Background: I started running seriously a little over 30 years ago. I entered Boston the first time I qualified, and then proceeded to do everything wrong--spent the day before the race playing tourist in Boston, on my feet all day, eating and drinking all the wrong things. I had no idea how to prepare for a race starting so late in the morning, and by the time I started I was already tired. I felt like crap from the gun and dropped out of the race before reaching Wellesley.
Over the next few years I got much faster, BQ’d several years in a row and even ran an OTQ, but never went back to Boston. Then I got injured, got injured again, moved to California, and occasionally tried a marathon between injuries. The last marathon I finished was in 2004.
Fifteen years later, I finally managed to stay healthy enough for long enough to make it to the starting line and finish a marathon. I’m not proud of the way I finished, walk/jogging in after crashing hard at 18 miles, but the standards are very forgiving for old ladies and I BQ’d by over 18 minutes. I can surely get into Boston 2020 if I want to.
Is it worth the time, hassle, and expense to fly across the country to run Boston? On the one hand, I feel I have unfinished business and I’d like to finish the race once while I still can. I believe I’m much fitter than my 4:01 qualifying time (go ahead and laugh), but realistically I’m not going to be competitive in my age group no matter how well I run (Joan Samuelson won my age group this year in 3:04!). I can afford to spend the money but I don’t want to do something this expensive unless it’s really worthwhile. How special is Boston, anyway?