My journey to run Boston: 2016

FRIDAY - FLORIDA TO BOSTON

Packed and ready to head to the airport

The day arrived! I was heading to Boston, MA with my family and I was going to run the 120th Boston Marathon. The race I had never imagined I'd ever qualify for only a few years ago.

I wasn't exactly 100% for this race as I was dealing with foot issues (Plantar Fasciitis) that kept me from finishing up my training in the last couple months, but I sure wasn't going to keep it from holding me back. I wanted to experience running the Boston Marathon and I was going to make it to the starting line of the race I worked my butt off to get to. Who knows when I'll ever have the chance to make it back. This is a dream come true!

We were in Boston the Friday before race day on April 15th. On our way to the expo for my bib pick up we walked by the famous Boston Marathon Finish Line. It was the first time I had ever seen it all set up for race day. A mix of emotions ran through me being near it this day. So much excitement for me but also sadness at the sight of what was supposed to be an amazing day for so many three years ago. Later that day we stood in silence at the Marathon Expo at exacty 2:49pm in observance of the April 15, 2013 tragedy. #BOSTONSTRONG

Finish line behind me

One of the memorials

GETTING MY BOSTON BIB# :-)

EXPO FUN

SATURDAY - BAA EVENTS

With Juan

Saturday morning my goal was to make it over to Boston Common with my husband to cheer for my Beast Mode teammate Juan who was participating in the BAA 5K. The race started at 8:00am and we didn't get on the 'T' until 7:30am. We were coming from Cambridge and I was starting to panic. I didn't want to miss him. It was important to me to be there supporting my friend!

We arrived late. The coolest thing was he was actually in a later wave and as soon as we saw the elites flash by to the Finish, I caught the sight of my friend Juan running from the Start! I ran along the crowds yelling "Beast Mode" hoping he'd hear me!

Finish Line photo op

My husband's plan was to do a solo run of his own around Boston, so I joined Juan on a walk down Boylston after the 5K to head over to the BAA Invitational Mile and Scholastic 1K scheduled for 10:30am. We arrived early and were able to get some photos at the famous Finish Line since the streets were blocked off. Very exciting stuff!

Boys Middle School 1000m

It was amazing to watch all the young kids run! They were from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course. There were also some top milers from around the world there. It was a windy cold morning but we sat in the bleachers shivering and cheering all the races that morning.

I overheard that Henry Richard from Boston would be running in the Boys Middle School 1000 Meter Run. I confirmed it was Henry's younger brother, Martin Richard, that was the one who lost his life at the Boston bombings three years ago. His Mom was critically injured that day and his sister lost one of her legs. A very tragic day for the Richard family. He placed 4th out of the 16 boys running. Way to go Henry!

Back with my husband in Cambridge. Thankful for so many things!

SUNDAY - MORE FRIENDS ARRIVE

My husband took our boys to a Red Sox Game Sunday and I met up with my friends back at the Marathon expo. It was such a great day spent with all of them! Probably spent way too much time on my feet with the Marathon being the next day, but I've always been one not to want to miss out on anything.

Mishele and Robyn are my good friends and teammates from Beast Mode Running that came to Boston to cheer for not only me, but for many of the runners we know from South Florida. Marc is a good friend I've known since Disney's 2011 Marathon who also came to run Boston. Both of our families met celebrating our first marathon - and here we are both now running the Boston Marathon!

Mishele & "Meb's best friend" Robyn

Robyn, Meb, Mishele and Me

The first highlight of our day was when my friend Robyn introduced us to her "Best Friend" Meb. (look what he wrote to Robyn on the left)

I had tried and failed a couple times the day before to see him, but we just happened to be at the right place at the right time now!

Meb signed my Boston Marathon 2016 hat!

My "no meat athlete" friend Mishele who qualified for Boston last November to run 2017 caught the attention of fellow plant based runner Scott Jurek. He was talking with a group of people in a hallway while we were admiring him just hoping he'd turn around... to our surprise he did! He was the nicest guy agreeing to getting in a photo with us! :-)

He's a well known Ultramarathoner who has traveled the world running Ultra distances and breaking records along with being a bestselling author and public speaker. I've read his book "Eat & Run". If you have not read it yet? I recommend you do! He's a pretty amazing guy that runs on plants!

Marc and I had the opportunity to catch up with our old friend Bart Yasso. We always get the chance to see him at the separate races we participate in, but I think this is the first time we actually got to see him together... so we captured the moment. He's pretty sharp. Claims he remembers us... hmmmm.

If you've read Runners World Magazine you know him as the Chief running officer. He's also a coach for The Runner's World Challenge, known for Yasso 800's, and an author. I enjoyed his book "My Life On The Run". Another good one for your runner's book shelf.

I had to get back to my hotel room to rest. My foot was bothering me and the marathon was tomorrow! I joined everyone for the pasta dinner and headed back.

It was great to feel the energy of Boston and spend such a great day with friends. The energy was going to feed me all the way to the Boston Finish Line! My only thoughts now are positive!

Ready for the 120th Boston Marathon

RACE DAY

This is how I started every day and ended every evening this weekend. My foot in the sink for an Epsom salt soak. It's also how I started my morning on Race Day too. Woke up early enough to soak for at least 10 minutes after some stretching before putting on my race gear. It really sucks to have this foot issue on such an important day!

It was a little sore as it has been for weeks, but I knew I'd feel okay once I got moving. I was getting used to the routine. Very thankful to the man at the front desk of our hotel for freezing a water bottle for me early yesterday. I was able to ice my foot before I had gone to bed. My only worry now was how much I'd be able to tolerate once I got into the later miles. I lacked the miles in my training when this started weeks ago.

First text 6:49am: "See you soon!!! I'm on the shuttle heading to Tremont"

It was Kellie! My new friend from Michigan. (I grew up in MI) I met Kellie through an FB group we're both a part of. It all started with a mutual running friend. I actually got a chance to meet her in person briefly when she was in Fort Lauderdale this winter. We ran the same race last February. The A1A Half Marathon. We both got a PR that day. Same age group. She was a couple minutes faster than me and I'm still her friend. :-) We've kept in touch through messages and we were thrilled to find out that we were going to be able to keep each other company at Athletes Village since we were in the same wave and corral, 4/1.

The plan was to meet up with both Kellie and Marc for the buses at 7:30am. I got dressed after a couple changes... changed the calf sleeves because they seemed too tight and changed the shorts because of pocket placement at the last minute too. This made me feel so unorganized for today! I usually have it all figured out by now. Ugh! I was nervous indeed! Why? It's BOSTON!!!!

Wave 4 was to board buses between 8:35-8:59am. A one gallon clear plastic bag for extra stuff including food/drink was allowed on the bus and in Athletes Village so I stuffed everything I thought I could possibly need into this small bag. The weather was cooler than I'm used to in Florida but it was to get warmer in the early morning hours before our start time. I folded up an old Disney space blanket to sit on, a small bottle of suntan lotion, a few snacks that we got from the pasta party, a black marker and bubble gum. (got to have my gum!) I needed to stop off at the CVS I saw that's on the way to the buses to buy myself some more water, powerade and chap stick. Our wave start was not until 11:15am. I put on my extra throw away (donation) layer of clothing, kissed my family good bye and headed out the door.

I texted Kellie 7:11am: "I'm on the train" and called Marc to tell him too that I was on my way.

I made it to the buses with everything I needed by 7:30am. Kellie was already there waiting and Marc was still on his way to the bag check. I boarded a bus early with my new friend and told Marc we'd try to find him and his friends at the Village. I was a bit nervous and just wanted to get where we needed to be!

Ends up our line of buses didn't exactly know where we needed to be... we were on a lost bus! The bus driver made an announcement when they all had to follow each other to turn around!! Quite funny actually and we were now happy we boarded a little earlier than we were actually supposed to. I believe we made it to Athletes Village just after 9:00am

By the time we reached the village they were already calling people to start their walk down to the start line for wave 2. The weather had already started to warm so we took off our extra clothing and put them in a donation bag.

Now that we were here I realized how tough it was going to be to find Marc. He was putting his phone in his gear check bag. I wasn't too worried about it because he was not alone. He was running with a big group of people he knew from Mass Eye & Ear. If only I could find their tent! I didn't realize until after we exited Athletes Village how big an area it really was!

Kellie and I decided the first thing we would do was wait in one of the many long porta john lines. Even if we didn't need to use one now, we were sure to possibly need to use it by the time we got to the front of the line. It was a great plan. While we waited we chatted with other runners. Come to find out, there were a lot of first time Boston Marathoners.

While waiting in line I took the opportunity to get my black marker out. I asked Kellie if she'd write my name on my arm. I wanted to do this because Boston does not put your name on your bib. It's always nice for those spectating and cheering to know your name so they can scream it for you to hear. First time I did this was at the Chicago Marathon in 2013 when a friend had recommended it. I was so glad I did and I wanted to do it again for Boston. We took turns writing our names on our arms. I feel bad for Kellie though... her name is spelled wrong and it takes up so much room on her arm! hahahaha :-)

Kelly and Kellie

At about 10:30am we heard the announcement that all runners in wave 4 could start their exit from Athletes Village to head to the starting line!

As we walked forward I kept asking everyone "Where's the Hopkinton sign?" I couldn't believe nobody knew! Come to find out there were even more Boston Newbies. I kept looking for it as we moved along.

There were 8 different corrals in our wave and we were in corral 1. The crowd of runners slowly began to exit left to their different corrals as we moved forward. The area began to narrow and we squeezed into the back of corral 1. We stood right in front of the Hopkinton sign! There it was on the right side of the road!! :-)

I looked around with amazement. I was about to run the race of my dreams... Kellie's first Boston too! We gave each other a big squeeze and wished each other the best race experience. It was time to run the Boston Marathon!!!

THE RACE

After crossing the starting line it was downhill running. The adrenaline and the excitement of seeing the crowd of runners in front of me certainly kept my mind off my foot. That didn't matter to me at this point, what mattered to me most was to keep my pace in check. I was feeling fantastic, but I knew better. I had my coach on my shoulder telling me to take it easy because I still had a long way to go and I lacked the training these last couple months. It was not to burn too much energy in the early miles because it was important to save it for the Newton Hills. It was actually the plan if I felt 100% and it was my plan now. The course is tough regardless of your fitness and I just wanted to finish today. Take it easy and "Enjoy your victory lap!!!" is what coach said. That's what I was going to do.

After leaving Hopkinton I ran through the towns of Ashland, Framingham and Natick. I could feel my pace starting to fade before reaching the town of Wellesley. After I hit the the 15K mark I decided I wasn't going to fight it, but I certainly was not going to stop moving forward. Looking around at all the people cheering reminded me to do exactly what I was going to do. Enjoy the race! "GO KELLY", "LOOKING GOOD BEAST MODE" was a lot of what I could hear. I'm sure I was smiling no matter how tired I was feeling.

I knew I was either almost to Wellesley or about to get to Wellesley College when I heard all the screaming. I've heard and read about the Wellesley College girls but to experience it was absolutely a blast! I kept to the left of the course but kept my eyes to the right reading all their signs asking for kisses. I wish I would have pulled my camera out at this point to just capture it all, but there's nothing like actually hearing and seeing it all as I ran by. "Kiss me or I'll vote for Trump" one of the signs read. I wonder how many kisses she tallied?

I managed to get myself to the half mark in 2:04:04. Not bad, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up my pace. My right foot actually wasn't bothering me too much, it was my left foot that I could feel was forming a blister on the bottom of it! Probably from all the downhill running that I had done so far. I was so happy at this point anyway. I felt like I got to the point that I knew for sure I was going to finish this thing. I was not at my strongest, but I was going to finish without a medical tent no matter how slow. I was enjoying this! The people and cheers were incredible!

I remembered my family and friends were waiting for me around the 25K mark. I couldn't wait to get there! When I was around mile 14 there was a woman passing out twizzler sticks. I asked for two to carry with me to give to my kids... their favorite. I'm sure they wouldn't expect me to have a little something for them. I carried them for the next mile and a half. I couldn't wait to hand them over!

Just after mile 14 I also finally saw my friend Marc that I missed seeing earlier. He caught up with me after starting in corral 8! I've joined him for races in the past (Disney, MCM) and have always enjoyed having someone to run with but Marc was definitely having a great race. I could see he was running strong. It was great to see him and sweet of him to ask me to join him for some miles, but I wasn't even going to try to keep up with him and I certainly wasn't going to have him slow down for me! "You have way too much energy Marc, see you at the finish!"

25K - My favorite stop at the Boston Marathon! My husband Sean, my boys and my friends Robyn, Mishele and Juan were there cheering! It was so great to see them. Robyn had her megaphone out and they had three BIG HEADS OF ME ON A STICK!!! It was fantastic! Of course I was gong to stop for hugs and pictures. I was in no hurry, especially for the number one people that have supported me for so long! Everyone certainly made me feel pretty special!

My cheering squad above - family and friends - Incredible!!

I left my cheer squad with a little bit of added energy. Not to run fast, but to continue pushing through what I knew was ahead of me... the Newton Hills! My great friend and teammate in training Mishele joined me (running in her jeans!) for almost half a mile to the Newton Hills. She's one of my long run training partners that helped push me to my limits while I was training to qualify for Boston at Grandmas Marathon last summer. It was great to share a bit of the experience and I reminded her that this time next year we will be doing this again! Except for next year she'll be the one running the Boston Marathon! She qualified for 2017.

What I remember through miles 16 - 21 was a lot of encouragement. The crowds were great! I did my best to keep running but unfortunately I stopped a lot. I kept hearing my name being called and then all of a sudden I heard it followed by my last name... "Cassidy!!" I turned around to see it was my friend Liz! Liz is Marc's wife. Of course I turned and ran back to give her a big hug! I had not seen her since last January during Disney Marathon weekend! I got a little bit more power!

Up until the area of Newton there seemed to be a lot of downhill which can really burn up your quads. My legs were feeling heavy and my energy level was fading. I was heading uphill more than I was running downhill now. People tried to encourage you by telling you "you're looking strong Kelly" or "Your looking great Kelly" and I believe it was around here there was someone standing on the side with a huge mirror and sign attached stating "THIS IS WHAT YOU REALLY LOOK LIKE". That gave me a big chuckle!

When I realized I was finally on Heartbreak Hill I did my best to move a little faster knowing that I'd be happy to finally reach the top with only a 10K left to the finish. I kept my head down but realized just in front of me was a man running with not one, but two blades! He had lost both of his legs. I suddenly didn't have to dig so deep to find my strength. I was amazed and inspired by this man in front of me.

I made it to the top of Heartbreak Hill! How did I know? The lady on the left of the road was holding the sign that said so! Who knows if I'll ever run Boston again... I got out my camera and asked someone to record this memory for me with a picture! In fact, unlike most marathons where you're happy to be almost finished? I had mixed emotions. Of course I wanted to finish, but part of me didn't want it to end! I started to ask myself if I really had it in me to run a qualifying time ever again?

Finishing through Newton and on to Brookline passing Boston College I continued to enjoy the race hearing people yell my name. It was great to give high fives and slap the hands of those reaching out to give you a little power... especially the kids! I'd slap one kids hand and just like a set of dominos you'd see every kids hand down the line throw their hand out if you were willing to slap it. They got so excited as if they were keeping score for how many hits they would each receive!

Then I saw the CITGO sign and became incredibly emotional. I've been reading and viewing all things Boston Marathon and I almost forgot about this iconic sign! The point where the sign is means you only have a little over a mile to go. It is at the 25 mile point of the race. I started to tear up and hyperventilate! Oh my goodness! I slowed down to breathe. Then I got out my camera again and took this picture.

It wasn't going to be much longer before I can officially call myself a unicorn!

New to the course this year was the Blue and Yellow tribute under this overpass heading down Commonwealth Ave on the way through the last mile of the Boston Marathon. Definitely a point of inspiration.

It wasn't long after this I was running the famous right onto Hereford St. then left onto Boylston heading down to the finish line.

I remember that turn onto Boylston and spotting the finish. I took one good look and for the first time had thoughts of possibly returning again one year. That would mean I'd have to work my butt off to qualify once again! This race took me a long time to finish compared to that Boston Qualifying time. I definitely got my moneys worth! Seriously not sure if I could do that again.

I crossed the finish while looking up at the photographers hoping they'd catch this moment of my complete joy as a first time Boston Marathon finisher! After crossing the line I broke down into tears. I really just did what I had set out to do! This was it. My Journey to Run Boston is complete. There was a man sitting high on a tall chair with a megaphone. He pointed it at me and said "Kelly, Kelly, no tears here... Beast." I smiled. That's right! Beast Mode!

April 18th, 2016 I crossed the Boston Marathon finish line and became a unicorn!

I had a few tears of joy as my dream to run Boston finally came true.

If you made it this far reading my story... thank you!

My victory lap Splits - 5K 28:12, 10K 56:09 15K 1:24:32, 20K 1:57:20, HALF 2:04:04, 25K 2:30:35, 30K 3:08:03, 35K 3:45:15, 40K 4:19:54, Official Finish Time 4:33:55 Pace 10:27