Boston II

Boston I

2014 Boston Marathon

Getty Images/Timothy A. Clary

The 2014 Boston Marathon took place Monday. The marathon started in Hopkinton and ended in Boston. And in the end, two Americans hoisted trophies.

For the first time since 1983, an American male won the Boston Marathon. Meb Keflezighi, just a few days shy of his 39th birthday, ran away from the pack and held on to win in 2:08.37. Keflezighi's time is the second fastest time ever run by an American in the marathon.

Keflezighi and American Josphat Boit, broke away from the pack midway through the marathon. Around mile 17, Keflezighi's established a minute lead over the pack. Second place finisher, Wilson Chebet of Kenya, kept the race interesting in the closing miles. Chebet was behind Keflezighi by 15 seconds. He was able to cut the lead to only eight seconds. In the end, Chebet finished the race 11 seconds behind Keflezighi in 2:08:48.

Boston Globe/John Tlumacki

Other American finishers: Nicholas Arciniaga was 7th in 2:11:47; Jeffrey Eggleston was 8th in 2:11:57; Josphat Boit finished 11th (2:12:52); Mike Morgan (13th - 2:14:40); Ryan Hall (20th - 2:17:50); awesome ultra runner Michael Wardian (44th - 2:23:32) and Jason Hartmann (53rd - 2:25:41).

In the women's race, American Shalane Flanagan took the pace out fast. Flanagan lead the race through the 20 mile mark. On the hills, Flanagan lost her lead and ended up finishing 7th in 2:22:02. With that finish, Flanagan ran a PB (personal best). Flanagan said after the race, "I could say right now, I will be back here until I win it."

Rita Jeptoo of Kenya defended her Boston Marathon title in a course record of 2:18:57. This is the third time Jeptoo has won the Boston Marathon. Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia finished second in 2:19:59. American Desiree Linden finished 10th in 2:23:54 and Adriana Nelson was 15th in 2:31:15.

Associated Press/Mary Schwalm

American Tatyanna McFadden won her second straight Boston Marathon women's wheelchair race on her 25th birthday. McFadden's winning time was 1:35:06. She beat her time last year by almost 10 minutes. 

McFadden has been the winner of the biggest races in 2013. She won London, Boston, Chicago and New York. Earlier this year, McFadden won a silver medal in the 1-kilometer sprint at the Paralympic Games in Sochi and just last week defended her London Marathon title. Finishing behind McFadden was Japan's Wakako Tscuchida in 1:37:24.

South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk won his 10th push rim wheelchair race at the Boston Marathon. Van Dyk lead from the start. He crossed the finish line in 1:20:36.

Boston Marathon photo

John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

Bill Iffrig, 78, lies on the ground as police officers react to a second explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. Iffrig, of Lake Stevens, Wash., was running his third Boston Marathon and near the finish line when he was knocked down by one of two bomb blasts. 

My husband and I sat on the couch watching World News with Diane Sawyer on ABC Monday. The show was expanded to an hour covering the attack at the Boston Marathon. At the end of the program, photos from the chaos were shown. The photo above taken by John Tlumacki of The Boston Globe was shown on the screen. My husband and I both said what a great photo it is. A very powerful image.

This image by Tlumacki is the cover of the this week's Sports Illustrated. This image is iconic now. Anytime I see it, I will remember the Boston Marathon bombings. Just like the Thomas E. Franklin photo taken on 9/11 of the firefighters raising the flag at the destroyed World Trade Center.

Thomas E. Franklin

Boston Marathon

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

The Boston Marathon was marred by two bombs that exploded near the finish line Monday. The blast killed three people and injured more then 140 people.

Before the day was ruined, there were many great performances. Especially from American runners. The women had two top 10 finishes in Shalane Flanagan in 4th place with a time of 2:27:08 and Kara Goucher in 6th place in 2:28:11.

Charles Krupa/Associated Pres

The women's race was won by Rita Jeptoo of Kenya in 2:26:25. Coming in second was Meseret Hailu of Ethiopia in 2:26:58 and Sharon Cherop of Kenya placed ahead of Flanagan in third with a time of 2:27:01.

The USA men had a fantastic day too. There were three American males that finished in the top 10. The first American to cross the line was unsponsored runner Jason Hartmann in fourth place for the second year in a row in 2:12:12. Daniel Tapia was 9th in 2:14:30 and Craig Leon followed behind him for 10th place in 2:14:38.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

The close men's race was won by Ethopia's Lelisa Desisa in 2:10:22. Kenya's Micah Kogo was 2nd in 2:10:27. Gebre Gebremariam was 3rd in 2:10:28.



WOMEN
1. Rita Jeptoo KEN 2:26:25
2. Meseret Hailu ETH 2:26:58
3. Sharon Cherop KEN 2:27:01
4. Shalane Flanagan USA 2:27:08
5. Tirfi Tsegaye ETH 2:28:09
6. Kara Goucher USA 2:28:11
7. Madai Perez MEX 2:28:59
8. Diane Nukuri-Johnson BDI 2:29:54
9. Ana Dulce Felix POR 2:30:05
10. Sabrina Mockenhaupt GER 2:30:09

MEN
1. Lelisa Desisa ETH 2:10:22
2. Micah Kogo KEN 2:10:27
3. Gebre Gebremariam ETH 2:10:28
4. Jason Hartmann USA 2:12:12
5. Wesley Korir KEN 2:12:30
6. Markos Geneti ETH 2:12:44
7. Dickson Chumba KEN 2:14:08
8. Jeffrey Hunt AUS 2:14:28
9. Daniel Tapia USA 2:14:30
10. Craig Leon USA 2:14:38

Boston Marathon

I was able to watch the Boston Marathon live yesterday on Universal Sports channel. Instead of sitting on the couch watching it. I watched it while running on the treadmill.

I always run in the mornings after work. Yesterday was no different. I do enjoy running while watching TV. It does make the time pass quicker.

I started running after the elite women started. Over the course of the marathon, I stopped a couple of times to let my dogs outside. I ended up finishing my run just after the elite women finished their marathon. In the time it took me to run 15.1 miles (with a few stops), the women ran 26.2 in 80 degree heat. That is amazing. My highest speed was 7 m.p.h., the announcers mentioned that the elite runners could go up to 12-13 m.p.h. How awesome.

As for the race, Wesley Korir of Kenya won the men's marathon is 2:12:40. Jason Hartmann was the first US male to finish. Hartmann was fourth in 2:14:31. On the women's side, Sharon Cherop won in 2:31:50. Sheri Piers was the first American to finish. Piers was 10th in 2:41:55.

Photo Credit: Kenya's Wesley Korir, top, and Sharon Cherop, bottom, are shown winning the men's and women's divisions of the 116th Boston Marathon in Boston on Monday. Korir finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 40 seconds. Cherop finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds. (Associated Press/Charles Krupa)

Favorite photos of 2011

Boston's Run to Remember Half Marathon

Going into Boston's Run to Remember Half Marathon, my goal was just to have fun. Running in Boston would be a one-time deal for me. I love Boston, but traveling is pricey. Once you add up the hotel, travel expenses, food and any shopping done is quite a bit of money. My husband traveled with me and we had a fun weekend getaway.

Before the star of the half marathon Sunday, the race announcer said it was 60 something degrees with 89% humidity. He was reminding everyone to drink fluids and often. When the starting horn went off, I shuffled along the course with everyone else. For the first few miles, no mile markers where to be found. If they did have them out, I missed them. I was unsure as to how we I ran. I knew the first water station had to be somewhere nearby. I totally missed it. I was running on the left side of the course and the water stop was on the right side only. There was no way to cleanly make it over to the water stop without running into people. I missed it. I told myself another water stop would be two miles away.

I was ready for the second water stop. So was everyone else. I arrived at the first table and it was chaos. The glasses of water were not ready for the runners. The volunteers were pouring them as we arrived. It was like all of us were fighting each other just to get a drink. All of the water stops were like that. After the second water stop, I finally waited to grab a cup near the end. More cups of water were available because most of the runners were stopping at the first table.

I mentioned above that this half marathon was just for fun. But it is also nice to run well. At the half way point, I was at 64 minutes. I knew that my finishing time would be over two hours. I wanted to get it as close to two hours as I could. I increased my speed just a little. It was probably at when I finally knocked off some time. The rest of the race, I was just holding onto that.

Coming in towards the finish, we had to run over a bridge. It had an incline of course. The best thing about it was it was all downhill to the finish line. Nearing the finish line, completely drenched in sweat from head-to-toe, I gave it my all. I finished in 2:03:59. I was pleased with my performance. I ran a half marathon on a very humid and warm day in Boston. Until Monday, Michigan hasn't had that type of weather. I enjoyed running the streets of Boston. It is something I'll never forget.

Place: 2225/5236
Division: 353/1068
Net time: 2:03:59
Pace: 9:28

Boston

My husband and I flew to Boston Thursday. We are in Boston because I'm running a half marathon Sunday.

My plan for the half marathon is just to have fun. If I run well, great. If I have a so-so day, that is fine too. I know that running a half marathon in Boston is probably just a one-time deal for me. Traveling to races, especially flying, is a bit pricey. I'm just going to soak up the sun and have a great time doing it.

Boston

My husband and I will be heading back to Boston, MA next week. We will be there for a long weekend. I will be running a half marathon next Sunday.

We will arrive in Boston a few days prior to the race. Our plans so far are to visit Lexington and Concord. When we visited Boston back in 2009, we did go to these locations. But we were disappointed. We rode a bus to get there and a trolley took us to Lexington and Concord. We really didn't see much because we had to be on the trolley schedule. And we had to be on the trolley. They were are ride back to the bus stop. This time around, we are renting a car. With the car, we will be able to take our time and actually see things.

Besides visiting Lexington and Concord, we are unsure of what else to do. I suggested to my husband that we visit the Museum of Fine Arts the day we land. They have a photography exhibit by Lee Friedlander that I would like to see and we always go to museums on our trips. I guess that is the art major in me. Besides the museum, we will need to find something else to do that day. We land pretty early in the morning.

When we were in Boston before in 2009, we visited most of the tourist attractions. We would like to find something else to do or see. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

Finisher's medals

On May 29, 2011, I will be running in Boston's Run to Remember Half Marathon. The half marathon honors Massachusetts Law Enforcement Officers killed in the live of duty.

I received an newsletter over the weekend for the upcoming race. On the newsletter was a rendering of what the finisher's medal for the half marathon will look like. I think it is cool and will probably end up being my favorite medal of all.

Random things

All week I have been looking forward to Saturday. My husband and I will be traveling to Toledo, Ohio to do some shopping and eat dinner. Lately my husband has been so busy with projects, we haven't been able to spend as much time together. I'm really forward to spending the evening with him.

I mentioned on my blog before that I wanted to run an out of state half marathon starting in 2012. If you are a regular reader, you know that I will be running Boston's Run to Remember Half Marathon on Memorial Day weekend 2011. My out of state half marathon goal for 2012 in the New York City Half Marathon. I would really love to run in New York. I started to register for the 2011 NYC Half Marathon, but didn't finish the application. I want to give it some time and I want to lower my half marathon time again before entering for 2012. Not everyone who applies for the race gets in. I hope when I do apply for 2012 that I will get in and I can say "I'm In!"

Half Marathons

I'm increasing the number of half marathons I run. I'm going from one a year to many. I already have five planned out for next year. The number of races could increase to seven. It just amazes me that I want to run that many. Only a few years ago, I said I would never run another half marathon. I'm glad I changed my mind. I love running that distance. It is just right.

I do plan on running half marathons on back-to-back weekends next year. It will be a test for me to see how fit I am and how much fun I can have while running. My goal for the half marathon is to go under two hours. If I don't get it, I'll keep trying. While I'm trying, I will be having the most fun of my life.

Half Marathon schedule 2011 - so far

Glass City Half Marathon - April 17 - Toledo, OH

Boston's Run to Remember Half Marathon - May 29 - Boston, MA

Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon - June 5 - Dexter & Ann Arbor, MI

Detroit Free Press Half Marathon - October 16 - Detroit, MI

Great Turtle Half Marathon - October - Mackinac Island, MI

Boston's Run to Remember 2011

My original goal was to run a half marathon outside of Michigan and Ohio in 2012. I moved it up a year. I will be running a half marathon in Boston, MA on May 29, 2011-Memorial Day weekend. Its called Boston's Run to Remember. The run honors Massachusetts Law Enforcement Officers killed in the line of duty by celebrating their lives. This is something that I feel strongly about and wanted to support the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Officers.

My first plan was to run the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon, but that is usually run in October. In October, I run the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon and next year I think I'm going to be running the Great Turtle Half Marathon on Mackinac Island. Detroit and Mackinac Island should be back-to-back weekends. So as of now, the BAA Half Marathon is on hold until 2012 or 2013. That is one race that I really want to run.

I'm really excited to be running a half marathon in Boston. The course isn't the same as the famous Boston Marathon course, but to me, it will be the biggest half marathon I've ever run. Boston here I come!

Berlin Wall graffiti - Boston, MA

A section of the Berlin Wall at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

No. 108 - Boston, MA

Granary Burying Ground - Boston, MA

Beacon Street - Boston, MA

Old North Church - Boston, MA

Marching - Boston, MA

Colonel Shaw & 54th Massachusetts Colored Reginemnt Memorial across the street from the Massachusetts State House.