Shipping up to Boston

The TurnAround is Shipping Up To Boston today. No, we didn't get a position at Boston College or Wellesley, but we will be going by both places soon. It's the 114th Boston Marathon on Monday and the TA will be hitting the course for the second time; this time it's personal (puts on deep, gravelly, movie-tailer voice). Last year the course did a number on us; this year it would be nice to even the score slightly. Of course, 26.2 miles is a distance that should never be taken with alacrity, something horrible will always happen along the way, but the where, when and how horribles can be under your control. To an extent.

Last year we did everything wrong; if we'd been told "don't do x" in this particular race (like go haring off on the first downhill) then we did "x", clocking a 20 minute 5K and 41 minute 10 K before trying to reel it in. Of course by then our proverbial bolt was shot and it all went horribly pear-shaped after Wellesley. This year the TA wants to enjoy the course as there's so much of it we didn't get to see or experience last year. This time we'd like to actually know which hill is Heartbreak or feel a thrill turning down Boyleson; we know that right-hander has been described as "the best corner in any marathon" but last year all we could think was "that finish line is still a bloody long way down there"

We're feeling a bit worried about the whole thing, with our basket-case-o-meter currently registering an 11 out of 10, but really Boston is not the kind of course that you try to set records on (although some do). Rather than being a means to an end, it's supposed to be the end itself, a celebration of marathon running (as you have to run a fairly stringent qualifying time) rather than being about the run itself. That said, could you really call Boston a "B" race?

This supposed celebratory aspect nothwithstanding, many do take it seriously. Rami "The Rocket" Bardessey started checking the Boston-area weather forecast two weeks ago, trying to divine the portents. Of course, two weeks out he'd have been just as accurate with a bunch of sheep's entrails.

Rami's obssesive interest in the forecast led us to ask the TA's last poll; if the weather is going to be epic, which would you rather have; an extreme of cold or hot? This was of more than academic interest as Boston has been known to have both. The results were evenly split;

It seems that there is no clear consensus, with exactly half of you ready to layer up and half of you ready to strip down. The weather Gods may be smiling on us, as the latest forecast (thank-you Rami) is a low of ca 6C, high of 13C, risk of showers and a northwest wind. So there should be no need to strip down or totally layer up.

The question du jour on Monday may be "do I wear something under my singlet", although it should never be "do I wear something with my singlet" (apart from shorts that is). The major fashion-crime that is a tri-top and arm-warmers has been documented elsewhere, and with far more vitriol than the TA could ever do. We do have a confession to make; last year at Boston we were faced with same meterological dilema and, thinking that we were safely ensconced in the anonymity of the big city, went for arm-warmers with our singlet, not knowing that photographuc evidence would survive.

That's right, do as I say, not do as I do!

By our reckoning. at least nine other TNSers are Shipping up to Boston this weekend and will also be facing the singlet and arm-warmers dilema; Elizabeth Corkum (17882), Gayland Goodwin (13787), Marie-Claude Gregoire (11087, Denise Mader (18027), Shawna Murdock-Moore (19088), Steven Saunders (17950) and the TurnAround (3825). Other names of interest are TNS banquet speakers David Nevitt (3041) and Ray Williams (8601) and local fast-persons The Rocket (107) and the Pocket Rocket (F103). You can follow people by going to the baa website (baa.org), follow the links to athlete tracker and punch in the bib#. We think you can follow five athletes at once.

So, while we're travelling enjoy the Dropkick Murphys' Shipping Up To Boston, and no we don't feel that way about our favorite DCO (we wouldn't want to pee in front of anyone else). This is the song that got us out and running in cold, wind, rain and snow this winter; whenever the temptation to take "just one day off, it can't possibly hurt, the marathon isn't until April" struck us, we'd listen to this. It would get us moving sharpish. With an interesting bit of circularity, the song is best known from The Departed, itself a remake of Internal Affairs, and Internal Affairs is likely what the the TA will have going on come Monday lunchtime. Last year we ended in the medical tent (we made it over the line, but couldn't quite make it over to the buses) but we'll tell you this if you do; you get to lie down with a blankie, a nice lady comes over, holds your hand and asks you if you're alright (and is in no way judgemental that you've just run a marathon) and gives you a nice cup of warm beef boullion. Ahhhhh.......

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