I’m sure there are people out there who, after stumbling upon my blog, look down on my approach to running the Boston Marathon this year. While it is true that I did not “race,” but rather took advantage of the many photo opportunities spanning the 26.2 miles, I did “run” the entire course — including the hills of Newton.
My official time of 4:36:20 includes a couple of port-o-potty stops which I attribute to taking Gatorade on the course, even though I did not do any of my training runs with Gatorade. And while I have taken Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks on-course at numerous other races, this Gatorade was especially sweet.
Please know that I whole-heartedly respect the marathon and the hard work that everyone puts in to be bestowed this honored race and yet I believe that each race, like each day in life, needs to be lived by whatever is appropriate for that person on that day.
This was my day for photo ops and potty stops. If I’m ever back again, which I do hope will be the case, I will likely have a different approach.