Boston's Run To Remember Half Marathon Race Recap

Last Sunday I ran Boston's Run To Remember Half Marathon. I had been wanting to run a race in Boston and this was the one I registered for early based on this list The 50 best Half-Marathons In the US I found online. I'm pretty glad I did this race because it didn't disappoint. The weather was perfect and the course was great!

EXPO: We got into Boston the day before the race. The drive took us 4.5 hours so we got in about lunch time. After a delicious lunch (lobster roll) we headed to the expo. Bib and shirt pickup went smoothly. The expo was decent. Smaller than say a Rock N Roll expo but I'd say medium sized with quite a few vendors. I browsed but was good and did not buy anything. They actually had an awesome kids area with inflatables and bouncy houses, a balloon guy, story teller and free popcorn. The kiddos had a blast!

Here is my shirt and bib. Only thing I did not like about the shirt is that it is a cotton tee and I won't be wearing it on a run.

RACE DAY: I woke up around 5:15am and got ready. Had breakfast and headed downstairs to the lobby at 6am. We stayed in a hotel by Copley Square (Hotel 140) so I was about 1.9 miles from the start. My plan was to take a taxi and as I was waiting I noticed an older couple that I could tell were also doing the run because one was holding their bib. I asked if they were running and how they were getting to the start. My taxi had not arrived yet but I said that they could join me and they said sure because they were initially planning on walking. It was great because I only ended up paying $5 and I saved them a long walk. Score! When we got to the Seaport World Trade Center where the Start line was, it was close to 6:30am. I wished both of them good luck and I was on my way. The porta potty lines were long, but the line moved along and I was in line and out probably 10 minutes before the start at 7:00am. 

The start was divided into two sides. The left side was for the faster runners, I heard the guy on the speaker say for those that would run below 8:45 (I think?) on the left and everyone else on the right side. I stayed on the left side thinking optimistically and I didn't want to wiggle my way and move to the front of the right side so I just stayed at the back of the fast side.

The race start was delayed a little bit, but it wasn't long after 7am that the National Anthem was sung and a helicopter flew above us. Turned out to be a great decision to stay on the faster side because with all the people (about 10,000 total runners for both the half marathon and 5 miler) it was a slow jog at the start anyway. I forgot to mention that the weather was ideal. It was probably in the mid 50's and even got a cool breeze throughout the course at times.

Here is a map of the course. Hubby and I were talking that we wished it had mile marker signs.

Source: bostonsruntoremember.com

I started out really strong and felt really good. It was fun to see Big Bird on the course. I actually saw big bird a couple of times. Thanks for cheering us on. :)

I also saw Team Hoyt.

The course was great! I enjoyed crossing the Harvard Bridge that goes over the Charles River. It was just an awesome day for running. I felt really great the first 5 miles (you will see by the splits from my Garmin).

The course is mostly flat but there were a few inclines especially when going up towards bridges like this one. I think this was the toughest one when we were running through Cambridge heading towards Harvard.

I was feeling pretty good up to about mile 10 when I started to struggle a bit more but I kept at it. I did see Hubby and the kiddos by the Public Garden close to the 11 mile mark and that made me happy.

Just two more miles to go and I pushed it as hard as I could. The incline up to the bridge on Seaport Boulevard was killer but the downhill to the finish line was nice. The straightaway was longer than you thought. It really would have been nice if the finish line were more visible. I was pretty happy when I crossed the line because I got my goal of finishing under 2 hours!

 My official time.

Here are my splits according to my Garmin. Not sure how I got an under 8 minute mile for mile 2 but it's there. :p

There was lots of refreshments at the finish. Some fruit, bagels, chips, chocolate milk, and Pure Protein bars. The expo seemed to be on still in the next room.

Overall a great run! The course is beautiful and I had a wonderful time running the streets of Boston!