By: Kyle Auger & Ethan Walshe
Sports Editor & Managing Editor
This past Monday, April 16, the first marathon of the summer season took place in our own Boston Massachusetts. Over 27000 runners participated in the 114th Boston Marathon, and among them was a group of approximately 40 competitors from the Greater Lowell Road Runners. The organization offered us an opportunity to join them as they made every step during the day from gathering in the morning to the pre-race gathering to the race itself, the finish line and the post-race reactions as we chronicled the days events. This is A Day at the Marathon.
The day began bright and early at 6:30 a.m. as the members of the Greater Lowell Road Runners and their volunteers gathered in the parking lot of Crawley Stadium in Lowell. As the more than fifty people began to come together many were in their racing gear: running shorts, shoes and their GLRR t-shirts or tank tops, fully prepared for the day ahead of them, which was set to be one of the hottest marathons in recent history, with temperatures reaching 90 degrees. The heat was to be a real concern this year.
“This is going to be a repeat of 2004, which was a really hot race. It almost killed me to be honest. I was… bad off for about two or three days,” said Westford Academy parent Scott Graham, who had run a previous 25 Boston Marathons.
The group chatted calmly amongst themselves. If any were nervous or frightened about running the 26.2 miles that were just a few hours away from them, it was not apparent to the casual observer.
Within a few minutes as all parties were accounted for, the group shuffled onto a chartered bus with the destination or Hopkinton High School where many other buses shuttling running clubs were parked, less than a mile from the official starting line. After a commemorative group photo, the marathoners were free to get into the “zone” and get into the mental position that they needed to to be able to complete the task that lay but two hours ahead of them.
“I’m excited, I wish we could start now instead of two hours from now. It’s a great event. It’s the premier marathon event,” said Andre Chandonnet, who was preparing to run his seventeenth consecutive Boston Marathon.
The heat was set to affect many runners. Before the race even began , 4000 competitors deferred, instead choosing to run the marathon next year. Runners needed to alter their game plans in order to do well this year.
“I’m feeling good, [I’m] concerned about the heat, but you just have to readjust your goals. [I wanted to] go sub-three, but now I’m probably looking at under 3:15,” said Westford Academy graduate James Sullivan.
At 9:00 a.m. the runners with mobility impairments such as artificial limbs began their marathon, so as to give them a head start. The enormous crowd of people surrounding the starting line roared and cheered as these first marathoners set their day into motion. Soon after, the handcycle participants began their marathon at 9:17. The next wave of competitors was the push rim handcyclers five minutes following and the elite women at 9:32.
During the interims between waves of racers, various announcers came onto a large stage overlooking the starting line, joined by former marathon winners and women who participated in the first women’s Boston Marathon 40 years ago in 1972. Local news stations were abuzz as well, capturing every moment of runners and crowd alike.
At 10 a.m. sharp, the elite men and the first wave of the Boston Marathon began. This was the first wave to contain runners from the Greater Lowell Road Runners, who could be spotted sporting their green and yellow running jerseys. The last few waves left by 10:40 and all 27000 runners had begun their trek that would take them to the footsteps of the Boston Public Library 26.2 miles away.
This was when the behind the scenes work began. The remaining volunteers for the Greater Lowell Road Runners boarded their bus once again to travel to the Park Plaza hotel, where two rooms had been reserved to accommodate the runners after the race. Two masseuses and plenty of food and drinks were shuffled into the room and set up for when the runners would return between three and four hours later.
A few of the men and women who volunteered were former marathoners who did not compete in this year’s event. One gentleman remarked that he hadn’t run a full marathon in the past ten years, but was anxious to do so again.
The very first competitors to finish did so at about noon, with women’s victor Sharon Cherop posting a time of 2:31:50. None of the Great Lowell Road Runners posted times of below three hours, but many runners began to cross the finish line shortly after 1 p.m., with times around the three and one-half hour mark.
As hundreds upon hundreds of runners poured across the finish line, looking exhausted and extraordinarily hot, they also sported a face displaying a sense of profound accomplishment. The members of the GLRR slowly made their way a to the Park Plaza a few blocks away where a good shower, food, and relaxation awaited them.
“Here’s a life lesson…don’t run marathons! It’s stupid. That was the most painful thing I’ve ever done,” exclaimed David Katz, another Westford parent.
The club’s coordinator Gerrard Ottoviano had just completed his thirtieth consecutive Boston marathon. Unfortunately, he commented that the marathon he had just completed was his longest time to date.
The runners mingled and talked about the feat they had just completed for a number of hours in and around the two hotel rooms at the Park Plaza before it was time to reload the bus and go back to Cawley Stadium.
After over twelve hours, 26.2 miles, and copious amounts of Gatorade, the runners returned to where the day had began: the parking lot of Cawley Stadium where their own cars waited for them so they could finally return home after a long day of work.