On The Road to Boston 2016

In fall of 2014, Craig ran the St. George Marathon.  He completed with a time of 3:34, six minutes under the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon.  He qualified for The Boston!  Most runners will know what you are talking about when you say The Boston.

The Boston Marathon is one of the oldest and most prestige marathons.  How could he pass up an opportunity to run in it.  You just can't.  Often when you qualify for The Boston Marathon it will be almost 1.5 years before you run in it, most qualifying races are just pass the deadline for the next spring's race so you wait and you train.

Craig was running in The 2016 Boston Marathon! April 18, 2016

We arrived in Boston on Friday night and settled into our room. Our hotel was only minutes away from the finish line.

Saturday was filled with picking up his bib number and lots of other exciting goodies to see at the Convention Center downtown.

So excited to be here.

The Wall of Participant Names

There it is, CRAIG GARRETT!

 We met my niece, Alyssa and her fiance Sam, for brunch.  Yay! They took as on a short walking tour of some of the older and architecturally designed buildings in Boston.  I especially loved the tour of The Boston Public Library.  I think a must see on anyone's agenda to Boston.

Sam, Alyssa and me

Boston Public Library

Every library should have a lion proudly watching over it

What beautiful art

This is the most amazing study hall I have every seen

Up close of the Last Supper on the outside wall of a church

Composer recognition

That afternoon, we drove to the starting line of the race and drove the course.  It was helpful to Craig to get the feel and know what to expect.  He know the elevation gain wasn't great, at least not compared to what he was used to.  Upon seeing "Heartbreak Hill", which is about 19 to 20 miles into the race he understood why it is called that.  Rolling hill after rolling hill with a pretty decent elevation gain that could wear anyone out.

George V Brown statue, official starter of the Boston Marathon for over 30 years

The start line

But he was ready.

That afternoon we got a little more wandering the city in.

Don't you think that is a cool art on the building

Bunker Hill

Because he needs to be in the middle of things

Boston has 2 ward and 2 church buildings on opposite ends of the city.  We went to the southern end for church on Sunday.  There were so many nice members and extremely welcoming to the runners.  Maybe 5 or 6 runners plus their cheering squad were their visiting.

After church we drove to Plymouth, as in Plymouth Rock for a walking afternoon visit.  Craig's family has ancestors that were on the Mayflower and we even discovered Howland Street named after them.

Plymouth Rock, yes it is as small as it looks

Massasant

Family History

 Carb loading is important before a big race and The Boston Marathon's dinner did not disappoint.  Craig ate up on plenty of spaghetti and french bread.  At our table we met runners from all over the world, even 1 young man from Poland who qualified by running in The Athens Marathon. Maybe we wore off some of those carbs by walking around the waterfront afterwards.

Food!

Boston Strong Banner

Boston at night

Boston Waterfront

Paul Revere and church

MONDAY - the race!  Off at 6:30 in the morning to catch his bus that left at 7 to drive him the 26.2 miles to the start.  There Craig had about 3 hours before his wave was to run.  Lots of down time and lots of excitement and anticipation.

Excited and ready to run

I went down to the finish line around 10 knowing the first runners and the wheelchair runners would be coming in.  What a crowd, it was insane with all the support and cheering.  My heart was full of emotions reflecting on 36 years ago when my brother, Curt Brinkman won the 1980 Boston Marathon setting a World and Race record - being the first ever runner, able body and wheelchair to finish the race under the 2 hours.  After watching the first set of racers, I returned to the hotel knowing Craig hadn't even started yet.

There it is Curt Brinkman, 1980 - 1:55:00

The chairs have slimlined a bit since my brother - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

Norine, Craig's mom and I walked to the Apple Store.That was our agreed upon cheering spot.  It was just a block from the finish line.  Safety was important for the race and so ever spot entering the course required a police checkpoint.  All bags were inspected.  The Apple Store was on the north side of the street and our hotel was on the south, we zigzagged through streets and had to travel a few extra blocks to get to the crossing point for the north side. Another wait.  The marathon has an app you can use to keep track of your runner at various points because of that I knew when we should leave and approximately when we should see Craig.  What a build up of excitement.  Both Norine and I were crying when he passed, we were so proud of him. Craig was amazing.

Meeting after the race was a bit of a challenge.  We had a spot picked, under the G post but it took Norine and I lots more zigzagging and more walking through crowds to finally meet up with Craig.  He was exhausted but happy.  And his time: 3:39:59 - 1 second under the qualifying time for next year.  Hooray for him.

Exhausted but happy

Monday night was a great dinner out at PF Chang's and rest.

We still had almost all day Tuesday before flying back home.  To enjoy our time we visited the John F Kennedy Library.  It was right on the bay.  I learned a lot more about JFK, especially that he wasn't particularly a good student in high school but finally got it going in college.  I was impressed with a few quotes from his speeches and I really enjoyed seeing pictures of the Kennedy's life with children in the White House.  A special exhibit of Ernest Hemingway's work was on there.  It was worth the visit.

JFK Library

My favorite picture

Wise words

JFK Library overlooking the bay

Boston was great.  The anticipation was almost overwhelming for me but I am really grateful Craig was able to be a part.  It was exciting and a beautiful city to be in.  But mostly I see Craig setting goals and achieving them.  He trained hard, was so dedicated, he took care of his body, and was determined.  Yes, The Boston is an accomplishment of greatness!

Spring tulips

Beautiful streets of Boston