I am currently watching the Boston Marathon via the web (these are the times that I thank our technological advances). The men have split up and the lead women are still in a tight pack of about 7 women. With only miles to go, the women are at 2:19 and the men at 1:51. This is indeed a very fast race and exciting to watch. Missing the opportunity to sign up in time, I have to resort to living vicariously through the race. Thanks to Universal Sports, I am able to sit at work and still feel the nervousness and the adrenaline of these runners.
Ryan Hall, my former love (current eye candy), is holding up well. He held the lead for a good portion of the race, and though the lead pack got ahead, he was within eye shot of the leader, and gaining ground. He’s always been an amazing runner, ever since the days in High School when he sweat on me when breaking 9 minutes in the two mile.
As they passed Fenway Park and headed for the finish, the women took it down to the very last step. Passing Kara Goucher, Dire Tune and Salina Kosgei took turns passing one another until Salina gave one last push to win by a step. Dire Tune fell to the ground, hopefully she is doing well, and Kara Goucher finished in tears, and rightfully so. She held her ground for most of the race. For the men, it was decided about miles from the finish. Deriba Merga took the win in 2:08, with Ryan Hall within a minute from him finishing in 2:09. What a great race.
A little closer to home, my good friend and former USD teammate, Jessica Karlsson, finished the race in 3:27:47. She ran a sub-8 minute pace (7:56)! Her Husband, Andreas ran a 2:55:15, at a 6:41 pace! Great job guys! What a day!