Monday was race day, and after an early start to get the bus to Hopkinton (7:00), an hour on the bus, then waiting around at the Athletes' Village for the 10:50 am start, I finished in 3:41:05, a bit of a disappointment, but considering the conditions, I will take it. It was already 74 degrees at start time, and the sun was relentless. There was no shade to be had. Boston has water stations at every mile, so I made sure to drink a cupful at each and every station, and by mile 10 I was grabbing three, so that I could pour the other two on me. This was perhaps my biggest error in judgement, because I perceived by my soaking clothes that I was sweating profusely, when in fact I'd become dehydrated enough to not really be sweating at all, and that's not good. 

I was on pace for a 3:20 finish at the half marathon point (21.1 km) and didn't feel too bad, but between there and the 30 km mark, the wheels began to fall off, not in a terrible way, but I began to slow down, and of course that's where all of the hills are as well. I decided to try to be prudent, because I wanted to finish the race and not end up in the medical tent, so I took it easy from 30km onwards and walked a bit at each water station. Obviously, from the number of other people walking, and the fact that I was hopscotching with runners I'd been running with for a while, everybody was feeling the heat.

At the finish line, the medics were very visible in their red jackets, and they were carefully and efficiently picking people out who looked to be in trouble, and diverting them to the medical tent. Later in the day, at about 19:30, I was taking the dogs for a little walk to the Common, and I saw a red jacket coming towards me. I said to her: you must have had a long day, and she agreed. She'd been at the finish line from noon through 7:30, helping rehydrate the fallen. 

I started with the rank of 16601 - my bib number (Boston allots bibs/starting order based on your qualifying time) and finished ranked 10 094 out of nearly 27 000 finishers, so I beat my bib number (and passed the equivalent number of runners) by nearly 7 000. I finished 2 880th out of about 12 thousand females. Those stats are the ones I will give priority to, rather than the finishing time. Boston is a notoriously tough course, and it will chew you up and spit you out mercilessly, even in optimal weather. 

After a long, delicious soak in scented epsom salts, thoughtfully purveyed by Dana and Richard, I was feeling human enough to go out for a bit of a celebratory dinner. They asked what I fancied, and I had one answer : cheese! It's a post-marathon indulgence. Dana and Richard pulled some out of the fridge then and there, and it was the best cheese I think I have ever tasted, a beautiful sharp cheddar. 

We did go out for dinner to a little restaurant at the base of the Ritz-Carlton, and it was amusing watching the party of runners a couple of tables over get up painfully and hobble away when their meal was done. Not that I was hobbling any less. But my legs did feel better than expected, and the next morning I even managed a slow 4 mile run on the treadmill at Richard's gym. 

Then Tim and I leashed up the dogs and headed over to the Common to meet up with Amy, a friend from Ohio, who had also run the marathon and who wanted to see us and the dogs before she left for home. She'd brought a burger and fries toy for the dogs; it's ingeniously velcroed together so that they can ''tear'' it apart, then it all goes back together again without being wrecked. Arwen carried the bun all over the Common; they do love this toy! And it was so great to see Amy.

Back to the apartment; we then all piled into their jeep and headed out of the city, aiming for the beach. The weather had changed drastically, and it was overcast and in the 40s, though not raining. We stopped first at Woodman's of Essex, famed for its clam strips, and everyone else indulged in the house specialty. Then on to the beach, but we were denied entry since the summer no-dog policy had come into effect on April 1. Instead, we found a beautiful state park and went for a walk there. Then we came back to Boston and I went for a walk across the Common and back to Copley square, where the marathon finishes, to grab some souvenirs. Out for dinner again after that, to a tiny, stellar Italian restaurant where the chef visits tables and explains food and wine. Another full day and late night, and one more day left to spend in Boston, but that's for tomorrow's journal.