I last did Boston in 2003, when it still had the noon start, so I'm not sure how the new 10:30 a.m. (?) start will work. I'm assuming you don't have much choice but to ride the buses (school buses in my case) to Hopington, since roads are closed and there's no where to park. I have heard from "old timers" who have done it numerous time and/or live in the area that there are options, but I don't know what they are. At any rate, I'd urge you to just "get on the bus" and ride to H. You'll have a great time in the Athletes' Village meeting people from all over the country/world and talking running with some serious runners (that, to me, is the best part of the whole weekend, aside from the actual marathon, of course).

The hardest part of the actual run will be holding back from the long downhill at the start. The temptation to build in a big cusion by running the first-half marathon fast is hard to resist. Thre's also a temptation to surge at Wellsley, which comes around the 13-mile. I'd look at an elevation map of the course and plan out my splits and try to stick with them. You might even want to write a cheat sheet and tape it to your arm. The only other thing I'd suggest is think about the end of the marathon. Make sure you know how to get back to your hotel or to public transportation. Hopefully, you have someone meeting you. But if not have a dry t-shirt and cell phone in your finish bag and know where the food, medical facilities are. There will be hundreds of tired, confused people milling around in the finish chutes and you want to know what to do (I got turned around in 2003 and started walking away from my hotel.) But this is good advice for any marathon, advice I don't always take myself. I'd say be conservative and don't expect a PR, but I don't want to hamper someone who is in better shape than when they qualified.

Best of Luck to both of you, I ran Boston 2006, it was a great race. I assume you are starting in the first wave? My advice to you would be to ride the bus to the start, the ride isn't that long, and the athletes village is pretty nice. Enjoy the walk to the starting line, take in the excitement in the air, and focus on the task at hand. IMO, the course isn't that nasty. Stay on pace, have patience, there are going to be people flying down the hill in the first 5 miles, don't go with them, they will come back. Enjoy the girls in the scream tunnel, I think you can hear them half a mile away!, but fight the urge to throw a surge in pace in there. Once you hit mile 16? I believe, you will start going up the first of the three hills, ending with "Heartbreak Hill". If you stuck with your pace to this point, by the time you get to the last one, you'll be in good shape, and it's pretty much a downhill run from there, with a nice downhill at mile 21-22, look for the Citgo sign, check your watch, and go for it, you have enough miles left to make a move, and it's mostly downhill. You might surprise yourself with your time if you run smart.

Best of Luck, I'll keep my eye on the results to see where you ended up.

Boston Marathon 2006 - 2:53:46