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A Disastrous Boston Marathon Is Changing My Relationship to Running
April 15, 2024 was my first run of the Boston Marathon. As you can tell from the headline, it went terribly. I don’t like making excuses, but my legs just gave out after mile seven from a very difficult course. I was on pace and comfortable for seven miles until my calves started spasming and I was forced to slow down significantly.
After around mile 20, these spasms got much worse, and the stabbing pains got so bad that, at points, I had to stop, stretch, and limp for several seconds before I could run again. I ended up running a 3:14, my slowest marathon, barely getting myself across the finish line. On the final stretch, my calves suffered a stabbing pain that made me stop and limp several times.
I was lucky just to finish. There were times it probably would have been better for me to drop out, but my mindset to always finish a marathon comes from how difficult it is to drop out, logistically. It is very hard to get transportation back to the finish line, particularly in a race that is from one point to another point, like the Boston Marathon. The fastest way to get to where you need to go is to finish.
For about a half hour after the tenth mile, I felt like I was a complete failure because not only was I…
