May 12

Written by: chris
5/12/2009 

Boston Massachusetts

Take it from me: you need much more than a couple of days to do justice to all there is to see and do in Boston! Especially if you are foolhardy enough to spend one of those days running the Boston Marathon…It’s a marvelous mixture of a city. Old colonial abuts 21st Century. Student hangouts next door to chi-chi restaurants. Ocean port down the road from picturesque village suburbs. It’s fun, it’s funky and now the Big Dig is finished, it’s sane again! Here are a few visual samples: the view from my hotel room toward Cambridge across the Charles River; the glittering State House; the olde worlde Beacon Hill district.

Boston Highlights

A Trolley Tour is a good way to get your bearings without the need to navigate the streets yourself. I found the commentary was both well-informed and entertaining. It took us from Back Bay across the Charles River to Cambridge, back to Beacon Hill and Boston Common, through Downtown to the Waterfront District. And through 400 years of history! We left the Trolley to see the world-famous New England Aquarium, with its 7,000 fish and marine mammals. Highlights include the 200,000 gallon Ocean Tank with cool sharks and rays, sea lions, penguins, touch tanks, IMAX Theatre and a special exhibit on shimmering jellyfish.

Boston Marathon

I am a runner. And like most runners around the world, I aspired to run the Boston Marathon one day. Why? Because of its indisputable position as the world's oldest annual marathon and the fact that it’s widely regarded as the world's most prestigious road race. It’s the only major marathon where most runners have to achieve a target time in a prior marathon to qualify to apply to run the race.

When I somewhat unexpectedly qualified in the 2008 Ottawa Marathon, I couldn’t pass up the chance to participate in this ultimate runners’ experience. And it was just that: a wonderful, gut-wrenching, emotional, roller-coaster of a race where we 26,000 runners gave our all – and a million passionate, cheering spectators repaid us with such overwhelming support that almost all of us crossed the finish line with ridiculous smiles on our faces and a knowledge that another Bucket List tick is in the bag… I crossed the line after one of the hardest and yet most exhilarating 3 hours 46 minutes of my life!