FW: They need a bigger word for "THANK YOU"

Congratulations to Steve who put in a stupendous effort to finish the 111th Boston Marathon despite the unconducive (an understatement!) conditions. Strong headwind, rain and extreme cold hit the runners hard. As can be seen from the finishing times, even the elites were affected. Which made Steve's finishing all the more amazing. He had had his celebratory beer and is now trying to sleep. You can see that up to the 30K mark, he was still on course for a course PR.

 

Half - 2:04.50
30K - 3:05.41
35K - 3:45.01
40K - 4:29.15
Finish - 4:49.02

 

So Steve, here's to your quick recovery and return to the roads again! And yes, I think the Hansons' program works too!

-----Original message-----
From: Steve Runner phedippidations@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:12:31 +0800
Subject: They need a bigger word for "THANK YOU"

Greetings fellow runners!

It's 2:00 AM in the morning, EDT and I'm having a tough time sleeping.  I don't know much about hypothermia, but if I didn't succumb to a level 1 stage of the condition...then something else is wrong.  I have the usual leg aches (which really isn't all that bad... just the usual post marathon leg pain you'd expect) and I'm insatiably hungry.

I had (and savored) my Sam Adams last night, as soon as I got home, and then crawled into bed with an uncontrollable case of the "shivers".

Just now (At 2 AM ) I woke up with a craving for pizza...so I crawled out of bed and have some cooking right now.

Anyway, I wanted to get a quick note out to let you know how incredibly thankful I am for your kindness and friendship.  I think you know that I don't consider any of you "listeners".  I feel a genuine fraternal connection with you, fellow runners.

When things started to get back on the race course yesterday, and I made it to mile 22; you can't imagine my surprise when John Ellis told me that all ten of you (okay, I'll concede that maybe there were a few more than 10 following me yesterday) were all shouting words of encouragement.

I can honestly tell you that I wouldn't have finished yesterday if John hadn't mention that you were out there, willing me to go on.  I was able to move down into Cleveland Circle and onto Beacon Street, and every time the pain and weakness overcame me, I kept thinking how I didn't want to disappoint you and was able to keep going. I'm not much of an athlete, but I am stubborn; and the thought of disappointing you with a DNF wasn't something I could accept.  So, when I say "thank you for being there", I mean that more than you know.

I'll have a lot to say about the race, and why things didn't go the way I wished they had: but I wanted to let you know that I consider this my best performance in a marathon, despite the finish time.

This Hanson Marathon Program I followed, along with John's advice, is just remarkable.  I have never felt so strong going into the hills of Boston, and so confident that I would do well.

I have some theories as to why things fell apart for me in the end, but no regrets. I crossed the finish line knowing that I had performed well under some extreme conditions.  The fact that it's 2 AM and I've been shivering uncontrollably all night is likely related to what happened to my body.

All I can tell you is that I am grateful beyond words that you cared enough to follow me yesterday, and that I'll never forget your kindness to me during the 111th Boston Marathon!

Pizza's done!

Run long

Steve