Tag: Lindsay Willard

Fast Times at the First Quahog Mile

May. 16 Articles, Racing no comments
Quahog Mile Mason Goodman Kramer

Goodman and Kramer out front early on, courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.

By Tyler Andrews

While many may still be resting their legs, recovering from the spring Marathon season, 88 runners tested their turnover this past Sunday, May 11th, in Warwick, RI in the first annual Quahog Mile Road Race. In a world where 5Ks flood the calendar from St. Patrick’s Day to Thanksgiving, 1-Mile road races still find a unique appeal in their relative scarcity.

It was the first year for the Quahog Mile and race director Bob Jackman. Besides putting on a fun event, Jackman had one goal: some fast finishing times.

Two factors helped aid in this. First, the Quahog Mile featured an enticing array of cash prizes for a self-proclaimed small race, with $300 for first and paying through to 5th place. Second, Jackman designed the course for speed – a gentle dog-leg left with a generously downhill final 400m.

And did the carrots pay off?

They sure did. Jackman had said 4:10 would win the race, but when the winner (David Goodman of NE Distance) crossed the finish line, the clock read 4:05. Just behind him was Will Sanders who also broke Jackman’s prediction, running 4:06 (full results here).

Quahog Mile Mason Goodman Sanders

Goodman for the win! Courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.

The pair had run the whole race together, with Goodman leading from the gun. With a quarter mile to go, Sanders tried to press, but Goodman maintained his lead and would win in an impressive wire-to-wire run.

Behind them were Dan Kramer (NB Boston) in 3rd in a time of 4:24, Dan Hawkins (Tuesday Night Turltes) in 4th in a time of 4:33, and Mike Pezzullo (Tuesday Night Turtles) in 5th in a time of 4:53. Kramer got out with Goodman and Sanders and fell off halfway through. We’ll forgive Kramer for not holding on. After all, he did win the 3000m at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet the night before (Kramer ran an 8:39.07 and dominated the field).

The women’s race also featured a near-photo finish. Lindsay Willard (BAA) took the early lead before being passed by Katie Moulton (Rhode Runner) in the first half. Kailin Collins (Unattached), stayed right with Moulton until the three-quarter-mile mark, when she moved by and made a bid for glory. Moulton responded well but didn’t have quite enough. Collins crossed the line in 5:03 for first with Moulton two seconds back in 5:05 for second.

Behind these two were Willard (3rd, 5:19) Kim Chula-Maguire (Ronald McDonald House of Providence RC) (4th, 5:21) and Miranda Fani Srour  (5th, 5:22).

All in all, the race was a huge success according to Jackman, who hopes to make the race an annual occurrence. After seeing how fast runners were able to cover the 1-Mile course this year, Jackman is confident that next year will be even faster.

“If the race is a go for next year, I expect a sub-4,” he told The Level.

We’ll have to wait until May, 2015, but we’ll be sure to watch and see if the runners can beat the predictions once again.

Thanks to Bob Jackman for contributing to this!

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Fazioli, Willard Are Prep’d For Boston

Jan. 27 Articles, Racing no comments

With excitement building for Boston 2014, runners took to the streets of Derry, NH for the 19th annual Boston Prep 16 Miler. The cold temps (well below freezing with the wind chill) didn’t deter many as 500+ runners once again took to the frozen streets to test their mettle on the hilly course.

Samuel Fazioli of Salem, NH was the top dog on the day as he finished nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Christopher Kovalchick. Samuel ended up running a 1:37:05, which comes out to a 6:05 pace. Not too shabby for being out front…and in the cold…and on those hills. Rumor has it that Samuel will be suiting up for Whirlaway, if he isn’t already. From Sam himself:

“Well I went into the race taking it as a glorified hill workout and long run. Racing or pushing for a win weren’t really on my radar at all. The weather conditions were brutal and I think may have prevented most of the typical faster guys from coming out, which was lucky for me I guess.

I ran my first Boston in around 2:38 last year and I’m really shooting for a 2:35 this year – I’m still relatively new to the whole running/racing game and I’m trying to pick up as much experience and training as I can to keep improving each year. I’m really hoping that training and racing alongside more experienced runners will do me good and give me some direction – especially throughout the whole Grand Prix Series.

For the Boston Prep 16 I just tried to simulate my hopeful marathon and maintain somewhere between 5:50-6:00/mile pace. I was doing this well and it was fast enough to maintain a solid lead throughout the entire race. The wind really picked up after mile 11 which coincidentally is where the serious hills start up. That threw me off my pace plan for a mile or two, but I picked it right back up for the final 3 or so miles. Overall I was very happy with how the whole thing played out. I didn’t get hurt, I stayed warm (2-4 layers of clothing on each body part), I got a great workout in, I won a trophy that was also homemade maple syrup, and whenever conditions look cold and windy for a race I can now look back and say that they can’t be as bad as that one 16-miler I ran in 2014. That race is an awesome stepping stone on the way through Boston training. I’ll probably keep it in my plans for the coming years as well.”

For the ladies, it was Lindsay Willard. Who else? All she does is win. Lindsay covered the course in 1:46:41 and also had a nearly one minute lead over her nearest competition. Of the effort, Lindsay said:

“Our training schedule called for a long distance tempo run with hills, and this certainly fit the bill. We wanted to be working hard, but maintain a conversational pace. In the end it became a matter of surviving the cold and respecting the distance.”

Other notables on the day:

Masters

Christopher Smith – 1:43:12
Raelyn Crowell – 1:52:35

Seniors

Dan Verrington – 1:45:35
Elizabeth Cooney – 2:12:16

Oh and it’s confirmed, Sam is a member of the Whirlaway squad now.

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Chicago Marathon Highlights & Results

Oct. 16 Articles, Interviews, Racing no comments

The Chicago Marathon was this past weekend. Level Legion was well represented out there, and we got word of quite a few New Englanders running it. We had boots on the ground and got some footage of this major race. Diana Davis was deputized as a Level correspondent and captured some clips of the leaders, along with some footage of Jason Bui and another mysterious BAA runner. Also included is a quick interview with BAA elite David Bedoya.

And here is the roster of the runners we knew of racing out there, along with results:

Lindsay Willard – BAA – 2:57:17
Ruthanne Waite – SRR – 5:36:51
Adrian Bellando – SRR – 4:15:35
Jason Reilly – BAA – 2:42:13
Christina Haddad – 3:53:28
Annie Schirmacher – 3:41:14
Benai Kornell – 4:04:35
Jeff Barbieri – 3:23:53
Laurie Pouliot Ferguson – 3:17:46
Lindsey Wolfe – 3:32:43
Andrea Desantis – 4:05:35
Ross Tulloch – 3:07:00
Amiel Bowers – 5:49:09
George Thompson – 4:11:15
Jason Bui – GLRR – 2:43:35
David Pinsonneault – 2:47:18
Dan Smith – BAA- 2:31:36

Wow, that’s a lot to check up on. I’m sure we missed some too. Did you run it or know of someone else we missed? Add it on in the comments below. If you did run it we’d love to know how you did.

Thanks again to Diana for getting this to us.

As far as the runners themselves, we should be hearing from Jason Bui about his race pretty soon. David Bedoya was out there to help pace Dan Smith and Dan Martin. According to David, the goal for both was about 2:26, but they fell a bit short of that (still running a speedy 2:31 and 2:30, respectively).

Another local who made the trek was Lindsay Willard. It was a tough one for her, but despite the incredible difficulties experienced, Lindsay gutted it out and finished with a more than respectable time. Here’s what she had to say about her experience:

Certainly disappointed about Chicago after the training season I had devoted to the big day, but I learned from it and I’m going back to the basics. Hoping to heal up a little in the coming days and run Mount Desert Island next Sunday. I’m very sore and had great trouble keeping food down for the last day and a half, but I don’t have the bad lactic acid in my legs that would have come from a much faster finish. In the end I was just trying to pick up my feet and not have my stomach churn again. I knew from previous marathons where I had much worse conditions like stress fractures, torn miniscis, pneumonia, bronchitis… If I ever dropped out, I would be haunted by that mile marker in any future marathons.

My training was intense this Spring and Summer, including recovery from my April knee surgery. I was trying out new sports drinks and recovery supplements since I tend to have nasty acid reflux in marathons and tempo long runs. I was nursing a pulled hamstring from the last month as well. I think the combination of too much Advil for my hamstring micro tears, the new electrolyte drinks and chews, and not drinking much since the race was so chilly, just backfired into system failure.

I had to get blood work, an IV, and help for hypothermia and very low blood pressure and glucose levels in the medical tent after finishing. My legs kept seizing on the cot and I was pretty out of it.

Gotta respect that effort. Knowing Lindsay, we wouldn’t be surprised to see her crush it at MDI.

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Another Weekend Wrap Up

Oct. 07 Articles, Racing 1 comment

The Pros: The US Marathon Championships were held at the Twin Cities Marathon and Tim Ritchie ran the race that we’ve been expecting. That’s not meant to downplay it at all since running a 2:14 in your second attempt at the distance is absolutely spectacular. Summing it up best, Matt Pelletier said, “I think we all knew it was coming.” Indeed, Matt, indeed. What Tim has shown in race results at other distances over the last year or so has not-so-subtley hinted at something like this. The end result was another top ten finish for the BAA stud (6th, to be exact). The men’s race was won by Nick Arciniaga (2:13:11) and the women’s race by Annie Bersagel (2:30:53).

Tim now sits at 5th place overall in the season standings with only one event left (the .US Road Racing National Championship). Over the course of the season, Tim has earned nearly $11,000. That seems like a petty sum for someone who has five top ten finishes in championship races. Just think of how much money the Braves are paying Dan Uggla right now to sit at home during the playoffs. Runners really are underpaid.

The Kids: College kids, that is. A big race this past weekend for the kids was the Paul Short Invitational (hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA). Dartmouth senior Abbey D’Agostino won her second race in as many attempts this season in repeating at this prestigious event. Abbey ran a 19:44 and easily outpaced the runner up (Samantha Ginther of Indiana, 20:10). Dartmouth scored second place finishes for the both the women’s and men’s teams on the backs of strong races by D’Agostino and then senior Will Geoghegan’s third place effort in the men’s race.

Said Dartmouth coach Mark Coogan of his team’s efforts: “This past weekend was good, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the women ran. I think we handled the heat and ran very well as a group helping each other out during the race. That is best the women have done as a team in a long long time.”

Luckily the Dartmouth squads had their chance to do their thing before the remaining races were called due to the weather. The excessive heat was a bit much for both the runners and the medical staff. How hot was it? Excellent question. Couldn’t find it in a quick web search, but we’ll go out on a limb and say it was hot to very hot.

Ridiculous weather aside, Abbey continues to steamroll along, winning by almost a minute in her first meet and then nearly 30 seconds in this latest race. “I think we all knew it was coming,” said Matty P once again, and it was still oddly appropriate. Anyway, too bad Abbey and the rest of Dartmouth’s top seven won’t be competing at the New England Championships at Franklin Park this weekend.

The Other Guys: One race that caught our attention from the weekend was the Grace Race in Chelmsford, MA. This was a small race, with only 75 people finishing. Think about that: seventy-five people. In that tiny field two runners went under 25:00 for five miles, and another two broke 26:00, and fifth place was still under 27:00. Glarius Rop and his training partner Amos Sang tore it up. Those were the two aforementioned gentlemen who went under 24 minutes. Glarius (24:37) edged Amos (24:44). The rest of the field was running for third.

Lindsay Willard easily won the women’s race with her 29:12 effort. That was fast enough to break into the top ten overall.

Newbould Kozloski Nahant

Newbould cruises along at Nahant, courtesy of Krissy Kozloski.

Brandon Newbould made the trip to Chelmsford, lured by the cash prizes even though his legs still had some Nahant 30k residue lingering in them. Brandon didn’t expect to see such a deep field waiting for him there on the starting line. According to Brandon, Glarius and Amos took it out with a 4:30 uphill opening mile. Perhaps Glarius is really motivated by his loss at the Level Renner 10k back in August and really wants to exact his revenge on poor unsuspecting runners, or perphaps he’s really just that good. Either way, “I think we all knew it was coming,” said Matty P. We’d be annoyed that Matt keeps giving us the same line, but damn it, it’s just so appropriate for everything we’re discussing here. Well said, Matt.

Anyway, Newbould had to settle for only a 4th place finish after running a 25:34. Not bad a for a guy still getting over a 30k and focused on a quickly approaching fall marathon.

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Level 10k Recap

Sep. 11 Articles, Racing no comments

Even with the best of preparations, there’s something about race day that seems to fill you with doubt. Being new to race directing, we got our first taste of that: Will the weather be favorable? Will people show up? Will my family find Kyle waiting on the side of the road?

All three were major concerns, and all three worked out in our favor. The last even gave us some insight into what some of the more established races handle: coordinating rides for the elites. When we heard that Kyle Feldman wanted to compete but needed a ride, we knew we had to make that happen. The thought of some form of cosmic bad luck screwing up the pick up definitely added to the anxiety.

The weather was beautiful, the people showed up, and the Powers Family found Kyle along the way. The race would be run after all.

Yep, the race was finally going to happen. If it didn’t sink in earlier, it certainly did when the runners were gathered at the starting line, awaiting our command to go. Included in that group were a couple of runners who could reasonably expect to win— uncontested—on a day like this. It’s safe to say that if you told them, “It’s a first year event with under 200 runners,” both Ruben Sança and Glarius Rop would think, “Yeah, I got this.” But this field had some depth and the two were going to have to do some work to earn it.

Ruben couldn’t have looked more relaxed when we approached him just before the start. When asked what he thought he had in him for the day, Sanca (the Cape Verdean Olympian) responded with “hopefully under 31.” Hopefully under 31. How far under 31 was he hoping for? Quite far would be my guess.

Just before ‘go time,’ Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti was handed the mic and kicked things off by welcoming everyone to the City of Champions. Mayor Balzotti went on to wish all runners well in the race, “One of which we hope will become an annual tradition.” We hope so too.

With an olde school “GO!” the field was off. Two laps around the park, including three trips up the infamous Tower Hill. The runners surged up the hill only a matter of seconds into the race on their way to complete the first of two loops.

Over the course of this smaller first loop (approx. 2.5 mi), Rop was in control. Said Sanca of the early portion of the race: “He made a couple of surges on me and I kind of never really went with him. I just slowly, you know, came back to him.” Ruben was still a couple of steps back as they approached the hairpin turn just after two miles that signaled the start of the Tower Hill ascent. On the other side of that, the real racing would begin. “I think It was right before three miles, on the flats, I made a small little surge,” said Sanca. Rop didn’t respond to the surge, but he did make a strong move on the downhill to catch back up to Ruben. Ruben upped the pace on the next uphill because he figured the downhill surge must’ve taken the juice out of Rop’s legs. Sança opened it up on the flats and gradually widened the gap over Glarius. Sanca didn’t know it, because he never looked back.

The next time the leaders came by the small group gathered by the hairpin turn, the race was pretty much over. Sanca pushed on by, going past and looping a small parking lot before setting his sights on Tower Hill for one last push. Just beyond: the finish line.

The only thing in doubt now was if Sança would break thirty minutes. So much for hoping to break thirty-one. With a couple of guys like Ruben and Glarius, a fast race was expected. Not sure how many people thought one of them would be running alone toward the line, with no competition on the horizon and a clock reading 29 and change looming close.

Well it happened. Ruben crossed the line victorious in 29:54. Glarius ran a smoking time of his own, finishing in 30:41. As stated in the beginning, this was a deep field. Tadesse Girma Biratu took the last open cash spot with his 32:03 third place finish.

willard lr10k mason

Lindsay Willard leads the way, courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.


Anthony Gonsalves (4th, 33:01) led the next wave, which included Jason Eddy (5th, 33:06) and Orlando Cordero (6th, 33:57). Eddy continues his comeback with another strong one while Cordero was under the weather. Jim Pawlicki finished 7th in 35:39, but that was only about 24 hours after placing 24th at the Chamberas 6k XC race (the 2013 XC Grand Prix opener). Not a bad weekend for Jim.

The first master came through next, and that was Joe Shairs (35:39), one of Pawlicki’s CMS teammates. The first vendor was right behind the first master. Jordan Kinley stepped out from behind the Karhu table to run a 36:06 and sneak into the top ten. Closing out the top ten was our women’s champion: Lindsay Willard. Including Lindsay, five of the next seven finishers were women, which showed the depth of the women’s field.

Speaking of Lindsay, she battled with Kyle Feldman the whole way but was able to pull away to win in 36:21. Kyle was right behind her in 36:39. Early on, it looked like Willard would run away with it but Kyle dug deep and made it a race. Showing no signs of the months long struggles with injury that wiped out her spring and much of her summer, Kyle closed the gap on Lindsay at about 4 miles and threatened to take over.

The two battled for the next half-mile or so until Lindsay was able to regain an edge. Lindsay had overcome her own obstacles to get to this point. Having had knee surgery earlier this summer, Willard recovered fairly quickly and got back to what she does best: racing all the time. Displaying the fortitude that she’s forged over race after race, she slowly put the clamps down and opened up a gap that would allow her to cross the line victorious.

Dianna Chivakos (14th, 37:33), Nicole Casey (15th, 37:46) and Kate Hails (16th, 38:01) wrapped up that first wave of women. Janet Holmes was the top masters runner (33rd overall, 42:42).

As for Kyle, she got a ride home. This time it was from Lindsay. That was, of course, after they went out for another run (post awards ceremony). It’s tough to just call it a cooldown when it ended up being a 20-mile day for Lindsay. Show up, win the race, add on a bunch of mileage, and then help with the elite athlete transportation. That’s totally on the level.

Congratulations to all the runners who made the first annual Level Renner 10K a success. Too may age group winners to mention but the top three in each division did all walk away with a coveted pint glass and a good story to tell. So did the 30+ people who took home raffle prizes.

This article originally appeared in the Sept/Oct 2013 issue of Level Renner, and was accompanied by plenty of great photography from both Scott Mason Photo and Krissy Kozlosky. It’s free, so download your copy today. You can also check out our web coverage here, including video highlights and interviews.

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Level Renner 10k – Interviews

Aug. 31 Articles, Interviews, Racing no comments
mcgrane lr10k mason

Courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.

It took a few days to get these videos together, but there seems to be a whole lot more pressure doing them when they are for your own race. We’ve come a long way since we shook the world by posting our first videos back in February of 2012.

With talent like Ruben Sança and Glarius Rop in the field, we knew there was potential there for a couple of fast times. I just don’t think we imagined that they’d run this fast. Incredible.

We were equally excited about the ladies that signed on for the first event. Kyle Feldman was still working her way back into top form after battling an injury, and Lindsay Willard bypassed some much needed rest from her busy racing schedule (while also overcoming an injury) to come duke it out in Brockton:

Lastly, we have Rat Royalty. Peter Wallan is/was the editor and publisher of the glorious Hockomock Swamp Rat.  We actually started up Level Renner to help fill the void left when Wallan retired from publishing his journal.  Here’s what he has to say:

For a full write up of the event,  you’ll have to wait for the next issue of the Level Renner magazine. It’ll hit your inboxes within a matter of days, so make sure you’re on our subscription list so that you get it while it’s fresh (and are eligible for this month’s gear giveaway). And be sure to check out the website for Scott Mason Photo and Krissy Kozlosky; they both continue to contribute high quality work to the Level. They support us, so please consider supporting them.

Courtesy of Krissy Kozlosky

Courtesy of Krissy Kozlosky

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#LR10K Coming Your Way

Aug. 25 Articles, Behind the Scenes, Breaking News, Press Release, Racing no comments

The Level Renner 10k was today, in case you haven’t heard. Yep, we finally ventured into the event arena and the results were spectacular.

LR 10k Mason Lap 1

Ridiculously well done photo courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.

Speaking of results, they are already up in the usual spot. LR 10k results There’s just something about seeing your own results up that gets you all choked up inside… Okay, let’s reign it in here before it gets too emotional. If you weren’t out there or following along on Twitter, then here’s a taste of what’s to come. We had a ‘lone Wolf’ out there helping us out. He had EJN’s phone and was tweeting out our Vine covering (or is it Vining out our tweets?) while EJN was getting the race footage. First up is…the start, obviously:

Next we have the leaders coming through just past the two mile mark:

Finally it’s more of the leaders in the final push to the finish (before The Hill):

Ruben Sança crossed the line in the first ever Level 10k with a blistering 29:54. Lindsay Willard was the women’s champ and impressively broke into the top ten in this competitive field. More to come. Keep it here. Also, be sure to check in (and support) Scott Mason Photo and Krissy Kozlosky, who were out there battling the conditions to get top notch race photos. There are way too many people to thank for this one. For now, we’ll just give one big thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors, friends and family that made it all possible.

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Run 4 Kerri: InterviewsOnTheLevel

Aug. 20 Articles, Interviews, Racing no comments

It’s hard to figure out how to fit all the good stuff into short enough clips for your web digestion. Every now and then, an event presents us with enough “extra” material to produce some additional features.

Here we have Matt Pelletier uncut and on camera after the Run 4 Kerri. It’s always a good interview with Matty P and it felt criminal to leave out most of this in the more official race coverage video. Plus it was a good way to tease an upcoming video/blog post. ‘About what?’, you may be asking. You’ll have to watch to find out.

Next, class is in session as Jason Bui, Diana Davis and Lindsay Willard come to the Level Renner classroom for post race detention. All three of them came into the race on tired legs and all three ran quite well. One of them may have stealthily swiped $50 from an Olympian at a mile marker. Check it out:

We had a blast working with Scott Bessette and Co at the Run 4 Kerri this year. Be sure to add this race to your calendar for 2014! We’ll save a seat in the classroom for you.

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Who wouldn't want this shirt?

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Run 4 Kerri: Culley Takes It

Aug. 12 Articles, Interviews, Racing no comments

The 12th Annual Run 4 Kerri was held in lovely Wakefield, RI back on Sunday August 4th. One big name was left off the pre-race elites list: Olympian Julie Culley. It almost seemed like a rumor hearing that she was there. Well, she was there and she won it.

Julie just recently took some time off and is just getting back into the swing of things as part of a build up for her second debut attempt at the NYC Marathon.

The race went out pretty hard, a lot faster than Julie anticipated. Being the first harder effort in a while, Julie was expecting to open in the 5:40 range, but the first mile was actually in the 5:20′s. Diana Davis of New Balance Boston was right there pushing the pace, going for all the glory that comes with taking an Olympic scalp. Or…just going for the first mile time bonus.

Julie had forgotten about the cash bonuses offered at the mile markers, but Diana was locked in on those (at least the first one). After  coming away with the cash for the first mile bonus, Diana basically just turned to Julie and said “have a good race’, and then it was all Julie after that. Julie was able to cruise home for the win in 22:22.9 and finished 19th overall.

That’s not to say that Diana just faded into the pack though. Diana slipped to 35th place overall (in a deep field), but was still the third female. Lindsay Willard (BAA) overtook her for second place, but still didn’t get her by much. Lindsay ran a 23:13 compared to Diana’s 23:50 (for four miles).

It’s a amazing that Diana and Lindsay were even racing there. One week earlier, Lindsay was in Maine where she won the Great Cranberry Island Ultra (50k). Not only was she the top female but she also placed third overall with her 3:40:36. Only the day before this Run 4 Kerri race, Diana was up in Maine racing the Beach to Beacon 10k. She was no slouch either, running a 37:58.

Trish Hillery of Greenville, RI was the top masters runner in 24:48. It wasn’t fast enough to beat her son Liam though. He was busy mixing it up with the elite men up in the front.

Next up: the coverage of the men’s race. Lead shot on the website is once again a product of George Ross Photography, so check out his work and give him some support.

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It’s More Than Just The Race…

Apr. 18 Articles, Racing 1 comment

Lindsay Willard’s experience shows us all that the journey leading up to it is just as much a part of it.

Guest blog by Lindsay Willard

boston marathon blue ribbon 4.16.13Today I am writing my account of Monday, April 15th as a participant in an event that will forever be stamped on my timeline. This is my viewpoint as a runner, a team member, and a Massachusetts native. I am not special, but this day was special to me for so many reasons. Marathon Monday is as much of a holiday to me as Patriots Day represents. It is a day to be honored that celebrates heroism, sacrifice, and a battle of emotional and physical hardships. The Boston Marathon is the ultimate goal after more than 16 weeks of grueling miles, early rises, weight room sessions, speed intervals, hill repeats, frozen fingers and toes, physical therapy appointments, carbo-loading, and hydrating… all in hopes of seeing that beautiful finishing time on the clock by the grandstand on Boylston Street.

My training cycle was marred with many setbacks, several injuries, and several instances of possibly giving up before the actual starting line. I have battled IT Band strains, Plica Band Syndrome and Bursitis on the knee, Piriformis Syndrome and Sciatica too… and finally the decision to get minor surgery this April. So many things get in the way of a runner making it to the starting line healthy, and I honestly can’t think of a Marathon where I was at 100% – but can anyone else? I worked with a chiropractor, a massage therapist, and an orthopedist to get me to Hopkinton on Monday. I knew it was going to hurt a lot more than just because we were about to run 26.2 miles, and faster than we had ever done on even the most intense training runs. But my biggest fear was being left out of it all.

There was so much to look forward to if I could possibly rally and have a good day on that knee. I would cry so much more over missing the experience to try, than over the pain itself. I would have all of this to look forward to:

Get dropped off in Copley at 6:45am, find my seat on the team bus, sit with friends and nervously go over strategies, eat weird mealy protein filled sports bars, listen to pump-up songs in my iPod in the highschool gymnasium, tie team colored ribbons in my pony tail, make 6 trips to the VIP porta-potties, pack 3 GU gels into my sports bra, rub Body Glide all over my inner legs and arms, tie and re-tie my racing shoes 4 times, take that long walk to the starting corral, size up the competition in the pack around me, waddle towards the sounds of the announcers, start my watch as I look down at the blue paint in the masses of the town square, calm myself down over the downhill first mile, complain about my knee for the first 5K, check my form in the store windows in Framingham, ditch my gloves to a cheering friend, accidentally pour Gatorade down my back instead of water, give high-fives to all the girls outside Wellesley College, say screw it to pacing for a few miles – this knee seems ready to go now, wave and blow a kiss to my parents at mile 14, wave to my friend Jen as we cross I-95, smile at my co–workers by Newton Wellesley Hospital, start having the dry heaves at the Newton Fire Station, cramp up and start crying over stomach issues in the second hill, tell my buddy Jason to leave me behind, contemplate walking up Heartbreak to make the stomach stop turning over, wonder what the hell I ate, try to rally as I turn at Cleveland Circle, grab my sides to work out the cramps through Fenway, smell the sidewalk BBQs of BU students, realize that my quads are shutting down from those early downhill miles, debate whether to put any more water on this fire in my belly, cry again as I see my goal time slipping away on my Garmin, hear the roar and the cowbells of the crowds as I turn onto Hereford, stop staring down and look at the balloons that seem so far away on Boylston, feel like I am running vertical – desperately trying to beat the 2:50, reach for it, reach for it, suck it up and raise my arms high for a good picture under the clock, come to a complete stop on the blue mats as the knees buckle, get wheeled into the Medical, and finally… get that tin foil blanket and finisher’s medal wrapped around me.

That was my adventure, or so I thought. That was my Boston Marathon 2013. That is something that can never be taken away from me. What ensued in the hours following my finish were tragic and devastating. The innocence of a city has been lost. Lives were taken. Men, women and children were gravely injured. Fear was brought to the masses, and thousands experienced tears of terror instead of tears of joy and accomplishment.

I was lucky to have finished, to have my health, and to have my family and friends safe. I was fortunate enough to be a safe distance away when the explosions went off. I was in the company of my parents in the Prudential when firing went off… the building shook, alarms went off, stampedes broke out, and we were put into lock-down for several hours. The scare we faced inside the shopping plaza was nothing in comparison to what was happening out on the streets. What I saw out the windows was unreal. I don’t understand it. I can hardly believe it. It makes me sad. It makes me terribly angry. But thankfully – it does not deter me in the least of wanting to be here again next Marathon Monday. I don’t want to keep re-living it, but I will never forget it. And I am so proud of the signs I see everywhere “Boston Strong”.

I saw Paul Hammond (aka Goose) at the expo on Sunday and he expressed concern over the status of Lindsay’s knee. We should probably stop worrying about that since she appears to be some type of running cyborg. You don’t win the USATF-NE Grand Prix series and Runner of the Year awards by being soft. A big part of the allure of the marathon is the journey, the peaks and valleys one goes through on their way to the starting line. Lindsay fought her way through the peaks and valleys and then through a physical ordeal during the race. For that, we tip our collective cap to her.

Marathon runners are a tough bunch. They are people that choose to deal with pain and adversity on a regular basis and come out the other side stronger. And so we will here, together. We are including the link below on all posts for the foreseeable future for anyone who wishes to give.

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