Okay, so maybe the motivation and inspiration provided were not to sit behind my computer cropping and resizing digital photos before trying to milk my thoughts into a logical progression so that I can share how the events of last Sunday morning helped me push through to a new PR at last Monday's Boston Marathon.
Sunday, April 20, 2008 saw 146 of the best female distance runners in the USA absolutely conquer the 4 loop marathon course through Boston's Back Bay and the East Cambridge waterfront during the 2008 Olympic Team Trials. Though only the top three finishers will be travelling to Beijing in August to represent their country in the marathon competition, 47 of those women qualified for the next Olympic trials with their performances. 41 women ran new personal best marathon times, including 13 or the top 15 finishers.
From the very beginning Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 5th place finisher in the 2004 Olympic Team Trials, took ownership of her own destiny by opening a commanding lead of nearly 2 minutes from the rest of the pack. Her determination to run the race her way on her terms had most of the spectators around me wondering (1) who was this woman, (2) could she hold on at this pace until the end, and (3) what will the other competitors do in response?
Magdalena Lewy Boulet showed no fear of failure, no chance for regret. She went out there and sent a message to the world that the USA Women's Team was not going to be "Dena +2". I can honestly state that I was so impressed and astonished by how easy she made this look that it took a few hours for the magnitude of her accomplishment to sink in.
And some of that was due to the performance of the pre-race favorite 2004 Olympic Marathon Bronze medalist Dena Kastor, shown here making her move to separate from eventual third place finisher Blake Russell (far right). During the final 6 miles of this race Dena overcame a 1:17 deficit to overtake the leader at Mile 23.5, a feat I missed while fighting my way through the crowd 10 people deep lining the course so that I could watch the final 100 meter stretch leading up to and across the very same finish line that I would be chasing after less than 24 hours later.
But I was there to see Dena Kastor brandishing an American flag picked up along the course as she sprinted through the finish to win with a 44 second margin over Magdalena Lewy Boulet.
The crowd exploded in celebration as Massachusetts born Kastor merrily pranced back down Boylston Street to the Lord & Taylor before stopping to accept some congratulatory handshakes, pose for some photos, and even sign a few autographs while the remaining women streamed in to the finish behind her, including 1984 Olympic Marathon Gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson as she broke the US 50+ record with her time of 2:49:08 in her final competitive marathon. Joanie, as she is known far and wide in this part of the world, has never finished a marathon slower than 3:00. Which in an amazing coincidence, I have never finished a marathon faster than 3:00.
Perhaps I should shoot for never finishing slower than 4:00, which is a positive statistic that I currently hold and can feasibly maintain.
I was incredibly inspired by all of these amazing performances, by the sheer emotion rolling off of the crowd, and the determination pouring out of these fabulous athletes racing for pride. As much as I should have been off my feet and resting in advance of my impending marathon, I didn't care. If anything, I am writing it off along with the 16 hours spent on my feet working at the Expo the previous two days as conditioning for next month's Western States Endurance Run Training Camp - my first ultra running experience.
Sweet pics and great recap. I bet that was so awesome to witness. Its cool how they paired up the men's trials with NYC marathon and women's with Boston--great exposure. Now its pretty much gearing up to watch the USA perform in Beijing. That's going to be quite the show