Official you ran Boston 2022 thread - post your experience here

Target time 3:15,actual time 3:14ish.

I thought the Bostonians were great and loved the course,nothing better than overtaking lots up the last hills.

I don't think there's anything I would change really,BQ by 10mins so may come across again next year.

goal time was low 2:50s. switched to "let's start out at 2:53 pace and see how it feels". ended up around 2:58. worse than my qualifying time. didn't have the stamina to take advantage of the last 10k even with the downhills. my quads were fine, but i was just out of gas.

favorite thing was Wellesley. coolest cheering section.

worst is all the logistics. so much walking from bag check to bus...then a long bus ride to sitting around the village...then another mile walk to the start line. and then after the race...good god, the longest stretch ever it feels. it's well organized given the necessity of these logistics of the point-to-point course, but it adds up.

2:42:30, 1:20:21 and 1:22:09 splits. That's the best I've held it together at Boston. Watched my HR and kept it easy on the downhills.

Still needed to pee in the corral and so stopped half a mile in, but don't think it cost me much.

I got my club bus which takes away lots of the logistics, you can wait on the bus, toilets for the bus people are separate. Certainly worth trying to get on a club bus. Good conditions overall, the headwind certainly hurt but if you were feeling ok it wasn't too bad but I think it hurt those who were already suffering. It certainly cost us some time over the final 4-5 miles. The wind really picked up over the last hour and was pretty strong from 20 miles onwards. Otherwise conditions were good.

Support was as usual incredible!

You have to walk a mile to the start?

The stuff I seriously didn't know. One of these days I'll try and qualify and run Boston...

My first Boston! I’m 53–battled quad tendinitis all winter and consider it a personal victory to have made it to the start line. Felt the knee from mile 8 on and had some bad calf cramping in the last 3 miles (I think on account of using my calf muscles on the downhills instead of my (left) quad but finished in 3:15:22, which I’ll take. Great weather, with light headwinds. Fantastic crowds.

Boston first-timer here. I was super impressed by the race. I had a really strong build-up and believed I was in 2:45 shape for a marathon with a favorable course. My area doesn't have any lengthy downhills to train on so I went into Boston with a more conservative goal, hoping to break 2:50. I ended up running 2:49 which felt a helluva lot harder than the 2:50 I ran in the fall to qualify.

Favorite part of the course was the spectators. They seemed more passionate and invested in the race than the typical polite, but milquetoast crowd at a smaller race. No real negatives for the course.

Biggest negative for me was the wait for busses. I checked a bag on Boylston street at 7 but didn't get on a bus until 8:05 due to congestion and queueing. My relatively late arrival for the red group was clearly a rookie move, but this wait was brutal, especially having to stand for so much of it. Also, the para athletes don't start far enough in front of wave 1. There were several close calls I saw in the first mile where some of the slower moving para athletes nearly got bowled over by the masses. Fortunately no falls that I saw. If para athletes started just another 5-10 minutes earlier I think the worst of this would be eliminated and ensure they had a safe and enjoyable start to their race.

My training was not good so didn’t have a goal other than finish and keep my streak going. Just wanted to take it in and enjoy it.

I started at the very back of the second wave and had a weird experience. A bunch of people who started late zoomed past me the fist few miles.

the third wave people caught up to me around mile 6 1/2! then more and more passed me. And I went from being in no man’s land which I liked to being passed probably a few thousand people.

at around half way I was passing some people and a lot of people were passing me.

I had a lot of fun taking things in and felt a lot better than I thought I would and ended up with a majorly big negative split. it is a weird to feel so good at the end of a marathon.

the crowds supporting the runners were louder and in higher numbers this year than many years.

The B.A.A. really does put on a great event on race day. so many helpful and enthusiastic volunteers. plenty of volunteers handing out Gatorade and water and even suntan oil at the start and Vaseline on the course and energy gel multiple places on the course.

and I really appreciate the urinal area at the high school. I don’t know if that is usual or not at the high school. but I found it this year and really helped with the lines near them for the port a John’s and allowed me to go with a short very short wait to pee.

and tons of volunteers collecting clothes and trash at the start. and lots of water at the high school was nice.

The buses to the start were really well organized. Other years I have had to wait in some traffic once the busses got near the high school but not this year. that was really nice and well organized.

there are so many logistical issues and the B.A.A. and volunteers did a great job.

so many people had a great experience and great day and created a story for themselves.

I will be back next year. Such a fun day.

Chiming in to represent the dozens (probably?) who DNS’ed due to COVID. Bummed I didn’t get to run, it looked like favorable conditions with a lot of support. Aiming for next year now.

2:28 was the goal going in. My second Boston. To keep this short I was on pace through 20 the. Heartbreak hill decimated my legs about the same time my body decided not to digest my four maurten gels. Struggled hard to 2:32 after going through the half in 1:14:01. I’ve run 2:28 and 2:29 before on faster/flatter courses but this was the hardest marathon I’ve ever run. Dying running 6:20 pace and being passed by guys left and right. Pretty awful.

lots of waiting and walking everywhere but the volunteers were the best part. Everyone was so helpful and kind. I appreciated that. I’ll probably never run Boston again but it is a well run race.

2:49:53, my PR is 2:46, 35 YO M, first time I negative split the course and the weather was perfect, I didnt feel any paid, went our conservative and didnt get passed after mile 14, picked em off like cherries. Slow start is key, let everyone pass you, you will catch them. I couldn’t be happier with my race plan and execution. Weather was perfect, cool with not a cloud in the sky. Crowds were massive, big energy. But hey I’m jus a hobby jogger. People at the start, bus ride, finish were so nice, unlike the crowd on Letsrun

My 11th Boston. Was hoping to run around 2:57, and finished 2:59 high. Weather was great today. My favorite thing on the course was a giant Will Smith head people were slapping. The worst thing was not doing the rolling start like last October. Really the worst thing any year is the start at Boston. You are boxed in for at least the first 5km. The rolling start completely eliminated that. I get the tradition of it all, but really the corrals suck. No comment on race logistics. I take a chartered bus, which eliminates those problems.

Great results, congrats and that's NOT hobby jogger pace, hardly. Well done!

My qualifying time was 3:18:xx vs 3:20 req, so I probably wouldn’t have gotten in during a normal year. Ended up with a big pr. The course is toughish at points but never really bad and best croup support I’ve seen. Also water/Gatorade every mile and 3 gel stops, never made it to ‘athletes village’ but they had hundreds of port a potties, water etc about 2 blocks from the start. The run out from finish to meeting area was a bit long and the bag check was only an option if you took bus from Boston to Hopkintown. Otherwise, it was a great marathon. I can see why people love it. My time would definitely get me in next year, but Marathons are awful.

Incredible, great atmosphere and weather.
Felt like Boston was back, the energy was unmatched. Also, post-race security was at an all time high and tough to navigate through the streets of Boston.

2:27:41
5 minute PR
12 minutes faster than in 2019

Went out stupidly quick (1:12:30) but somehow still had some left in the legs for the second half. From what I saw I was certainly not the only one

I got dropped off at 52 South St. in the morning and got to athlete's village super early (7:30am) and had a lot of time to kill before 10am start.

Had a DREAM day out there. So fun. Goal & Result: 2:42.

Favorite thing is the give & take bw the runners. Drafting a little behind all the men, seeing who you can pick off ahead if another female comes into view, quickly determining how best to maneuver to the Gatorade without breaking stride... crowds & volunteers were also especially wonderful this year.

The race seems to run like a very frenetic but well oiled machine. First time in the athletes village and I very much enjoyed rolling up in a blanket cocoon in a sunspot in the tent before the walk to the start. Also a little people watching is always fun. There really are some odd folks in this sport I swear lol.

10/10 for Boston today.

Were there any Boston Letsrun spottings along three course or in the crowds?

First time Boston for me. I ran my PR on a flat course 6 weeks ago and didn’t have much time to recover, get back to peak, or do enough hill work in my pancake flat hometown. I knew a PR wasn’t in the cards so I went out super conservative, was able to enjoy the experience and finish strong.

A new PR will have to wait for a faster course and a full training cycle on similar terrain to where I can train. It was a great experience, though. It’s the first race I’ve run that was this big, and it was pretty crazy to have people cheering you on for the entire 26.2 miles. The race was impeccably run and Boston supports the race and the runners in a big way.

Been dealing with what I guess you call "long-haul" covid stuff, and clinical depression for two years. Registered thinking having the goal would help me get out of the funk I've been in. That didn't work. Averaged 35 mpw (would normally be doing at least 80-90 in a marathon build-up), got a bunch of different little injuries that kept me from getting to any sort of consistency in training.

Honestly, I'm surprised I made it 16-ish still feeling fairly strong. Then my legs stopped cooperating. Ended up walk-jogging it in to finish 35 minutes slower than my PR. Still trying to decide how I feel about the whole experience.