A Coach’s Perspective on the the Boston Marathon
I have been fortunate enough to run Boston multiple times with a wide array of performances. I also had the pleasure of coaching dozens of athletes who competed at the prestigious race. We have all learned some things along the way. I’d like to share three things to think about and be ready for on race day.
Boston is often considered the Super Bowl of our sport, with good reason. It’s really hard to get in, and some people never do. With the Super Bowl analogy, I also notice another sport concept to think about. You know how some teams in sports will make the playoffs and then lay an egg, while the other team dominates? Sometimes it has to do with the original goal. For some people, it’s all about just saying you made it. While for others, not only do they want to be there, but they also have something to prove on race day! Please don’t take this the wrong way, as I don’t think there is anything right or wrong about either decision. However, I think making that decision before race day will help guide your experience. If you are going in and thinking about all the things you will be doing over the weekend, but don’t actually rest before the big day, then expecting peak performance may not be the right mindset going in. The same can be said about taking in the course itself on race day. It’s easy to get caught up with all the “things” you can experience along the course. A lot of them are before halfway, too. So, expending all that extra energy early on, may come back to bite you later on during the hardest part of the course. First time Boston runners, I simply offer this: A lot of Boston cannot be described and truly absorbed without first experiencing it. I feel like the first time there should be one of enjoyment and taking the course in without any added pressure. If and when you come back, then you know a lot more about what to expect, what you can include on your itinerary and what you can avoid in order to have a more performance based outcome goal.
The second area is in line with my first thought, but that is the idea that you can’t “win” Boston in the first 5k, but you can definitely ruin your Boston in the first 5k. It is very easy to get caught up in the excitement coupled with a downhill exit out of Hopkington. I’ve seen a lot of races in the masses and elites completely destroyed by going way to fast in the first 5k.
My final thought is that when I ran my best and my worst race at Boston, I don’t think any of my splits were within a few seconds of what my average pace was for the whole race. Maybe in the flatter stretch around 10k, but other than that, it wasn’t really that close. You have a big net downhill, but you always seem to be going uphill or downhill for the vast majority of the course. You will have to trust your inner GPS. This makes it even more important to stay calm early on if you are trying to race Boston.
To close, I love the Boston Marathon. Fast or slow, it was always the top marathon experience for me. The city knows and loves it’s running history. The course is unique with lots of challenges. And it’s always a yearly gathering of the best of what our sport has to offer. Enjoy the experience and be grateful for the opportunity.
