Boston Marathon 2025

Athlete's Village in Hopkinton

Well the 2025 Boston Marathon is in the books! To sum up really quick it wasn't the race that I was hoping for or expected, but it was still a really great experience and I will never forget it. I ultimately finished in 4 hours and 8 minutes, so a good half hour longer than I had hoped and planned on. But there were still many victories along the way.

The weather was absolutely perfect and the crowds of runners in Hopkinton were all excited. I got to Athlete's Village between 8:30 and 9:00 and raced to the porta-potties! I spent the next hour or so in line of porta potties, walking around, or just sitting on the grass. I did a little stretching and lots of breathing exercises, trying to take in all the excitement. As we walked down to the starting line which is about 3/4 of a mile, I felt very relaxed and very ready to go.

Wave 2 getting ready to walk to the start

After they counted us down, we were off! I stuck to my early race plan of trying to control my speed so I didn't burn myself out. But with that said I was still averaging 7:30 a mile. I was keeping my heart rate relatively low so I wasn't concerned but really had to keep forcing myself to slow down. I made sure to let runners pass me and not try and keep up. I stayed to the left side of the course where I could high-five as many kids as possible as I ran by. Seeing their excitement helped get me excited which also made me speed up! I did have to force myself to slow down a couple more times.

Around Mile 9, I was able to see the fam! I was feeling great, and stopped briefly to give them a big group hug.I continued to feel great, and settled into my easy pace. That felt all great until Wellesley. Shortly before the Newton hills, I started feeling my calf start to tug at me. At this point I slowed down even more so I didn't aggravate anything. My number one concern was still avoiding reinjuring my knee. Then during the hills my calf really seized up. This was between Miles 16-18. From here, I had to run until my calf would stop working, and then walk, stretch, and massage the calf.

To this point, the crowds had already been so much fun. They were about to get even better! Many could see I was struggling, even when I was running. The students lining the streets by BC and later were having a great time. More than once, I started running again just because of their energy and encouragement. I can remember a couple of times where I had at least 25 people lined up on the fence with their hands out, and I pushed through to get to all of them.

My last stop to stretch came with about a mile and a half left. I only know that because where I was the officer who checked on me let me know that that's where I was! So once I was ready I started running again. I made it all the way to Hereford, where about halfway up that Short Hill my calf tweaked again. I would only take in a couple slow steps when the crowd around me cheered me on and encouraged me to keep running because I was almost there. After a couple steps I waved over to them and started running. The eruption of cheers when I started running again still sends chills throughout my body. I then heard someone yelling my name which was strange because I did not have my name visible. I look over and saw a guy I used to play soccer with many years ago cheering me on!

Once I made it up to Boylston Street I could hear my name again. Although, this time they were saying “daddy!” I looked up and was able to see my family again. I didn't have the energy to go over and see them, and the calf was really painful at this point. So I just chugged along as best I could until I crossed the finish.

While it wasn't the finish I was hoping for, it was still an amazing experience for which I'm incredibly grateful. I'm grateful I can still do this. I'm grateful for everyone's support. I'm grateful for everyone's encouragement. And believe it or not, I am somewhat grateful that I had the struggles I had. Without their struggles I would not have had many of those experiences throughout the race. And no I do not have plans to run it again. That doesn't not mean I will not do it. It just means that I don't have plans. Maybe someday a few years down the road I will try and redeem myself but only time will tell.

Me after the finish