day 2: boston
john kelley humored us of stories of the new england racing scene back in the '40s, where races that offered trophies to the victors were scoffed in favor of races that offered merchandise, a sight rarely seen these days. co-presenter amby burfoot explained: "boy, once you saw a prize before the race that you wanted, you'd do anything during the race to get it... FM receivers, avacado-colored blenders, whatever. i probably have 600 blenders in my attic alone." burfoot continued: "the thing is, kelley always had this propensity for showing up late to these races. the question of the hour every saturday morning, was 'has anyone seen kelley?' and sure enough, he'd show up at the last minute... which at that point, you knew you had to start looking for the second best prize on the prize table."
[...]
the arrival of leslie into our room was a welcome surprise. to boot, we had someone from our dinner party that night scratch, so leslie took the spot. we couldn't have planned it better! chris, anne-marie, erik, k, fish, leslie and myself enjoyed a fine dinner in the north end, followed by some just-as-fine desserts from mike's pastry. boston air was cool and crisp; a great night to be out on the town.
upon return, we meet our fourth and final roommate: andy from toronto, who seems to be a very seasoned (and very fast) runner himself. we turn in for the evening.
the next morning, we awake to what we've been anticipating all along: cold rain, albeit light. leslie and myself bump into a gal named lauren wearing a runtex shirt... turns out that she's staying on our floor! austinites are taking over the hostel!
lauren, leslie and myself head over to the freedom run, a free 5k around the common open to the public. with a free t-shirt and bib number, it's a real treat for non-running family members and loved ones to give them the feel of participating in the weekend's events.
the rest of the day will be spent laying low, given the weather. which isn't necessarily the worst fate in the world. the forecast for tomorrow is still frightful: 38 degrees, rain, 25mph headwinds with gusts to 50mph. i'm not so much worried about the 3-plus hour run as i am the 3-plus hour wait at the start line, with nothing more than a circus tent to keep you dry... if you're lucky to find room inside. i think the thing that i'm worried about most for the run itself is the chance that the sox game will get rained out, and there'll be no spectators along the course writing game updates on whiteboards for the runners to see. some spectators who live right on the route have even made nice wooden replicas of the monster scoreboard for all the marathoners to see.
let's hope for some baseball tomorrow morning. stay dry wherever you are.
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