Finished! – Danielle

I'm happy to report that I finished the Boston Marathon in 4:01:32 and I made it in one piece. Thanks to all my family and friends for supporting me with donations and words of encouragement! I hope all the Newton-Wellesley team members faired well in the heat. Boy it was HOT!! Thank you Newton-Wellesley for giving me such an awesome experience. It truly was amazing.

I learned and saw a lot yesterday in those four hot hours. I figured I'd share a few. One, I had no problem peeing myself the entire race (sorry if this is too much information for some). Not all clear liquids are water (I dumped an electrolyte solution on my head). When you throw water on your face, hold your breath or risk drowning. Braiding your long hair doesn't guarantee a good hair day. The crowds the entire course are phenomenal and unrelenting cheering you on! A runner's callous is kind of like a good friend but a phantom runner running up Heartbreak Hill with you is truly a best friend (thank you to my brother-in-law Jason Kipp for jumping in!). Better yet, the phantom runner telling you, “You are running up Heartbreak” and you didn't even know it, then realizing it is not bad at all, priceless! My kids running down the back side of Heartbreak making me laugh all the way. It made me so proud they were my kids (thank you Grace and Jack Taber). The hills of Boston are easier than the hills I trained on (thank you Hopkinton, RI and Clark Falls, CT). Of course running up those hills today is NOT on my agenda! I hate Lemon/Lime Gatorade and now I do even more. Putting the song “Push It” on my Marathon mix was genius – especially when it ironically came on right as I hit the “one more mile to go” sign (thank you to my friend Brian Caron). A shower close by the finish line after you realize you smell like a backed up septic system is a God send (thank you to my sister, Andrea and her husband for staying in town). The thought about hiring someone to remove my running gear from the laundry bag has crossed my mind. Going downstairs the day after the race is more torture than the race itself. Lastly, when I thought I was getting tired, someone from above was pushing me on (thank you, dad; must of been your handkerchief I held for all 26.2 miles!!). Thank you to my husband, Steve and my children, Grace, Jack and Lidia who have put up with all this from the beginning and were there at the end!

As I drove home from Boston yesterday exhausted, I thought to myself, I can't imagine doing another marathon. Today I'm thinking, if it would have been a cooler day, I think I could have met the qualifying time of 3:45:00 as my pace in the heat was 30-45 seconds more per mile. I wasn't disappointed at all in my time though, and very grateful I am not suffering any ill affects from the heat, but I am thinking that a qualifying race may be close in my future!