Boston 2001 from a Spectator’s Point of View

We used to go to Boston in the late seventies and early eighties. It was a short and cheap flight from Montreal where we were living at the time. I wasn’t thinking about going back, because I heard it was expensive, but, After 10 year of dedicated training, John qualified to run the Boston Marathon.

I immediately went into action. All my overtime pay went to saving to have a good time in Boston. I booked a great B&B called the Gryphon House on Bay State Road. My only stipulation was that it be a quiet location so we could a good night’s sleep. It turned out to be in a great location, very close to downtown and the finish line.

We counted the days leading to our Boston trip; and it finally arrived on April 13^th. If you’ve never been there before, here are a few tips. The airport has a free shuttle going to the subway. Once arriving at the subway, you can buy a visitor’s pass for 7 days for $22.00 US. This is quite handy to get around as Boston’s subway (the oldest in North America) is excellent and it goes everywhere. Remember, Outbound means away from downtown and Inbound is towards downtown. Keep that in mind and you won’t get lost. Boston also boasts no less than five universities in its immediate area: Harvard, MIT, Boston College & University, University of Massachusetts, and Northeastern University. All of them with fine reputations for academic standards. It is a great walking city; it is small and very safe. The architecture is wonderful. Take a look at Commonwealth Avenue; it has many superb examples of Richardson Romanesque architecture. It reminded me a lot of Paris.

Boston is a great running city. You’ll see runners everywhere at all times of the day or night. There are many places to run. When I dropped John off at the buses going to Hopkinton, I ran back along Beacon Street, I went down along the water, went across the Charles River along Massachusetts Avenue bridge over to Cambridge. I got lost in Cambridge looking for Harvard. I finally found my way back with lots of time to secure a spot on Boylston Street to watch the finishers.

We spent Saturday at the Runner’s Expo. I promised John that I would buy him a jacket and some souvenirs of the marathon. I bought him a jacket, a fleece top, a cup and a pin. There were strict rules, however, he couldn’t wear any of it until he finished; it was all going to be donated to Goodwill if he didn’t. He could wear the t-shirt as you get that for qualifying. The cup was to be brought to work and left around the office. He was to walk around and ask people: “Has anyone seen my Boston Marathon cup?, It’s around here somewhere? I don’t mind if you use it, just give it back…ok? I got it when I ran the Boston Marathon…” This achieves two things, it lets everyone know you ran Boston, and you might get thrown out for being obnoxious and thus get the day off. The pin was to be worn prominently on ones’ suit jacket so that it starts conversations and get another fine opportunity to brag.

The runner’s expo was quite a zoo; it was very crowded as you make your way around checking out all the freebies. I was quite impressed that energy bars have come a long since the original Power Bars; some of them taste like chocolate bars. It was there that I met Bobbi Gibb. For those of you who don’t know who she is, she is the woman who broke the gender barrier in 1966. Before 1972, women were not allowed to run the Boston Marathon. Not only did she finish in a time of 3:20, but also she came in ahead of  two-thirds of the male only runners. She looks great by the way. Runner’s World put on a panel of athletes to talk about women and running. The panel included Greta Waitz and Bobbi Gibb.

The run was on Monday, April 16^th. It always starts at noon in Hopkinton. Boylston Street was alive with spectators even well before the run started. It was a good idea to claim a spot, as it gets crowded very early. There were giant screens available to watch the start. A resounding cheer went up when the noon start arrived. I positioned myself with a grandmother and her three grandchildren just after the finish line. When the lead runner, Lee Bong Ju from Korea came through, the cheering was deafening. It was a real surprise that he wasn’t Kenyan. The lead woman came through about 13 minutes later. I managed to get a picture of Charlie Bedley when he came in 98^th overall. After that I patiently waited for John to come in and he did that just fine. All he could say was “I don’t want to run anymore today.” As an after note, I would like to know who actually uses those tickets for the post run party? John didn’t want to do anything except eat and sleep, preferably at the same time.

We were scheduled to leave Boston the next day in mid-afternoon. While waiting at the airport, I noted a small entourage of people where one looked vaguely familiar. It was none other than Lee Bong Ju and he was on our flight to Toronto. He sat two seats away from us on the plane. Word got around the plane very quickly. I took a picture of him with John. There was an article in the Boston Globe that he lost his father to cancer a few weeks before and he ran the marathon in his memory. I told him his father would have been proud of him. He was very gracious in giving autographs. No one would leave him alone once they found out who he was. He took it all very well.

Even if you don’t qualify for Boston, it’s a great party. I’m sure our club mates would appreciate some support. Next time, however, I’m going to get some press credentials so that I can sit in the VIP grandstands.

Note: Photo Links updated: April 2006