2009-04-28

Boston - Coty runs The Boston Marathon 2009

After we picked up Coty's big, he and I ran down to where they were setting up the finish line. This was the day before the race so there was quite a bit of activity. We got a shot of Coty in front of the finish line. I kept telling him to imagine himself running through it. Part of success is being able to visualize it. He of course only heard his mother saying "blah blah blah blah" j/k



That night we went home, set 3 alarm clocks and got to bed early. It seemed all to soon that the alarm was going off at 4:45 am (remember we are at a 3 hour time difference to technically this was 1:45 am our time). We rousted everyone out of bed and got out of the hotel by 5:20. Not to bad since 5 of us were sharing one bathroom. After entering the city, we had to find out where the buses where to take the runners to the starting line. The buses only take the runners. We would have taken him to the starting line but when Mark asked someone the day before where the best place to park would be, their answer "in your garage". Since that wasn't an option, we decided to camp out at the finish line since it isn't feasable to watch him start and get into Boston, find a parking spot, then find a spot to watch towards the end.

We found the buses. Of course they weren't hard to locate since there was a bazillion of them. We should have counted. Figure around 25,000 people need rides and how many people per bus. Trust me, the line looked like it went on forever. If you look close you can see the buses through the front of our window as we are driving.



After we dropped him off and yelled all our good lucks, we went to find parking. Parking is very expensive. I think the most we paid was $31 for 4 hours. We went in an underground parking garage under the commons park and slept uncomfortably for 2 hours. We saw and heard other runners coming and going all around us. Mark was impressed that one runner got out with a bib numer in the 100's and commented on it several times as we saw them lock up their vehicle. Sidney chimmed in what something about "yes, but is he handsome?" Not sure where the came from.

Finally we couldn't fake sleep anymore, so we got out and headed to find a place at to camp out. As we were walking along Boylston street (where the race comes in) we saw them unloading huge pallets of banans, water bottles, bagles and other snacks for the runners when the finish.



We finally found our spot. It was pretty cold, high 30's low 40's with a pretty good wind blowing. It was 8:00 am, so we got some Starbucks hot chocolate and a couple of pastries to share. Realizing that we were in for a long wait, Mark ran to a local Walgreens and purchased $10 lawn chairs for us to sit in. They ended up being a great investment. Not only where they great to sit in for 5+ hours, but they kept people from shoving us out of our spot as more people came.

This is where we camped out.



We got pretty excited when we started seeing the police getting organized. We knew the first wheel chair races should be coming in. They start earlier than the runners and they have a faster pace. Here are the policemen getting their assignments down by the finish line.



Here was our policeman. We got to know him pretty good and he was pretty entertaining. He was giving the people next to us, who were from New York, a hard time because of the whole Yankess Red Sox competition. He had a heavy east coast accent and red hair. He did say he didn't like his picture taken (that was after I got mine) because everything ends up on Youtube these days.


As time went on, more and more people started gathering. We were watching the individuals standing in office buildings overlooking the race course and trying not to covet them eating snacks and being warm.



Because we had so much time on our hands, you get the opportunity to look around and notice things that are unusual. My husband and kids were really amazed at this guy who held this yoga pose for a long time. He was on the top floor balcony of the building opposite of were we where.



After an hour, we decided it was a statue because he held that pose all through the race. We got a little chuckle out of that.

Another picture of us freezing and holding our free cow bells they were giving out to ring in the races. Can't you see the enthusiasum on our cold faces!



And the first wheel chair races comes in. It was pretty exciting. People were cheering, yelling and ringing those "loud" cow bells.



Then came the first women. They starte the elite women off before the men. The elite men are at the front of the line of the first wave of regular people.Elite is anyone with a number 1-100. Regular people's numbers start at 1,000. I guess if you are really good, you get your name on your bib. Coty's goal for next time.

They have a TV crew and motorcycle policeman in front of the elite runners.


Then came the elite men.





And Ryan Hall came in 3rd.



Here is Coty! We thought we were going to miss him because there was getting to be more and more people coming through. We also expected him a little earlier. I guess the starting line was a little confused and he didn't make his wave, so he hung back and ran with another wave. Thus he started later than we thought. The chip they were given doesn't activate their state until they go throught he starting line, so his times were accurate. We yelled, we cheered and ran our cow bells and he didn't hear any of it.



A few other highlights...
Here is a guy who ran the Boston without any legs. Pretty impressive.



Another highlight was men from the army who ran it. I guess they weren't officially registered and they started earlier than any of the other runners, but they ran the 26.2 miles with their full packs on. Amazing!



We made our way down to the finish trying to meet up with Coty at our designated spot, along with 25,000 other runner's families and fans. On the way we saw the piles of blankets they were giving to the runners as they came through the finish line.



We had to go down several side streets before we finally ended up close to where we were suppose to meet Coty. By then he had gotten back to his bus, picked up his bag of belongings and called us on the cell phone. We talked as we walked trying to find common points so we could join up. Then tada... there he was! Walking a little stiff but happy he had finished.



If you recall, about a week and a half before the Boston, Coty had put an ice pack on his hamstrings becuase they were tight and sore. He fell asleep and left it on to long ending up with first and second degree burns. We took him to the doctor did everything that was prescribed in hopes that he would still be able to run the race.

The night after he ran, we were taking the covering off his burn and knew we had to get a picture of it, that way you will be all the more amazed at what a great job he did under painful conditions. Here is his leg the evening after he ran.



COTY'S 2009 BOSTON MARATHON RACE RESULTS
3 hours 27 minutes and 5 seconds
He placed 6,368 out of 25,000 people

My husband heard that there are approximately 7,000 people who are not registered who jump into the race at some point along the way just for fun. We did see people come through with interesting outfits, superman costume and carrying flags. It was a great experience and we are proud of Coty.

1 comment:

kthom said...

I don't know what's more impressive, that wicked burn or his FANTASTIC TIME AND PLACEMENT! We're so impressed Coty.....what an amazing accomplishment. Next time...do it in combat boots and a superman cape...just to spice things up a bit!