 1,054 finishers in division. I ran a bit too fast, 68:13 at 10M, 1:29:50 HM, 2:20:11 at 20M, kept the uphills sub 8, was running out of energy last 4 miles which were really hard. Problem was I had coffee and ibuprofen for breakfast, was carsick on the bus ride and dry heaving in the village, so I skipped my usual gels and just had a few sips of Gatorade for energy. Overall I'm pleased, I ran hard and gave it my all and didn't completely fall apart.

Weather was fine, not hot, not raining. Best conditions in many years. No complaints on busing, village, walk to start, etc. It is what it is. Remarkably well organized. Crowds are amazingly positive.

So lame, lmao.

''thon crowd is the worst.

Awesome run Ray inspiring stuff!

42M, running first Boston and third marathon after qualifying in 2:58 2.5 years ago. Goal pace was 2:48 which in hindsight was a total joke as I did not do the necessary work in the build to the race. Was on pace through 15.5 miles and then absolutely fell apart and finished in 3:11. I didn't walk but almost cried several times.

It's tough to train in the winter here and the only hill nearby is an old garbage dump, I have a lot of excuses but the bottom line is: I reaped what I sowed. Overall the whole experience was great, the city was awesome all weekend, raceday was great (except for the last 1.5 hours of the run), the race morning logistics sucked but they are what they are. Fans/volunteers were awesome.

The best part was seeing all of the runners of different ages and backgrounds who had great races. It really reframes what you can do as a runner.

You must be from soflo like me

I've done big sur so I know about busses, but boston was a logistical nightmare. They had about 3 people screening maybe 5,000 wave 1 runners trying to rush to the busses by 6:45, so that was dumb.

I read everything about how to pace the first 10k, but I got absolutely bum rushed out of the gate on that steep downhill at the start on a narrow residential road. Runners were literally pushing into my back, knocking my elbows and kicking my heels as I tried to slow up. When I dropped a 5k split not far off my 5k race pace I knew I was boned.

I positive split by +10 minutes and limped through to the finish with my calves and quads wrecked.

Props to the awesome crowds and volunteers, but I'm not sure I'll ever go back.

Love reading these stories, brings back memories of running it in 1983.

Keep 'em coming.

Heck, just do it next year. Nobody is expecting you to run 2:18 at your age. Qualifying will be very easy for you. I'm 48 and ran 2:59 to qualify by 20 minutes and my bests ever were only 35:59/1:18:50/2:51:17. It will take minimal training to run an HOUR slower than your PR to qualify. Do it for the "Boston experience." It will certainly give you new insight into the race and the course itself. The longer you put it off, the less likely you will ever run it. Best advice I ever received was, "Live your life so that you have as few 'What ifs?' as possible when you get old."

Even better - make it a Wejo/Rojo mano a mano challenge next year.

47M, 7th Boston. Have been hurt and not in best shape, so went out pretty conservatively. Was able to keep pace in high 6:30s throughout. Slightly negative-split the course, finishing in 2:53 and change, which is about 7 minutes off my PB on the course. I always have a hard time finding someone to run with at Boston when I pace pretty evenly. This time, I got passed by a bunch of people in the first 10k—which made some sense because I ran a lot slower than my qualifying time—but then I passed a bunch of people on the last 10k. Had trained hard on much tougher hills, and it paid off (but also may have contributed to my injuries).

As to the race more generally: This year’s Boston crowds were the biggest and best I can remember in my 7 times there. Pretty amazing. Family had hard time finding spaces to watch at their normal spots at miles 17 and 25, it was so crowded. Always greatly appreciative of the volunteers — they are the best. Didn’t love how the coffee at Athlete’s Village had disappeared; I wasn’t ready for that. Also didn’t love how they moved the urinals to the parking lot, but if it freed up more space to sit on the grass (seemed like there was more this year), then I’m ok with that change. I also was not enthused at how they told wave one to show up for the buses at 6:15 but then made us wait 30 minutes in Boston Common before anybody boarded. Was very glad I wore about 5 layers and stayed warm that way. Next year, I hope they just tell us what time the first bus is set to leave.

Goal time: 2:47
Official time: 2:51:19

I ran Boston in October of last year as my second ever marathon. It was an awesome experience but I didn’t put in serious training and treated it more like a vacation than a race. I still tried my hardest during the run, but I ran a stupid race and blew up spectacularly enough that I didn’t even re-qualify. Thankfully I was still able to use my 2019 time to get into the 2022 race.

This time, I swore I was going to put in a great training block and get a big PR. I did all the work, putting in more miles than ever this winter and felt really strong going into the run. I ran much smarter this time, not getting caught up in the excitement. I coasted the early down hills and didn’t spend extra energy navigating around people early on. After the initial crowd thinned, I was able to dial into my goal pace of 6:20. I made it though the half in 1:23 and felt completely fresh, but I knew that the big test comes in Newton between mile 17 to 21.

I hit the first Newton hill and was passing people left and right. I felt strong and happy that I had stuck to my plan and it was paying off. Second hill was fine and my pace had only dipped to 6:30 which was about what I was expecting. I gave Heartbreak Hill its due respect and my pace slowed to 6:50, but once I crested and started the downhill, I was getting back into a rhythm and closing back into 6:20 pace by mile 22. Mile 23 came and went at 6:30 pace and I was starting to hurt but felt like I still had enough pop in my legs to close out strong and nab a 2:46 high or 2:47 low. I picked up the pace a bit for the first 800 meters of mile 24 and then….the wall.

I had never experienced anything like it before. Over the course of about 200 meters my vision got blurry and tunnelled and it felt like I had lost all coordination in my legs. I was like being drunk without the fun parts. I went from feeling like I was going to close out a sub 6:00 pace to wondering if I could finish at all. I knew that if I stopped, I probably won’t be able to start running again so I just kept going trying not to fall down or swerve into anyone who was trying to pass me. I had built up several minutes over my old PR so I was hoping I could still limp in with a slight PR, but I kept looking at my watch seeing my 2:46 finishing pace slowly creep up and up until I realized that I would not be PRing at all. When I made the final turn onto Boylston, I just wanted it to end. Crossed the line at 2:51:19 and downed as many Gatorades as I could.

I ate the same amount of Gu’s during the race as I did when I ran a 2:49 in 2019, but I think the issue was that Boston started at 10am, and I left the hotel at 6:30am to catch the bus and just didn’t consume all the calories in the morning that I needed to sustain for the full race.

It’s hard to be totally satisfied when I was so close to big PR just to bonk it away two and a half miles from the finish, but I ran a smart race, conquered the Newton Hills, beat my last Boston time by 17 minutes, got a time good enough to requalify for Boston and NYC, and generally had the best race of my life for 24.5 miles.

It was awesome to participate in the non-covid protocol “real” Boston Marathon on Patriot’s Day. I honestly can’t imagine a better race exists anywhere in the world.

And my wife negative split the damn thing and came in at 3:19 which was an 11 minute PR!

So in the end, I’m so thankful for the experience and will take my hard earned lesson about pre-race nutrition with me as I train for whatever’s next.

Went out on PR pace (2:51), but I had to back off once we got to the hills. Still enjoyed it and finished in 2:58.

I don't mind the wait and the bus ride to the start. I'm used to getting up much earlier for marathons, and weather was a non-issue. Hardest part mentally was finally seeing the Citgo sign and it looked like it was still 20 miles away.

First Boston for me. Qualified with a 2:48, was hoping for sub 2:40 on a good day. Ended up running 1:18/1:23 for a 2:41.

All in all I was happy with how it went. Tried to keep my downhill miles within 10-15s of MP to avoid trashing the quads too much. The Newton hills went alright and Heartbreak wasn’t as long as I expected. What killed me was the last 4 miles. I just didn’t have the legs to keep running low 6s and faded a couple minutes. In hindsight I just didn’t hit the volume I wanted to this block due to some week long injuries and niggles so it’s not unexpected.