A lot has happened since the Chicago Marathon last October.
I graduated with my PhD, took a long trip to China with Jin, and started my
dream job in my dream city! Why is it my dream city, you ask? Not only is it home to some
of the most innovative pharma companies, it’s also arguably the greatest
running city in the world. It’s the perfect place to fuel both of my passions
in life. And I’m convinced it’s the place that will help me realize my
penultimate running dream: qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Oh, and
not-so-coincidentally, I’m talking about Boston, of course!
When Jin and I first moved here, we were living in temporary
corporate housing on the edge of the financial district. Even though it was the
dead of winter, I was immediately planning out running routes. As luck would
have it, the winter proved to be a mild one, allowing me to explore the city in
my running shoes nearly every weekend. The thing I love about running in the
city is even if I run the same route 100 times, I’ll have 100 completely
different experiences. It wasn’t long before I made running along the Charles
River a staple in my routes. Sometimes the running path would be alive and
packed with other runners and walkers, enjoying the scene of glittering water
dotted with sailboats. Other times, it would be a gloomy, windy experience. 
Running through the city means constantly pausing at street
corners and dodging other pedestrians, but it’s the only way to get to some of
the most notable sites. Like Boston Common.
And here I am running on the
Freedom trail J
And of course I had to run to Boylston street to see the
Boston Marathon finish line!! (Side note: I do not recommend running on
Boylston unless you’re okay with stopping every three seconds, or being a
Masshole and plowing through pedestrians.)
Because my marathon training plan calls for hitting specific
paces, I soon found that sticking to running along the water – the only place
to find long, uninterrupted trails – was the way to go. That may or may not
have heavily factored into our decision to move to South Boston once the
corporate housing stint was up. Our new apartment is 2 blocks from the beach,
which has trails that go for miles.
Like the Charles, I never get sick of
running these same trails because it’s always a different experience. Beautiful
sunset runs while watching people windsurf in the bay…
or watching a huge storm
move in… and then running through that storm (with hail)... and, oh look, a rainbow.
But one thing that’s
pretty much always the same? Crazy seaside headwinds. HEADWINDS FOR DAYS. One
weekend I had to decide between running 17 miles in the pouring rain, or
running the next day in 30mph winds. I chose the rain.
But the thing is, no matter what the weather is doing, there
will always be other runners out there, battling the same elements. MY PEOPLE.
I have found a place where I’m surrounded by kindred spirits, toughing it out
on the same roads as me as hail falls down on our heads or horizontal rain
slices into our eyeballs. It inspires me to run harder and to dream bigger. One
day I’ll be crossing that Boston Marathon finish line. Just like all of these
amazing people that I watched cross the line last month.
If I thought running a marathon was an emotional experience,
spectating is even more so. I watched from just after the 26th mile
marker, and I could just see that look on all the runners’ faces as they stared
down the finish line ahead. A mixture of hungry desperation, numb exhaustion,
and supreme satisfaction. There were multiple times when I “got something in my
eye.” …Watching the runner who stopped and bent over double with exhaustion,
then looked up at the finish, narrowed her eyes, and kept going… The multiple
runners with one or more prosthetic legs, proving to everyone that there are no
limits to the human spirit… The runner whose kids came out onto the course to
hold their dad’s hands as he crossed the line. I’m getting choked up just
thinking about it again.
And one of the coolest things about it all was that I
realized how much the people of this city – runners and non-runners alike –
love and respect the marathon. Oops, time for me to go on a run. I may return soaked or windswept (or both), but one thing is certain: I'll be that much more inspired.
