Race Report - 2008 Boston Marathon

I awoke to cloudy skies and absolutely perfect temperatures. I drove to the Herald St. lot to catch the BAA bus, and almost missed my ride waiting for the train of Hopkinton-bound buses at the pike on ramp. The minutes were ticking away and the stream of buses seemed to unabating. With about 10 min left, I had to tempo it to the bus. Not the best way to start the morning. As always, I have to be thankful for the ride out to Hopkinton... there is nothing more crucial than worry-free transportation to the start of a marathon.

For this marathon, I tweaked my pre-race prep a bit. Due to the 10 AM start, I decided to have another 1/2 a powerbar and quite a bit of gatorade, but cut myself off from all liquids 45 min. before start. It's taken me 8 marathons to figure it out, but this was the first one with nary a pit stop! The other change I made was with regard to GU intake. In the past, I've been taking a GU at 10, 14, 18, and 22. This was probably ok at a 7:15 pace, but at a 6:30 pace, 4 miles is cutting it too close. So for Boston, I shifted to 5 mile intervals, with GUs at 6, 11, 16, and 21. With about 25 minutes to go, I headed down to the corrals and tried to find some familiar faces. By the time the gun went off, the sun was already peaking through.

At the marathon expo, I printed out a Boston-specific pace band for a 2:50 goal time and decided to carry it with me. My initial plan was to hold 6:30s for as long as I could. The 1st mile was congested, but the road opened up by the 2nd mile and I was on pace. I ran into my buddy Yuneng who, after spending 2 weeks in Nicaragua on medical missions, was very unsure of his fitness. His last 14 miler was painful.... still, he ended up running a 3:00, which shows how much natural talent this guy has. I wished him good luck and picked it back up to 6:30s. By mile 3, I sensed the sun was getting strong; despite temperatures in the 50s, the sun was making it feel warmer. A 2:50 was going to be a tall order. My HR was already hovering around 163-165, which is a few beats higher than my typical average of 160 at marathon pace. I still felt confident of my fitness and decided to see if I could ride the fine line. It helped that I was pacing along with Gary, since we had had similar race results in the past.

After cruising along through Ashland and Framingham, I started hearing a lot of Lance chatter shortly after the train depot. I knew he was capable of running anywhere from a 2:45-2:50, so I was a little surprised that he would be here. Sure enough, I looked up and saw a cluster of runners around a rugged looking guy with a yellow singlet and sunglasses. I pulled up slowly and for the next 2.5 miles or so, joined up with the Lance train and I have to admit was momentarily starstruck. I wondered if he had a posse with him, but it soon became clear that he was grabbing his own fluids and the groupies were just a bunch of runners either trying to get some camera time, or pacing with Lance with the idea of beating him on the finishing straight in Boylston. This whole scene was a nice distraction, complete with inane questions like, "Lance, what do you like better, running or cycling?" or "Are you going to take GUs every mile like last time?" It was very impressive to see the throngs of Tufts supporters and volunteers revving up for the forthcoming onslaught of Tufts Marathon Challenge runners.

I reached mile 10 feeling fairly comfortable, but I knew the next 5 miles were going to be critical. I usually go through a bad patch between Natick and Newton, most likely due to the cumulative effect of running downhill for 15 miles. I pulled ahead of the Lance & peloton, but I think he slowed down to soak in the Wellesley scream tunnel. ;) As always, the scream tunnel was incredibly energizing... replete with signs (the most creative of which read, "Kiss me, I'm gay!") and eager high-fives. The peloton eventually caught up with me at mile 13 and we went through the half in just over 1:26. Realistically, a 1:24 2nd half was not something I could do, so I chucked my pace band and decided to run the 2nd half by feel. The usual bad patch never materialized, but I slowly lost contact with Lance. After he dropped a split in the low-6:20s at mile 14, I decided it wasn't worth blowing up later, so I eased up a bit. I was counting on making up some ground in the hills. Despite really holding back, mile 16, a notorious downhill stretch, still ended up being my fastest split of the day (6:17).

Now the real work began. Shortly after going over Newton Lower Falls, I pulled up to Pat and did a quick status check with him. He's been a great training partner on long runs, and even though we never really work together during races, he usually finishes about 30 seconds or so ahead of me. He was battling some stiffness, so I surged on through the first hill and felt pretty good cresting the hill at the Newton-Wellesley hospital. I was very focused now, intent on getting over the hills. The first hill felt good and I made it up at a strong pace. In fact, I felt pretty strong through the hills and didn't fade much going over Heartbreak. However, no sign of Lance. I grabbed a cup of gatorade and saw my friend Anuj who was volunteering at the fluid station. I cruised through the downhill and felt like I was in good shape with 5 miles to go.

Pat pulled up even with me during cemetery mile and we chatted for a bit. At around mile 22, I started fatiguing for the first time. Fatigue for me, as it relates to marathons, is this full-body malaise that zaps my will to push the pace. I started losing contact with Pat and was looking forward to running by my cheering section in front of my apartment. Mile 23 was considerably slower, but my cheering section really gave me an energy boost that got me over the next 2 miles. Even so, I was in survival/maintenance mode... no cramps, blisters, or injuries... just tired. I didn't lose much time at mile 24, but lost focus over mile 25; my heart rate indicates the intensity level had dropped. I drew into my remaining energy reserve and pushed on through Kenmore Square and under Mass Ave. I had stopped looking at my watch now, although I guessed I was in the 2:53 range. I made one last push down Boylston St. and came in under 2:54 with a couple seconds to spare.

Overall, I had a great marathon. My half marathon splits were within 90 seconds of each other and I feel like I ran a smart race despite pushing my heart rate above the usual level. This was as near perfect a marathon as I think I can get... perfect temperatures, very little wind, no pit-stops. I'm still not pleased with how I finish out marathons, as I let the pace slide over the last 4 miles in Philly, as well. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has any suggestions besides becoming mentally tougher. But again, we're talking at most a minute. Anytime you set a PR at Boston, it's a beautiful day!


I want to thank everyone who came out to support me, you have no idea how much it helps me knowing there's something to look forward to during the race. As in life, there's nothing better than having a friend to lean on when you're in the depths of marathon solitude. I am especially thankful to all who supported my efforts to raise money for The Sharewood Project. I also want to thank my BAA teammates (Mike, Pat, Josh, John, Ben, and Chris) who have dragged me through some fast runs this winter and really set the stage for a quality performance on Monday.

2016	Chan, Wayne W.	31	M	Brookline	MA	USA
Checkpoints 5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k 0:20:18 0:40:39 1:01:14 1:21:47 1:26:10 1:41:54 2:02:34 2:23:43 2:44:35 Finish Start Time Offset Pace Projected Time Official Time Overall Gender Division 00:00:40 0:06:38 2:53:47 632 610 463

Mile	Split	Lap	Avg. HR	Max HR
1	6:44	6:44.4	144	163
2	13:08	6:23.6	162	166
3	19:38	6:30.2	162	168
4	26:00	6:21.8	164	169
5	32:43	6:42.7	164	169
6	39:15	6:32.2	163	168
7	45:49	6:34.4	164	167
8	52:27	6:38.0	165	169
9	59:08	6:40.3	164	168
10	1:05:51	6:42.9	164	168
11	1:12:29	6:38.0	164	168
12	1:18:56	6:27.6	162	166
13	1:25:29	6:32.9	163	166
14	1:31:57	6:28.4	165	168
15	1:38:30	6:32.3	165	168
16	1:44:47	6:17.5	163	167
17	1:51:30	6:43.2	166	168
18	1:58:15	6:44.5	165	170
19	2:04:57	6:41.9	164	167
20	2:11:49	6:51.7	163	167
21	2:18:50	7:01.7	165	169
22	2:25:23	6:33.0	163	166
23	2:32:08	6:44.9	163	167
24	2:38:47	6:38.5	162	166
25	2:45:39	6:52.8	160	165
26	2:52:13	6:33.6	163	165
26.2	2:53:47	1:34.0	165	165
Total	2:53:47	6:37.8	163	170