Run Neal Run: With Love From Me To You

This is me at mile 20, also known as Heartbreak Hill.

Do you know who Uta Pippig is? She won Boston 3 times in the 80's, and doesn't want to be remembered for the way she won one of those runs, where she had terrible stomach cramps and the commentators kept talking about the blood and feces running down her leg. And that's not how I think of her. Uta is an enthusiastic supporter of Dana-Farber and many other charitable endeavors, with a great personality, a wonderful sense of humor and an energy within that is pretty contagious.

Here she is at the church in Hopkinton where all the Dana-Farber runners are lucky enough to congregate before the race, giving us one last pep talk and description of strategy for the really tough course. Be sure to hit the play button.

Overall this was a great weekend for me. Saturday at the Marathon expo and then the Red Sox game, Sunday a leisurely day in Hopkinton with our hosts Alan and Beth, visiting the starting line area, where the food vendors have nothing for a runner to eat (fried dough, I don't think so). Sunday night I had my preferred premarathon dinner of brown rice and cheese, and I slept well Sunday night. Monday I ate my preferred marathon breakfast of oatmeal. And still, my stomach was a little finicky, so I arrived a little later at the church than I had planned while my stomach hopefully calmed down.

It was a cold and windy day, and I had a long sleeve shirt under my singlet for most of the morning. Here is our coach Jack getting us in the right frame of mind for running into the wind. (And how many people get not one but two Boston Marathon winners giving them advice on Marathon morning?) I don't know if all 550 Dana-Farber runners got their picture taken with Jack, but a lot of us did, including me.

Jane and an elite runner both convinced me that a singlet was enough for me, so I ditched it after the pictures just before we went outside, and didn't think to put on sunscreen on my shoulders as I had on my face earlier. The sun on April 20 is as strong as the sun on August 20, so the fact that it was in the 40's and windy was irrelevant to how burned I would get.

As a past winner, Jack was announcing over the public address at the starting line, and I was very happy when he saw me and recognized me and wished me luck by name. I was determined not to go out too fast. I was helped in that regard because my legs felt a little heavy and I felt a little bloated, but not too bad. I saw our hosts Alan and Beth at around mile 2.5 and was doing well at that point.

I was very happy that I found my training partners Charene and Susan at about mile 4.5. I ran with them for less than a full mile. They were keeping up a pretty good pace, and after a while I just declared that I didn't feel like I had a four hour marathon in me, and I was going to back off a little. My legs were a little less heavy, but I still had that bloating feeling and was getting a few cramps.

After we parted, the cramps got worse, especially when I drank water or gatorade or had my Cliff Shot Blocks. That was a horrible feeling because I obviouslyhad no choice but to keep hydrating. Still, the predominant thought I was having was that the discomfort was not that bad, it was not the pain of being injured that I had from my Boston Marathon in 2007, so just stay focused and be smart about pacing. Sorry I am being so graphic, but the cramps got better when I could pass some gas.

What made the race so wonderful was, as always, the love from the crowds, cheering "Go Neal" and "Go Dana-Farber". The scream tunnel at Wellesley was as wonderful as ever, but I didn't even want to wasted energy high fiving any of the students, never mind kissing any of them despite their written invitations.

I was happy to be so familiar with the course, especially miles 10-21 which I had run just three weeks before. There is a nice public park in Wellesley we run by, and all of a sudden I had my sharpest cramp yet, so sharp I stopped in my tracks. Then I realized I wasn't going to be just passing gas. There was nothing to do but hop over a wall into the park, and since this was Boston with a ton of spectators, try to be as discreet as I could and have my Uta Pippig moment. As I pulled myself back over the wall a woman said I was lucky to be a guy, and I just smiled, though I was thinking if she only knew how much I had in common with women runners at that moment.

So now I was disgusting, and realized that if I spent the time waiting for a porta potty, there was only so much cleaning up I could do, so I just decided to keep going. And I did feel a little better, the cramps were hardly noticeable the rest of the way, though as I made my way through the hills of Newton, I felt the quads aching, not as bad as my first 20 miler, and I just think that is what the course does to you with so much downhill before you get to the uphill. I saw my aunt Martha and cousin David at mile 19. I was carrying the names of over 200 people who had been stricken with cancer and David was the only one of those who I actually saw during the race. It was extra inspiration as I made my way up Heartbreak Hill, still feeling overall pretty good. Yes I was gross, but I was thinking I was going to easily make my revised goal of running in under 4:30.

Lots more great crowd support along Beacon Street as we approached the Dana-Farber cheering section with some children patients from Dana-Farber. Then I saw my friend Anne, who ran for Dana-Farber with me in 2007, and she got what she described as a salty hug. Sorry Anne, I couldn't help myself, and I wish it was only salt. Then we posed with coach Jack for the official Dana-Farber photographer, and I still thought I was not going to be cutting it close for my 4:30 goal.

A half mile further down the road I saw Jane, but she didn't see me right away, so she had me turn around for one more picture. Now I realized that I was not really figuring in the .2 in the 26.2 miles, so I had to get moving, but happily made my goal by finishing in 4:29:52.

While I am very proud of my effort and happy with my time, like Uta, I don't want to be remembered for running with gastrointestinal distress. Personally, I will remember this Boston Marathon for all of your support which has helped me raise over $22,000 for cancer research at Dana-Farber, and for the love I have received and tried to give back and for the inspiration of all those whose names I carried with me on race day. I love you all. And because I can't help myself, its still not too late to donate. http://www.runDFMC.org/nealb2009

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of me in the church with friends, gathering for our team photo, and during the run. More might be added later.