Podcasts about yuki kawauchi

Ruth Chepngetich ran 2:09:56 to smash the marathon world record at the Bank of American Chicago Marathon. In the process she became the first woman to go sub 2:10. Is this the greatest distance performance ever? Former American record holder and Olympic bronze medallist Deena Kastor joins us for an hour to break down Chicago and Ruth's incredible run and everything Chicago where John Korir got the win on the men's side (update from the pod: the first Ascis WMM win since Yuki Kawauchi in 2018 in Boston). CJ Albertson and Susanna Sullivan led the Americans. Up your running fandom and join the Supporters Club - Get a 2nd podcast every week, a great supersoft shirt, and savings on running shoes. https://www.letsrun.com/subscribe/ Show notes: 00:00 Banter 00:39 Start 02:11 Deena Kastor's initial thoughts 06:04 Segue on American Runners' Performance 08:20 Kebede and Chepngetich both after WR 14:34 Rough patch at 35k 19:26 Skepticism and Doping Concerns 28:51 Deena on Paula & how record breakers change the mindset for everyone *Renato Canova post 36:05 Barry Bonds 39:49Was this the Greatest Performance in Women's Distance Running? 40:55 Kudos to Carey Pinkowski 43:16 Kelvin Kiptum 45:33 Chepngetich's run was amazing 48:44 Paris for John Korir from Deena 58:40 Rojo's announcing plan 01:00:42 American women disappointed 01:03:44 Not Susanna Sullivan 01:04:57 CJ Albertson wants to be the top American at all the US WMM 01:09:37 01:12:06 Rojo's marathon PB? 01:17:33 Centro 01:17:57 Mile splits not always accurate 01:22:32 Greatest women's record? 01:24:51 Were Rojo's doping questions inappropriate? 01:29:16 NCAA XC - BYU puts 7 ahead of Oregon's #1 01:35:22 Wrap-Up and Announcements Links: everything Chicago Marathon here *Renato Canova post Contact us: Email podcast@letsrun.com or call/text 1-844-LETSRUN podcast voicemail/text line. Want a 2nd podcast every week? And savings on running shoes? Join our Supporters Club today and get all the LetsRun.com content, a second podcast every week, savings on running shoes, and a lot more. Cancel at anytime. https://www.letsrun.com/subscribe Check out the LetsRun.com store. https://shop.letsrun.com/ We've got the softest running shirts in the business. Thanks for listening. Please rate us on itunes and spread the word with a friend. There is a reason we're the #1 podcast dedicated to Olympic level running. Find out more at http://podcast.letsrun.com

Welcome back to IMO - this is Episode 8 where Matt Fox - Founder at Sweat Elite - talks about different running topics. In this episode Matt shares insights into attempting to run 8 marathons in 2023 - some lessons learned. He also talks about racing a Marathon (DNF) with Yuki Kawauchi - the Japanese legend. We touch on how sleep impacts racing, how stress impacts racing and much more. Feel free to email me at matt@sweatelite.co to say Hi or share any thoughts. Join us over at the Sweat Elite Coaching Academy - www.sweat-elite-coaching.com/    

In Episode 7 of In My Opinion, Sweat Elite Founder - Matt Fox talks about running a Marathon with Yuki Kawauchi at an Asics Exhibition event tomorrow in Tokyo after a fitness test at Asics Lab in Tokyo, influencers and youtubers (again), a new Coach at the Sweat Elite Coaching Academy (SECA) - Max from Boulder, SECA's expansion into Triathlon in 2024, interesting training sessions, a new business idea around pacing and much more. A huge thank you to those submitting questions and ideas for IMO. You can email matt@sweatelite.co with ideas or just to say Hi. The workouts of the week: General Workout: 3/4/5 sets of "Broken 2k": 1600m @ threshold (45sec rest), 400m @ 3k effort Half Marathon Workout: 2/3 sets of (4 x 1km @ M pace, HM pace, 10k Pace, 5k Pace). Recovery: 1min between and 3min between sets Marathon Workout: 26km: 5km warm up, 3 sets of (3km @ M, 2km @ M, 1km @ M with 1km recovery between all), 5km cool down. Train with us! https://www.sweat-elite-coaching.com/

Welcome to episode 2 of In My Opinion where Matt - the Founder at Sweat Elite - answers incoming questions and shares stories to keep you occupied on your next run.  In this episode the points of discussion include: going on an easy run with Japanese legend Yuki Kawauchi, changing plans upcoming races, failing at the 5 marathons in 10 weeks goal already, heart rate training opinions, the best gels in the game, jetlag tips, Trackstaa and the conflict earlier in the year, some recommended products and services and how to potentially shed some kilograms leading into a race. Thanks for listening in! Email me at matt@sweatelite.co if you like with any thoughts or ideas.  The featured workouts: 1. 3 x 10min with 2min rest. The first 10min at threshold. The second 10min alternating 1min just faster than threshold pace with 1min just slower than threshold pace. The third 10min progressing from just slower than threshold to just faster than threshold. 2. 3k, 4k, 3k with the 3k intervals at Half Marathon goal pace or slightly faster and the 4km at just slower than Half Marathon goal pace. Recovery: 2min. 3. 35km: 10km easy, 10km at Marathon effort, 10km alternating 1km just faster than Marathon pace with 1km just slower than Marathon pace, 5km easy. Join us at the Sweat Elite Coaching Academy: https://www.sweat-elite-coaching.com/ Predict Your Marathon with Kaizen: https://runkaizen.com/ Tinman Calculator: https://runfastcoach.com/calc2/index.php    

The NCAA cross country action heated up with NCAA phenoms Parker Valby and Katelyn Tuohy squaring off at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invite and Valby crushing Tuohy for the course record in poor conditions. Some US marathon runners want the US Olympic Marathon Trials start time moved, the Japanese Olympic Trials (Grand Championships) were held, and Stephen Lane author of a book on the 1984 Olympic Marathon, Long Run to Glory: The Story of the Greatest Marathon in Olympic History and the Women Who Made It Happen and meet director for the Adrian Martinez Classic joins us at 74:48 to discuss the book. Want a better running shoe? Go to BetterRunningShoes.com You won't be disappointed. Show notes: 00:00 Start 04:50 Nuttycombe Parker Valby takes down Katelyn Tuohy 11:14 Parker Valby was amazing 18:41 Graham Blanks impresses on men's side 25:17 Stanford men bomb, why is it so hard for Newbury Park guys not named Nico Young to adjust to college? 30:32 Oregon men not racing 38:33 Galen Rupp dream audio 39:42 Jared Ward, Sara Hall meet with Max Siegel to try and move start time of Olympic Marathon Trials 44:55 Marathon Grand Championships held- How many Americans would have even qualified? 46:37 Japan Trials men -Yuki Kawauchi brave run for 4th 55:54 Women's race 58:10 What do we think of Japanese Trials system with top 2 spots protected? 01:01:04 Big doping suspension- Titus Ekiru gets 10 year ban 01:08:30 Des Linden throws shade at 2:20 marathoners? 01:14:48 Guest- Stephen Lane author ofLong Run to Glory: The Story of the Greatest Marathon in Olympic History and the Women Who Made It Happenand meet director for the Adrian Martinez Classic. Contact us: Email podcast@letsrun.com or call/text 1-844-LETSRUN podcast voicemail/text line. Want a 2nd podcast every week? And savings on running shoes? Join our Supporters Club today and get all the LetsRun.com content, a second podcast every week, savings on running shoes, and a lot more. Cancel at anytime. https://www.letsrun.com/subscribe Check out the LetsRun.com store. https://shop.letsrun.com/ We've got the softest running shirts in the business. Thanks for listening. Please rate us on itunes and spread the word with a friend. There is a reason we're the #1 podcast dedicated to Olympic level running.

Enio Augusto⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ e ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Marcos Buosi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ trazem as notícias do mundo da corrida com os comentários, informações, opiniões e análises mais pertinentes, peculiares e inesperadas no Redação PFC. Maratona de Londres; Maratona de Hamburgo; Maratona de Boston; Maratona em Paris 2024; Caio Bonfim faz índice olímpico para Paris 2024 na marcha atlética; Yuki Kawauchi completou as 6 Majors em Londres; Provas do fim de semana. Escute, informe-se e divirta-se. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SEJA MEMBRO DO CANAL NO YOUTUBE⁠⁠⁠⁠ Cupons de desconto: ⁠⁠⁠MARATONA DE PORTO ALEGRE⁠⁠⁠ - ENIO20# ⁠⁠⁠MARATONA DE FLORIPA⁠⁠⁠ - PFC (10% de desconto) ⁠⁠⁠LIVE RUN! XP⁠⁠⁠ - PORFALAREMCORRER20 TRACK&FIELD RUN SERIES - PFC10

In this episode, Candace talks with guest Tony about the medical news that he and his partner received, himself requiring an open heart surgery, and his partner getting diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's. He talks about making a counter-intuitive decision that went against what some research would suggest for patients with Early Onset Alzhemizers; instead, they retired, sold their home and became nomads running marathons and half marathons all around the world. Tony talks about what it was like to travel around the world running race after race in places like Madagascar, Bhutan and the Great Wall of China with nothing but a suitcase. The pandemic did not put a stop to their plan and they are still running around the world over 7 years later.Anthony L. Copeland-Parker was a professional pilot/manager for thirty-seven years, the last twenty-seven with United Parcel Service. His last job had him managing pilots and flying B757/767-type air-craft all over the world. When he retired, he began writing his blog, PlayHard-HaveFun.com. Since then, he and his partner Catherine have traveled to eighty-two different countries. They have run at least a half-marathon in thirty-five countries and on all seven continents.His book Running All over the World, adapted from a blog he wrote during their travels, is a nonfiction account of our five-plus years of flying, running, walking, sailing, and sightseeing from Atlanta to Antarctica and back again. Part travelogue and part medical memoir, it transports listeners to exotic places like Madagascar, Bhutan, and the Great Wall of China while at the same time offering a day-to-day look at what it means to have nothing but what's in your suitcase. It's also an offbeat love story, recounting the trials and tribulations of an ex-pilot with a passion for vistas and logistics and a woman so tough she walks a half-marathon in the Australian Outback mere weeks after breaking her ankle. During their years as nomads, they pushed their physical and mental limitations as often as they could - and finished every race  hand in hand.Get a copy of Tony's book hereFollow Tony on FacebookFollow Tony on IGFollow Tony on TwitterFind Tony on Linkedin

La culture japonaise m'a toujours attiré. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais je la trouve fascinante. Alors, il y avait bien un moment où l'histoire de Yuki Kawauchi allait poper sur La Route ! Yuki est un ovni dans le monde de la course à pied. En quelques chiffres, enfin en un plutôt : 101. Yuki, à l'heure où j'écris ces lignes, a couru 101 marathons, et tous en moins de 2h20. Bien entendu, c'est un record. Et ce record va être très difficile à aller chercher. Mais en découvrant son histoire, j'ai pu me rendre compte que Yuki Kawauchi était beaucoup plus qu'un simple coureur de marathon. Bon épisode ! (Re)découvrez le documentaire et la course emblématique de Yuki Kawauchi :

This week, we spent a lot of time deepening topics that we had previously discussed, like the Lake Biwa Marathon, Gwen Jorgensen's recent performances, the Virtual Boston, and Yuki Kawauchi's training. We also spent some time talking about the strategies you can and should use when you're using running power versus those that you use when you're using cycling power.

This week, we talked about George's last-minute decision to jump into the Atlanta Marathon and the BAA's decision to offer a virtual option for this October's Boston Marathon. In addition, we discussed Yuki Kawauchi's 101st sub-2:20 (and PR!) at the deepest marathon ever run. We wrap up by discussing the incredible Frederick Davis.

2:34 - What Mary Kate Shea does in her role as Senior Director with John Hancock.3:27 - How she got to John Hancock and what the company’s role is with the Boston Marathon.5:09 - How she was able to make this career and her background on marathons.09:36 - 2013 was the first year she took the reigns of the Boston Marathon’s elite athletes and a treetops view of what her job entails including checking the athletes on race day.10:55 - Meg Keflezhigi checking in and on his bib he honored those that died in the bombing tragedy.13:00 - What the energy was like in 2014, the year after the bombing.15:04 - What makes an event like the Boston Marathon special from other sports and other races.16:27 - How much the Boston Marathon and John Hancock has raised for charity.17:58 - What her process for selecting elite athletes is like leading up to this year’s (2020) Boston Marathon.21:26 - Some elite athletes have amazing stories about what they’ve done with their victories.22:23 - How well she is able to know the elite athletes and how she’s developed relationships.24:16 - How winning the Boston Marathon is a life changing event and one of the memorable gifts she’s received from an elite athlete.25:44 - What the 48 hours before a race is like.28:14 - A question she always asks the elite athletes when checking in on Marathon Monday.28:44 - What happens on the journey to Hopkington, the start of the Boston Marathon.30:39 - After the elite athletes start, what she does to get back to the finish line.32:18 - John Hancock’s training program.33:11 - Her most memorable moments in Boston Marathon history.  Meb’s win, the weather in 2018 and the surprise in the women’s field.35:34 - How she recruited eventual Boston Marathon Champion, Yuki Kawauchi.38:57 - What it meant for her that Meb and Des ended the drought for American runners in the Boston Marathon.41:19 - How she views Push Rim Athlete Tatyana McFadden.42:00 - Tatyana McFadden’s rival, Manuela Schar.42:32 - Men’s Push Rim Athlete Daniel Romanchuck.42:32 - Comparing the Boston Marathon to other marathon races.44:41 - What these words or phrases mean to Mary Kate Shea:HopkingtonScream Tunnel at Wellesley CollegeNewton Fire StationHeartbreak Hill46:41 - How she helps the elite runners scout Heartbreak HillTurning onto Boylston Street toward the finish lineCrossing the Finish LineCelebrating after the race48:59 - What Mary Kate would like people to know about the Boston Marathon that they might not otherwise know.

63 Mike Power Julian eases his way through a niggle. Experiments with race nutrition ahead of Lake Biwa. Brad’s in the gym, sets the course record on his recovery loop and checking his motivation. Brady rolls 400m reps with Julian, nails the Sunday long run. Hobart Marathon is taken out by Dion Finocchiaro and Meriem Daoui, while Nick Earl and Samantha Phillips won the half marathon.Results Two Bays Trail Run between Dromana and Cape Schank George Hedley & Simone Brick won the 28k while Ash Watson & Steph Austen dominate the 56k.Results  Boston Marathon winners Desi Linden and Yuki Kawauchi headline 2019 Elite Field https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/boston-marathon-2019-elite-fields Julian has some rebuttal from the discussion for his selection for the 2018 Run of the Year before Listener Liam asks about how to go about practising race-day fueling in the marathon.  Rob De Castella winning the 1982 Commonwealth Games Brisbane Comm Games Marathon https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-14/robert-de-castella-wins-brisbane-commonwealth/9604106 Olympic 5000m runner Mike Power chats with Brad, going through his impressive PBs from the 800m to the 10k that features 3:58 for the mile at the Prefontaine meet and the U/16 1000m World Junior record. Mike takes it back to the beginning doing laps in the school parking lot and then Little Athletics at Dandenong. He shares how he was recruited to Arkansas University, how the NCAA system bridges the gap between training junior and senior athletes and what his experiences were in the college team setting. Mike then goes talks about the qualification process to get into the 2000 Sydney Olympics running the 5000m, what the experience was like and the support received from Athletics Australia. Opening up about the difficulties he had in finding a coach afterwards, Mike then talks about what ultimately made him retire from the sport professionally, how he adjusted to life afterwards and recounts his traumatic scare with cancer and then closes with his observations on the NCAA college system and running culture in the US.

Yuki Kawauchi, Japan's citizen runner. My thanks to Brett Larner of Japan Running News, for helping me connect with Yuki, and Yoshimi Kobayashi of Destination Gold Coast for translating our conversation.

Julian's jogging along with the 2 year anniversary of Run Club and hits the trails of Anglesea. Brad's bouncing after pacing Gold Coast despite contending with the headwind for the reps session, plans his racing for 2018 and family Brady comes down from Byron to race half the distance at Sandown and the campaign for the Berlin Marathon officially begins with some intense banter. NSW XC Champs were held at Wollongong with Bankstown taking the points over Sydney University, Jordan Gusman once again taking out another win while Paige Turner took line honours in the women's race. http://nswathletics.org.au/News/waratah-series-short-course-cross-country-gusman-again http://nswathletics.org.au/News/waratah-series-short-course-paige-powers-to-win Listener Question of the week asks the boys for recommendations in books and social media and the return of Moose is Confused as the boys scratch their heads after the call to halve the race at Sandown, assessing the nuances of the decision & future implications. This week's guest is Brett Larner, the man behind Japan Running News chatting with Brad about how he started with the website and his involvement with the Japanese running scene. Brett gives insight into the culture around running in Japan and the depth of talent, especially around the half marathon-distance and the national significance of the Hakone Ekiden. He goes on about how Japanese athletes develop through both the education and corporate levels and how they look to progress in the future.  Brett also talks about his relationship with Yuki Kawauchi, with the particular focus on the leadup to the 2018 Boston Marathon and what drove Yuki's decision to follow professional running. You can find out more about Japan Running News via http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter @JRNHeadlines Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/insiderunningpodcast To donate and show your support for the show: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9K9WQCZNA2KAN Opening and Closing Music is Undercover of my skin by Benny Walker. www.bennywalkermusic.com For shoes or running apparel contact Julian at: https://www.facebook.com/therunningcompanyballarat/ Join the conversation at: https://www.facebook.com/insiderunningpodcast/  

Inside Running 35: Gold Coast Recap/ Gary Towne This week's episode is sponsored by Jaybird Run Bluetooth Headphones - tune in for a product review of the Jaybird Run. Support Inside Running Podcast via our Patreon, keep the show running and a shoutout and bonus content in return. https://www.patreon.com/insiderunningpodcast Julian's sore in Mt Gambier, but turns the corner on the Moose Loop™ and Sunday long run. Brad paces the elite women at GC mara, despite the constant flight delays and added stresses. His pacing role turns into a duel with eventual winner Ruth Chebitok of Kenya Brady also has flight delays of his own before breaking his long-standing half marathon PB. He goes through his week and a blow-by-blow account of the race. It's all about the Gold Coast Marathon weekend, with Jordan Gusman breaking the 10k course record with his versatility on display while Madeline Hills won the women's 10k. Jack Rayner wins the Half Marathon ahead of Ed Goddard & Collis Birmingham and the boys talk up his future prospects. Sara Hall of the US won the women's Half 5 weeks after a marathon, while Sinead Diver runs a new personal best of 69:13 and 8th on the Australian all-time list, ahead of Laura Thweatt and Ellie Pashley. Women's marathon - Jess Trengove runs 2:26 Ruth Chepitok front runs, Agnes 3rd Celia Sullohern falls away Kenneth Mungara wins Gold Coast again, redeeming after his Comm Games performance. Yuki Kawauchi finishes 9th, highlighting the unpredictability of the marathon. Jack Colreavy runs a PB to take out the Oceania Championship. Nick Horspool & Dave Criniti round out the Oceania podium. https://www.runnerstribe.com/latest-news/aussies-impress-on-the-gold-coast/ https://www.runnerstribe.com/latest-news/jordan-gusman-leads-from-gun-to-tape-breaks-shelleys-gold-coast-10-record/ Listener question asks the boys how to deal with an injury slump worst injury before Moose On the Loose on the hype and allure of the Gold Coast Marathon and how it can be improved. Julian catches up with Gary Towne, Head Cross Country & Distance Coach of Chico State University. Gary talks about his progression from volunteer to Head Coach and gives some background on how the NCAA school system works in terms of competing and recruiting, before opening on his philosophies on coaching and developing athletes. Julian and Gary talk about the culture at Chico, the approach to writing workout programs and teammate Scott Bauhs before giving his observations on what's changed and what he's learned over the years. Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/insiderunningpodcast To donate and show your support for the show: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9K9WQCZNA2KAN Opening and Closing Music is Undercover of my skin by Benny Walker. www.bennywalkermusic.com For shoes or running apparel contact Julian at: https://www.facebook.com/therunningcompanyballarat/ Join the conversation at: https://www.facebook.com/insiderunningpodcast/

In which we discuss the recent London Marathon, the Olympic Trials coming to Atlanta, Yuki Kawauchi's announcement that he's going pro, and some research related to kids' endurance and the inertia of inactivity.

The 2018 Boston Marathon The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast– Boston 2018  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Boston2018.mp3] Link   We are near the ‘one-mile-to-go' marker.  Eric says something about one more hill.  The crowds are thicker and more enthusiastic than they should be, but this is Boston.  The spectators take it as seriously as the runners.  A multi-colored sea of umbrellas lines the road and the encouragement is loud enough to rise above the storm.  Because it is the Boston Marathon, and this is our race.  I am slowed but not walking.  Eric has those ultra-marathon legs and is pulling me.  If he wasn't there I might, I just might, take a walk break.  But I don't.  And we grind on.  … This race has ground me down but has not beaten me.  The rain continues to come in sheets and stand-you-up blasts of cold wind.  It is a din of squishing footfalls and the wet-plastic scrunching of ponchos, trash bags and rain coats.  All cadenced by the constant buffet and roar of wind-driven rain smashing into humans.  That one more hill Eric is talking about is not really a hill.  But I know what he means.  It's Eric's 10th Boston and he has decided to run it in with me even though my pace has deteriorated in these last 2 miles as my legs lose the battle to this Boston course.  I will not stop.  It's my 20th Boston so I remember when they added this underpass to avoid a road crossing many years ago.  I remember the old days of looking ahead and wishing with all my heart to see the runners disappearing to the right onto Hereford Street.  Now we looked ahead to see the moving tide of storm shattered humans jog left and dip under and out the other side.  We don't walk or slow our grimly purposed grind through the storm.  We rise out of the underpass.  Shifting to avoid the walkers or stumblers, or just having to jostle through yet another weaving, wet, exhausted, human-trash-bag blasted into our personal space by the gusty rain.  There is not much antipathy left for these wayward castaways.  An elbow, a shoulder, a tired shove and we all keep moving. It's like being inside a washing machine filled with ponchos and rain gear with a cold firehose turned on you at the same time.  We all just want to finish.   Ironically I feel a tail wind slap me on the back as we grind up Hereford.  The only tail wind on the course.  Maybe a bit insulting. Too little, too late. Eric says his family is in the crowd somewhere up by the turn onto Bolyston and I grudgingly grind a wide tangent as he searches the crowd.  Nothing against his family but I don't think I'd stop here to see God if he were behind the barrier.  The pull of that finish line is too strong, and I'm exhausted from 3-plus hours of pummeling rain and wind and cold.  Typically, in a rainy race people will strip out of their protective clothing in the first few miles as they warm up.  Not today.  They never warmed up.  But now, as they approach the finish line and the anticipated succor of hotel rooms and hot showers they begin to shed their rain carapaces en masse.  For the last 10 miles I have been looking out the 6-inch circle of my found poncho's hood.  Now as I pull it back and look down Bolyston it is an apocalyptic scene.  Usually in high wind situations the discarded rain ponchos and trash bags will blow across the course like dangerous plastic tumbleweeds to tangle the runners' legs or lodge in the fencing.  Not today.  The cold rain is so heavy that it plasters the detritus to the pavement like so many giant spit balls.  Through this apocalyptic landscape we grind out the last ¼ mile of this storied course.  There is not much of a sprint in my stride as we push through the timing mats.  I pull up the found poncho so the timers can see my number.  I'm still clutching my bottle in one cold-cramped claw.  I never finished my drink. I'm not sure I could let go of it if I wanted to.  My hands ceased to function as hands more than an hour ago.  Grimacing we finish.  Around us runners throw their arms up in celebration.  The look on their faces is a combination of triumph, relief and disbelief.  They have survived the worst weather that Boston has ever offered up.  They got it done on a day that was at once horrible and at the same time the most epic journey in a marathon most will ever experience. And not just any marathon.  The Boston Marathon.  They lived to tell the tales, and this one will be talked about for decades. … I was wrong.  I thought I had seen everything and raced in every type of weather.  I have never seen anything like this.  The closest I have come was the last leg of the Hood to Coast Relay in 2016.  I had the same 30 mph head wind with the same driving rain.  But the difference that day in Oregon was that the rain was a few degrees warmer and I wasn't going 26.2 miles on one of the hardest marathon courses. I have experience.  I ran my Boston PR in '98 in a cold drizzle.  I rather enjoyed the Nor'easter of '07. I had a fine day in the rain of 2015.  Friday , as the race was approaching, when we knew what the weather was shaping up to be I wrote a blog post to calm people down.  In that post I said not to worry too much, it's never as bad on the course as the hype makes it out to be.  I said that the cooler temps were good for racing if you could stay out of the wind.  I mollified the nervous by noting that in the mid-pack there are thousands of people to draft with.  I cautioned against wearing too much rain gear as it would catch the wind and slow you down.  Instead, I recommended, wear a few layers to trap the heat. I was wrong.  I have never seen anything like this. … Most races would have canceled or delayed in the face of this type of weather.  Not Boston.  This type of weather at Chicago would have resulted in a humanitarian crises on the scale of an ill-timed tsunami rising out of Lake Michigan.  This weather at New York would have driven the runners and spectators into emergency shelters. Not the Boston Marathon.  This old dame of a foot race has been continuously pitting the best runners in the world against each other for  122 years.  This race is part of our cultural fabric.  It's special.  We don't stop for weather.  It's too important to us to stop for anything.  I remember emailing Dave McGillivray from a business trip in the days before the 2007 race as the Nor'easter bore down on New England.  I asked him if the reports were true, that they were considering canceling the race?  He responded matter of factly that he didn't know about anybody else but he was going to be there.  It's not bravado or false courage.  It's a mindset that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.  The organization, the athletes, the cities and towns and the spectators are all in it together.  Together, on Monday, we all screwed up our grit and ran our race despite what wrath nature decided to unpack for us. The athletes who run Boston are not the type to give up.  They have earned the right to be there.  Either by qualifying or working to raise thousands of dollars.  This is not the one-and-done bucket list crowd.  This is a cohort of seasoned endurance athletes who have trained hard and long over many years to get here.  If they skipped runs for bad weather they would never have made it to the start in Hopkinton.  … For the first time ever I decided to skip the Athlete's village in Hopkinton.  From past experience I knew it was going to be a mess.  Based on the reports I have from other runners it was like a medieval battlefield scene.  The athletic fields turned into ankle deep mud under the marching of 30,000 runners.  Athletes struggled to find shelter under the tents.  Some crawled under vehicles in the parking lot in an attempt to get out of the elements.  It was already raining and blowing hard as the day broke in Hopkinton.  The temperatures struggled to find 40 degrees.  There was no good place to be.  It was a mess.  There was no way to stay dry.  Waiting around to be called to the corrals runners started to accumulate a core temperature loss that would haunt them throughout the race.  The organization did the best they could but it was miserable and chaotic.  I avoided it.  My youngest daughter offered to drop me off in Hopkinton and I took the spectator bus downtown (instead of the athlete bus to the Village).  Seeing what the conditions would be, I took Eric's offer of safe harbor at Betty's place.  It's a long story, a Boston story, and it goes like this…  A long time ago, a family from St. Louis owned a home in Hopkinton.  They started a tradition of hosting the visiting Missouri runners in that home.  Eventually that family from St. Louis sold the home to Betty's Family.  They continued the tradition and this is where Eric, one of my running buddies, who is from St. Louis, has been sheltering before his Boston Marathons.  This year, Betty has sold the house and moved into a senior center, right next to the start.  She arranged to have the center's hall open to the Missouri runners.  I joined a dozen or so gathered there in the warmth, replete with food and drink and good nature to wait for the start.  We didn't know how lucky we were to have this safe harbor.  Around 10:30 Eric, another runner and I made our goodbyes and started walking to the corrals.  We walked out into the storm.  We were ostensibly in wave 3 corral 3 but were soon to find out that much of the rigorous Boston starting procedure had been blown out the window.  I made them stop at the big porta-potty farm on Main Street.  I took my dry race shoes, socks and hat out of their bag and wiggled into them in the cramped plastic box.  Ready to race.  I tossed the sweat pants, old shoes and ski hat to the volunteer who was stuffing soggy cast offs frantically into a rattling plastic bag. I have raced and run in all kinds of weather.  I generally know what to do and how to dress.  Monday I dressed for racing in a 35-40 degree rainy day.  I had trained in much colder weather.  I wasn't expecting this day to be too cold, especially once we started racing and warmed up.  The only real risk was at the end of the race.  If we were forced to walk or slow down we might get chilled.  I dressed based on my experience from 19 previous Boston Marathons and 60+ marathons over the last 25 years.  And I was wrong. I wore a new pair of high-cut race shorts that I bought at the expo.  I have a rule of thumb, especially after a winter training campaign, 35 and above is shorts weather.  We were close to but above that line.  I slipped on a thin pair of calf sleeves in deference to possible wind chill and rain.  Calf sleeves are good compromise between shorts and tights if the weather is on the line and add additional protection against cramping on cold days.  For the top I added a layer to what I would usually wear.  I had a thin tech tee shirt that I had made into a tank by cutting off the sleeves as my base layer.  On top of that I wore a high-quality long sleeve tech tee I got from Asics for the 2014 NYC race and on top of that my Squannacook singlet with the bib number.  People forget that the bib number is waterproof and wind proof and helps keep your core warm.  Three layers plus the oversized bib should keep the core warm.  I wore a pair of tech gloves that were designed for this in-between type weather.  You wouldn't want to wear these when the temps got below freezing but they usually work well in the in-between temps.  I topped it off with a simple Boston race hat from 2017.  That's the same scheme I've used in countless 35-40 degree rainy runs. I was wrong. Mentally I was prepared.  I've been doing this too long to worry about things I can't change.  I was happy to not have another hot year.  I had had a decent training cycle and my fitness was good.  I had avoided injury except for a minor niggle in my high left hamstring.  I was ready to race.  I slept well.  I was ready to respect Boston. I was wrong.  This was a different thing.  This was different than anything I had ever raced in.  … 65 seconds.  That's how long Eric said it took me to poop at mile 9.  I knew those porta-potties were there in the parking lot across from the reservoir.  I have used them in previous years.  I told Eric I wanted to stop.  We had come to the conclusion that today wasn't the best racing weather by that point.  We had been holding race pace fairly consistently up to that point down out of Hopkinton and into the flats of Ashland and Natick.  I didn't feel horrible, but I didn't feel great either.  I was worried about spending too much and getting caught at the end.  My effort level was good, but a little high.  My heart rate was good.  But I weirdly felt like I was burning energy faster than normal.  I could feel the energy I was expending fighting the storm.  Our ability to draft had been minimalized.  With the gusting wind and driving rain runners were having trouble staying in their lanes.  Even if you could get on someone's shoulder that just meant you were in the wettest part of the road.  The runners you were trying to draft stuck to the dry crown of the road and in order to get into their shadow you had to run in the water filled wheel paths.  Even a veteran like me, who knows the course, couldn't make good tangent decisions as runners weaved and wobbled in the storm.  My watch says I ran an extra ¼ mile.  People were running in all kinds of rain gear in an attempt to stay the effect of the tempest.  Shoes wrapped in bags tied at the ankles, runners clutching space blanket fragments, trash bags, ponchos and even shower caps that they had stolen from their hotels.  All bets were off. I wanted to slow down and drop off of race pace to conserve energy I knew a forced break was a good psychological way of doing this.  Anyone who has raced with me knows that I will keep repeating things like “we have to back it off” but for some reason struggle to put this sentiment into execution.  A potty break would be a good reset. Once we had the race monkey off our backs Eric and I settled into a reasonable pace and looked up ahead to anticipate the girls and the hills.  I wasn't feeling great but it wasn't critical.  I didn't really know if I needed to be drinking more or how nutrition should work in this weather.  I told Eric it was now a fun run and he said “Anything under four hours is good”. We ran on through Natick and Framingham.  Eric turned to me and asked, was that the ½?  I said I think it was.  They hadn't put up the arch that has been there in recent years due to the wind and we almost missed it.  Eric kept marveling at the spectators.  He kept repeating ‘these people are the real story'.  He was amazed that they were still out in force lining the course and cheering.  The spectators at Boston take it as seriously as the runners.  If I could turn my head in the final miles I would see the incongruent, multi-colored sea of umbrellas lining the. route  The spectators at Boston are not spectators, they are partners, or rather part owners, with the athletes.  Coming down the hill out of Hopkinton there were a couple of kids in bathing suits frolicking in a front yard.  One guy was wearing a mask and snorkel.  There are countless stories of spectators tying shoes and helping runners with food and nutrition when the athletes hands were too cold to work anymore.  One out of town runner, in a fit of hypothermia went to the crowd looking for a spare rain poncho and got the nice LL Bean rain coat freely off a mans back so he could finish the race.  In some ways it reminded me of 2013 when the people of Boston came together to help each other overcome adversity.  It's been five years but our spirit is still Boston Strong.  We ran on through to Wellesley staying on a good pace but trying to recover enough for the hills.  Other years you can hear the girls at Wellesley College screaming from a mile away.  This year the hard rain damped the sound until we were almost on top pf them.  They were out there.  They were hanging over their fence imploring the shivering runners with kisses and high-fives.  Eric and I ran through smiling as always.  Even though my energy was low I drifted over and slapped as many wet hands as I could.  … Coming into mile 15 some combination of our slower pace and the increasing ferocity of the storm started to get the better of me.  I could feel my core temperature dropping.  I was working but I couldn't keep up.  How did this happen?  How could someone with my experience get it wrong?  Why was this different from any other cold rain run?  It was, in a sense, the perfect storm.  The perfect combination of physics, fluid dynamics and temperature conspired to create a near perfect heat sink for the runners.  The wind, on its own, was just a strong wind.  The rain on its own was just a hard rain.  The temperature on its own was just another spring day.  But the combination pulled heat out of your body faster than you could make more. The volume of rain driven by the winds penetrated through my hat and washed the heat from my head.  The same cold rain drove through the three layers of my shirts and washed the heat from my core.  My gloves filled with cold water and my hands went numb.  When I made a fist water would pour out like squeezing a wet sponge.  The rain and wind was constant but would also come in big waves.  We'd be running along and a surge in the storm would knock us sideways or backwards like being surprised by a maniac with a water cannon.  I would stumble and lean into it and mutter “Holy shit storm!” or “Holy Cow Bells!” Really just to recognize and put words on the abuse.  The wind was directly in our faces.  The rain was directly in our faces.  The whole time.  We never got out of it.  There would be lulls but then it would return with one of those smack-you-in-the-face hose downs.  My shoulder and back muscles were sore from leaning into it.  I was having difficulty drinking from my bottle because I couldn't squeeze my hand hard enough.  I resorted to holding it between two hands and pushing together between them.  People reported not having the hand strength to take their nutrition or even pull their shorts up after a potty stop.  I was starting to go hypothermic and my mind searched for a plan.  Eric knew I was struggling.  I started scanning the road for discarded gear I could use.  The entire length of the course was strewn with gear.  I saw expensive gloves and hats and coats of all descriptions.  We passed by an expensive fuel belt at one point that someone had given up on.  Eric knew I was suffering and I told him I was going to grab a discarded poncho if I could find one.  As if on cue a crumpled orange poncho came into view on the sidewalk to our left and I stopped to retrieve it.  Eric helped me wriggle into it.  It was rather tight, and that was a good thing.  It was probably a woman's.  It clung tightly to my torso and had a small hood that captured my head and hat without much luffing in the wind.  It's at this point that Eric says I was a new man.  I may not have been a new man but the poncho trapped enough heat to reverse the hypothermia and we got back to work.  By now we were running down into Newton Lower Falls and looking up, over the highway at the Hills.  Eric said, “We're not walking the hills.” I said, “OK” and we were all business.  We slowed down but we kept moving through the first hill.  I focused not on running but on falling. Falling forward and catching myself with my feet.  Hips forward.  Lift and place the foot.  Not running just falling. The hood of the poncho was narrow.  I had an enforced tunnel vision, but it was somehow comforting, like a blinders on a race horse.  I could see Eric's blue shoes appear now and then on my right, or on my left.  I settled into my own, little, six-inch oval of reality and worked through the hills.  Other runners would cross my field of vision and I'd bump through them.  I was in the groove.  I don't know why but people's pacing was all over the place during the race.  It might have been the wind or the hypothermia addled brains but they were weaving all over the road.  I had to slam on my brakes for random stoppages the entire race.  Eventually I just ran through them as best I could.  I didn't have the energy to stop.  This kind of behavior is unusual at Boston in the seeded corrals, but the whole day was unusual. I think the relative chaos of the start may have had something to do with it. When we got to the corrals they had ceased worrying about protocol and were just waving runners through.  If you wanted to bandit Boston this year or cheat, Monday would have been the day to do it.  But you also might have died in the process, so there's that.  We got through the chutes and over the start mats without any formal starting ceremony.  The flood gates were open, so to speak.  Because of this I think the pacing was a bit strange at the start and we passed a lot of people.  I was racing and Eric was doing his best to hold me back.  We chewed through the downhill section of the course with gusto.  Given the conditions we were probably too fast, but not suicidal.  Both of us have run Boston enough times to be smart every once in a while.  We were holding a qualifying pace fairly well and trying to draft where we could.  Eric had to pull off and have someone tie his shoe but I stayed in my lane and he caught up.  We rolled through the storm this way until I realized this was not a day to race and we had to conserve our energy if we wanted to finish.  We metered our efforts and this budgeting process culminated in the voluntary pit stop at mile 9. … In Newton between the hills we'd focus on pulling back and recovering enough for the next one.  Eric had a friend volunteering at mile 19 who we stopped to say ‘hi' to.  We were slow but we were moving forward.  We reached a point of stasis.  Every now and then Eric would pull out his video camera and try to capture the moment.  I was thinking sarcastically to myself how wonderful it would be to have video of my tired, wet self hunched inside the poncho like a soggy Quasimodo. I had brought a bottle of a new electrolyte drink called F2C with me.  It was ok but because of the cold I wasn't drinking much.  I knew my hands couldn't get to the Endurolytes in my shorts pocket.  I had enough sense to worry about keeping the cramps away.  I managed to choke down a few of the Cliff Gels they had on the course just to get some calories, and hopefully some electrolytes.  Eric and I continued to drive through the hills.  I miss-counted and thought we'd missed HeartBreak in the Bedlam.  With the thinner crowds I could see the contours of the course and knew we had one more big one before the ride down into Boston.  We successfully navigated through the rain up Heartbreak and Eric made a joke about there being no inspirational chalk drawings on the road this year.  Eric was happy.  He had wrecked himself on the hills in previous races and my slow, steady progress had helped him meter himself.  With those ultra-marathon trained legs he was now ready to celebrate and took off down the hill.  I tried my best to stay with him but the hamstring pull in my left leg constrained my leg extension and it hurt a bit.  I was happy to jog it in but he still had juice.  I told him to run his race, I'd be ok, secretly wishing he'd go so I could take some walk breaks without a witness, but he refused.  He said “We started this together and we're going to finish together.”  OK Buddy, but I'm not running any faster.  I watched his tall yellow frame pull ahead a few meters though the last 10K, but he would always pull up and wait for me to grind on through. And so we ground out against the storm and into the rain and wind blasts through the final miles.  In my mind I never once thought, “This is terrible!” or “This bad weather is ruining my race!”  All I was thinking is how great it was to get to be a part of something so epic that we would be talking about for years to come.  The glory points we notched for running this one, for surviving it and for doing decently well considering – that far outweighed any whining about the weather. This type of thing brings out the best in people.  It brought out the grit in me and the other finishers.  It brought out the challenges for those 2700 or so people who were forced to seek medical treatment.  That's about 10% of those who started.  It brought out the best in Desi Linden who gutted out a 2:39 to be the first American winner 33 years.  In fact it brought out the best in the next 5 female finishers, all of whom were relative unkowns.  The top 7 women were 6 Americans and one 41 year old Canadian who came in 3rd.  No East Africans to be seen.  The day brought out the best in Yuki Kawauchi from Japan who ground past Kenyan champ Geoffrey Kirui in the final miles.  It was an epic day for epic athletes and I am glad to have been a part of it.  I am grateful that this sport continues to surprise me and teach me and humble me.  I am full of gratitude to be part of this race that pushes us so hard to be better athletes, to earn the right to join our heroes on this course.  I am humbled to have friends in this community, like Eric, who can be my wing men (and wing-ladies) when the storms come. I am thankful for that day in 1997 when a high school buddy said, “Hey, why don't we run the marathon?”  Those 524 miles of Boston over the last 20 years hold a lot of memories.  This race has changed me for the better and I'm thankful for the opportunity.

The 2018 Boston Marathon The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast– Boston 2018  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Boston2018.mp3] Link   We are near the ‘one-mile-to-go’ marker.  Eric says something about one more hill.  The crowds are thicker and more enthusiastic than they should be, but this is Boston.  The spectators take it as seriously as the runners.  A multi-colored sea of umbrellas lines the road and the encouragement is loud enough to rise above the storm.  Because it is the Boston Marathon, and this is our race.  I am slowed but not walking.  Eric has those ultra-marathon legs and is pulling me.  If he wasn’t there I might, I just might, take a walk break.  But I don’t.  And we grind on.  … This race has ground me down but has not beaten me.  The rain continues to come in sheets and stand-you-up blasts of cold wind.  It is a din of squishing footfalls and the wet-plastic scrunching of ponchos, trash bags and rain coats.  All cadenced by the constant buffet and roar of wind-driven rain smashing into humans.  That one more hill Eric is talking about is not really a hill.  But I know what he means.  It’s Eric’s 10th Boston and he has decided to run it in with me even though my pace has deteriorated in these last 2 miles as my legs lose the battle to this Boston course.  I will not stop.  It’s my 20th Boston so I remember when they added this underpass to avoid a road crossing many years ago.  I remember the old days of looking ahead and wishing with all my heart to see the runners disappearing to the right onto Hereford Street.  Now we looked ahead to see the moving tide of storm shattered humans jog left and dip under and out the other side.  We don’t walk or slow our grimly purposed grind through the storm.  We rise out of the underpass.  Shifting to avoid the walkers or stumblers, or just having to jostle through yet another weaving, wet, exhausted, human-trash-bag blasted into our personal space by the gusty rain.  There is not much antipathy left for these wayward castaways.  An elbow, a shoulder, a tired shove and we all keep moving. It’s like being inside a washing machine filled with ponchos and rain gear with a cold firehose turned on you at the same time.  We all just want to finish.   Ironically I feel a tail wind slap me on the back as we grind up Hereford.  The only tail wind on the course.  Maybe a bit insulting. Too little, too late. Eric says his family is in the crowd somewhere up by the turn onto Bolyston and I grudgingly grind a wide tangent as he searches the crowd.  Nothing against his family but I don’t think I’d stop here to see God if he were behind the barrier.  The pull of that finish line is too strong, and I’m exhausted from 3-plus hours of pummeling rain and wind and cold.  Typically, in a rainy race people will strip out of their protective clothing in the first few miles as they warm up.  Not today.  They never warmed up.  But now, as they approach the finish line and the anticipated succor of hotel rooms and hot showers they begin to shed their rain carapaces en masse.  For the last 10 miles I have been looking out the 6-inch circle of my found poncho’s hood.  Now as I pull it back and look down Bolyston it is an apocalyptic scene.  Usually in high wind situations the discarded rain ponchos and trash bags will blow across the course like dangerous plastic tumbleweeds to tangle the runners’ legs or lodge in the fencing.  Not today.  The cold rain is so heavy that it plasters the detritus to the pavement like so many giant spit balls.  Through this apocalyptic landscape we grind out the last ¼ mile of this storied course.  There is not much of a sprint in my stride as we push through the timing mats.  I pull up the found poncho so the timers can see my number.  I’m still clutching my bottle in one cold-cramped claw.  I never finished my drink. I’m not sure I could let go of it if I wanted to.  My hands ceased to function as hands more than an hour ago.  Grimacing we finish.  Around us runners throw their arms up in celebration.  The look on their faces is a combination of triumph, relief and disbelief.  They have survived the worst weather that Boston has ever offered up.  They got it done on a day that was at once horrible and at the same time the most epic journey in a marathon most will ever experience. And not just any marathon.  The Boston Marathon.  They lived to tell the tales, and this one will be talked about for decades. … I was wrong.  I thought I had seen everything and raced in every type of weather.  I have never seen anything like this.  The closest I have come was the last leg of the Hood to Coast Relay in 2016.  I had the same 30 mph head wind with the same driving rain.  But the difference that day in Oregon was that the rain was a few degrees warmer and I wasn’t going 26.2 miles on one of the hardest marathon courses. I have experience.  I ran my Boston PR in ’98 in a cold drizzle.  I rather enjoyed the Nor’easter of ’07. I had a fine day in the rain of 2015.  Friday , as the race was approaching, when we knew what the weather was shaping up to be I wrote a blog post to calm people down.  In that post I said not to worry too much, it’s never as bad on the course as the hype makes it out to be.  I said that the cooler temps were good for racing if you could stay out of the wind.  I mollified the nervous by noting that in the mid-pack there are thousands of people to draft with.  I cautioned against wearing too much rain gear as it would catch the wind and slow you down.  Instead, I recommended, wear a few layers to trap the heat. I was wrong.  I have never seen anything like this. … Most races would have canceled or delayed in the face of this type of weather.  Not Boston.  This type of weather at Chicago would have resulted in a humanitarian crises on the scale of an ill-timed tsunami rising out of Lake Michigan.  This weather at New York would have driven the runners and spectators into emergency shelters. Not the Boston Marathon.  This old dame of a foot race has been continuously pitting the best runners in the world against each other for  122 years.  This race is part of our cultural fabric.  It’s special.  We don’t stop for weather.  It’s too important to us to stop for anything.  I remember emailing Dave McGillivray from a business trip in the days before the 2007 race as the Nor’easter bore down on New England.  I asked him if the reports were true, that they were considering canceling the race?  He responded matter of factly that he didn’t know about anybody else but he was going to be there.  It’s not bravado or false courage.  It’s a mindset that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.  The organization, the athletes, the cities and towns and the spectators are all in it together.  Together, on Monday, we all screwed up our grit and ran our race despite what wrath nature decided to unpack for us. The athletes who run Boston are not the type to give up.  They have earned the right to be there.  Either by qualifying or working to raise thousands of dollars.  This is not the one-and-done bucket list crowd.  This is a cohort of seasoned endurance athletes who have trained hard and long over many years to get here.  If they skipped runs for bad weather they would never have made it to the start in Hopkinton.  … For the first time ever I decided to skip the Athlete’s village in Hopkinton.  From past experience I knew it was going to be a mess.  Based on the reports I have from other runners it was like a medieval battlefield scene.  The athletic fields turned into ankle deep mud under the marching of 30,000 runners.  Athletes struggled to find shelter under the tents.  Some crawled under vehicles in the parking lot in an attempt to get out of the elements.  It was already raining and blowing hard as the day broke in Hopkinton.  The temperatures struggled to find 40 degrees.  There was no good place to be.  It was a mess.  There was no way to stay dry.  Waiting around to be called to the corrals runners started to accumulate a core temperature loss that would haunt them throughout the race.  The organization did the best they could but it was miserable and chaotic.  I avoided it.  My youngest daughter offered to drop me off in Hopkinton and I took the spectator bus downtown (instead of the athlete bus to the Village).  Seeing what the conditions would be, I took Eric’s offer of safe harbor at Betty’s place.  It’s a long story, a Boston story, and it goes like this…  A long time ago, a family from St. Louis owned a home in Hopkinton.  They started a tradition of hosting the visiting Missouri runners in that home.  Eventually that family from St. Louis sold the home to Betty’s Family.  They continued the tradition and this is where Eric, one of my running buddies, who is from St. Louis, has been sheltering before his Boston Marathons.  This year, Betty has sold the house and moved into a senior center, right next to the start.  She arranged to have the center’s hall open to the Missouri runners.  I joined a dozen or so gathered there in the warmth, replete with food and drink and good nature to wait for the start.  We didn’t know how lucky we were to have this safe harbor.  Around 10:30 Eric, another runner and I made our goodbyes and started walking to the corrals.  We walked out into the storm.  We were ostensibly in wave 3 corral 3 but were soon to find out that much of the rigorous Boston starting procedure had been blown out the window.  I made them stop at the big porta-potty farm on Main Street.  I took my dry race shoes, socks and hat out of their bag and wiggled into them in the cramped plastic box.  Ready to race.  I tossed the sweat pants, old shoes and ski hat to the volunteer who was stuffing soggy cast offs frantically into a rattling plastic bag. I have raced and run in all kinds of weather.  I generally know what to do and how to dress.  Monday I dressed for racing in a 35-40 degree rainy day.  I had trained in much colder weather.  I wasn’t expecting this day to be too cold, especially once we started racing and warmed up.  The only real risk was at the end of the race.  If we were forced to walk or slow down we might get chilled.  I dressed based on my experience from 19 previous Boston Marathons and 60+ marathons over the last 25 years.  And I was wrong. I wore a new pair of high-cut race shorts that I bought at the expo.  I have a rule of thumb, especially after a winter training campaign, 35 and above is shorts weather.  We were close to but above that line.  I slipped on a thin pair of calf sleeves in deference to possible wind chill and rain.  Calf sleeves are good compromise between shorts and tights if the weather is on the line and add additional protection against cramping on cold days.  For the top I added a layer to what I would usually wear.  I had a thin tech tee shirt that I had made into a tank by cutting off the sleeves as my base layer.  On top of that I wore a high-quality long sleeve tech tee I got from Asics for the 2014 NYC race and on top of that my Squannacook singlet with the bib number.  People forget that the bib number is waterproof and wind proof and helps keep your core warm.  Three layers plus the oversized bib should keep the core warm.  I wore a pair of tech gloves that were designed for this in-between type weather.  You wouldn’t want to wear these when the temps got below freezing but they usually work well in the in-between temps.  I topped it off with a simple Boston race hat from 2017.  That’s the same scheme I’ve used in countless 35-40 degree rainy runs. I was wrong. Mentally I was prepared.  I’ve been doing this too long to worry about things I can’t change.  I was happy to not have another hot year.  I had had a decent training cycle and my fitness was good.  I had avoided injury except for a minor niggle in my high left hamstring.  I was ready to race.  I slept well.  I was ready to respect Boston. I was wrong.  This was a different thing.  This was different than anything I had ever raced in.  … 65 seconds.  That’s how long Eric said it took me to poop at mile 9.  I knew those porta-potties were there in the parking lot across from the reservoir.  I have used them in previous years.  I told Eric I wanted to stop.  We had come to the conclusion that today wasn’t the best racing weather by that point.  We had been holding race pace fairly consistently up to that point down out of Hopkinton and into the flats of Ashland and Natick.  I didn’t feel horrible, but I didn’t feel great either.  I was worried about spending too much and getting caught at the end.  My effort level was good, but a little high.  My heart rate was good.  But I weirdly felt like I was burning energy faster than normal.  I could feel the energy I was expending fighting the storm.  Our ability to draft had been minimalized.  With the gusting wind and driving rain runners were having trouble staying in their lanes.  Even if you could get on someone’s shoulder that just meant you were in the wettest part of the road.  The runners you were trying to draft stuck to the dry crown of the road and in order to get into their shadow you had to run in the water filled wheel paths.  Even a veteran like me, who knows the course, couldn’t make good tangent decisions as runners weaved and wobbled in the storm.  My watch says I ran an extra ¼ mile.  People were running in all kinds of rain gear in an attempt to stay the effect of the tempest.  Shoes wrapped in bags tied at the ankles, runners clutching space blanket fragments, trash bags, ponchos and even shower caps that they had stolen from their hotels.  All bets were off. I wanted to slow down and drop off of race pace to conserve energy I knew a forced break was a good psychological way of doing this.  Anyone who has raced with me knows that I will keep repeating things like “we have to back it off” but for some reason struggle to put this sentiment into execution.  A potty break would be a good reset. Once we had the race monkey off our backs Eric and I settled into a reasonable pace and looked up ahead to anticipate the girls and the hills.  I wasn’t feeling great but it wasn’t critical.  I didn’t really know if I needed to be drinking more or how nutrition should work in this weather.  I told Eric it was now a fun run and he said “Anything under four hours is good”. We ran on through Natick and Framingham.  Eric turned to me and asked, was that the ½?  I said I think it was.  They hadn’t put up the arch that has been there in recent years due to the wind and we almost missed it.  Eric kept marveling at the spectators.  He kept repeating ‘these people are the real story’.  He was amazed that they were still out in force lining the course and cheering.  The spectators at Boston take it as seriously as the runners.  If I could turn my head in the final miles I would see the incongruent, multi-colored sea of umbrellas lining the. route  The spectators at Boston are not spectators, they are partners, or rather part owners, with the athletes.  Coming down the hill out of Hopkinton there were a couple of kids in bathing suits frolicking in a front yard.  One guy was wearing a mask and snorkel.  There are countless stories of spectators tying shoes and helping runners with food and nutrition when the athletes hands were too cold to work anymore.  One out of town runner, in a fit of hypothermia went to the crowd looking for a spare rain poncho and got the nice LL Bean rain coat freely off a mans back so he could finish the race.  In some ways it reminded me of 2013 when the people of Boston came together to help each other overcome adversity.  It’s been five years but our spirit is still Boston Strong.  We ran on through to Wellesley staying on a good pace but trying to recover enough for the hills.  Other years you can hear the girls at Wellesley College screaming from a mile away.  This year the hard rain damped the sound until we were almost on top pf them.  They were out there.  They were hanging over their fence imploring the shivering runners with kisses and high-fives.  Eric and I ran through smiling as always.  Even though my energy was low I drifted over and slapped as many wet hands as I could.  … Coming into mile 15 some combination of our slower pace and the increasing ferocity of the storm started to get the better of me.  I could feel my core temperature dropping.  I was working but I couldn’t keep up.  How did this happen?  How could someone with my experience get it wrong?  Why was this different from any other cold rain run?  It was, in a sense, the perfect storm.  The perfect combination of physics, fluid dynamics and temperature conspired to create a near perfect heat sink for the runners.  The wind, on its own, was just a strong wind.  The rain on its own was just a hard rain.  The temperature on its own was just another spring day.  But the combination pulled heat out of your body faster than you could make more. The volume of rain driven by the winds penetrated through my hat and washed the heat from my head.  The same cold rain drove through the three layers of my shirts and washed the heat from my core.  My gloves filled with cold water and my hands went numb.  When I made a fist water would pour out like squeezing a wet sponge.  The rain and wind was constant but would also come in big waves.  We’d be running along and a surge in the storm would knock us sideways or backwards like being surprised by a maniac with a water cannon.  I would stumble and lean into it and mutter “Holy shit storm!” or “Holy Cow Bells!” Really just to recognize and put words on the abuse.  The wind was directly in our faces.  The rain was directly in our faces.  The whole time.  We never got out of it.  There would be lulls but then it would return with one of those smack-you-in-the-face hose downs.  My shoulder and back muscles were sore from leaning into it.  I was having difficulty drinking from my bottle because I couldn’t squeeze my hand hard enough.  I resorted to holding it between two hands and pushing together between them.  People reported not having the hand strength to take their nutrition or even pull their shorts up after a potty stop.  I was starting to go hypothermic and my mind searched for a plan.  Eric knew I was struggling.  I started scanning the road for discarded gear I could use.  The entire length of the course was strewn with gear.  I saw expensive gloves and hats and coats of all descriptions.  We passed by an expensive fuel belt at one point that someone had given up on.  Eric knew I was suffering and I told him I was going to grab a discarded poncho if I could find one.  As if on cue a crumpled orange poncho came into view on the sidewalk to our left and I stopped to retrieve it.  Eric helped me wriggle into it.  It was rather tight, and that was a good thing.  It was probably a woman’s.  It clung tightly to my torso and had a small hood that captured my head and hat without much luffing in the wind.  It's at this point that Eric says I was a new man.  I may not have been a new man but the poncho trapped enough heat to reverse the hypothermia and we got back to work.  By now we were running down into Newton Lower Falls and looking up, over the highway at the Hills.  Eric said, “We’re not walking the hills.” I said, “OK” and we were all business.  We slowed down but we kept moving through the first hill.  I focused not on running but on falling. Falling forward and catching myself with my feet.  Hips forward.  Lift and place the foot.  Not running just falling. The hood of the poncho was narrow.  I had an enforced tunnel vision, but it was somehow comforting, like a blinders on a race horse.  I could see Eric’s blue shoes appear now and then on my right, or on my left.  I settled into my own, little, six-inch oval of reality and worked through the hills.  Other runners would cross my field of vision and I’d bump through them.  I was in the groove.  I don’t know why but people’s pacing was all over the place during the race.  It might have been the wind or the hypothermia addled brains but they were weaving all over the road.  I had to slam on my brakes for random stoppages the entire race.  Eventually I just ran through them as best I could.  I didn’t have the energy to stop.  This kind of behavior is unusual at Boston in the seeded corrals, but the whole day was unusual. I think the relative chaos of the start may have had something to do with it. When we got to the corrals they had ceased worrying about protocol and were just waving runners through.  If you wanted to bandit Boston this year or cheat, Monday would have been the day to do it.  But you also might have died in the process, so there’s that.  We got through the chutes and over the start mats without any formal starting ceremony.  The flood gates were open, so to speak.  Because of this I think the pacing was a bit strange at the start and we passed a lot of people.  I was racing and Eric was doing his best to hold me back.  We chewed through the downhill section of the course with gusto.  Given the conditions we were probably too fast, but not suicidal.  Both of us have run Boston enough times to be smart every once in a while.  We were holding a qualifying pace fairly well and trying to draft where we could.  Eric had to pull off and have someone tie his shoe but I stayed in my lane and he caught up.  We rolled through the storm this way until I realized this was not a day to race and we had to conserve our energy if we wanted to finish.  We metered our efforts and this budgeting process culminated in the voluntary pit stop at mile 9. … In Newton between the hills we’d focus on pulling back and recovering enough for the next one.  Eric had a friend volunteering at mile 19 who we stopped to say ‘hi’ to.  We were slow but we were moving forward.  We reached a point of stasis.  Every now and then Eric would pull out his video camera and try to capture the moment.  I was thinking sarcastically to myself how wonderful it would be to have video of my tired, wet self hunched inside the poncho like a soggy Quasimodo. I had brought a bottle of a new electrolyte drink called F2C with me.  It was ok but because of the cold I wasn’t drinking much.  I knew my hands couldn’t get to the Endurolytes in my shorts pocket.  I had enough sense to worry about keeping the cramps away.  I managed to choke down a few of the Cliff Gels they had on the course just to get some calories, and hopefully some electrolytes.  Eric and I continued to drive through the hills.  I miss-counted and thought we’d missed HeartBreak in the Bedlam.  With the thinner crowds I could see the contours of the course and knew we had one more big one before the ride down into Boston.  We successfully navigated through the rain up Heartbreak and Eric made a joke about there being no inspirational chalk drawings on the road this year.  Eric was happy.  He had wrecked himself on the hills in previous races and my slow, steady progress had helped him meter himself.  With those ultra-marathon trained legs he was now ready to celebrate and took off down the hill.  I tried my best to stay with him but the hamstring pull in my left leg constrained my leg extension and it hurt a bit.  I was happy to jog it in but he still had juice.  I told him to run his race, I’d be ok, secretly wishing he’d go so I could take some walk breaks without a witness, but he refused.  He said “We started this together and we’re going to finish together.”  OK Buddy, but I’m not running any faster.  I watched his tall yellow frame pull ahead a few meters though the last 10K, but he would always pull up and wait for me to grind on through. And so we ground out against the storm and into the rain and wind blasts through the final miles.  In my mind I never once thought, “This is terrible!” or “This bad weather is ruining my race!”  All I was thinking is how great it was to get to be a part of something so epic that we would be talking about for years to come.  The glory points we notched for running this one, for surviving it and for doing decently well considering – that far outweighed any whining about the weather. This type of thing brings out the best in people.  It brought out the grit in me and the other finishers.  It brought out the challenges for those 2700 or so people who were forced to seek medical treatment.  That’s about 10% of those who started.  It brought out the best in Desi Linden who gutted out a 2:39 to be the first American winner 33 years.  In fact it brought out the best in the next 5 female finishers, all of whom were relative unkowns.  The top 7 women were 6 Americans and one 41 year old Canadian who came in 3rd.  No East Africans to be seen.  The day brought out the best in Yuki Kawauchi from Japan who ground past Kenyan champ Geoffrey Kirui in the final miles.  It was an epic day for epic athletes and I am glad to have been a part of it.  I am grateful that this sport continues to surprise me and teach me and humble me.  I am full of gratitude to be part of this race that pushes us so hard to be better athletes, to earn the right to join our heroes on this course.  I am humbled to have friends in this community, like Eric, who can be my wing men (and wing-ladies) when the storms come. I am thankful for that day in 1997 when a high school buddy said, “Hey, why don’t we run the marathon?”  Those 524 miles of Boston over the last 20 years hold a lot of memories.  This race has changed me for the better and I’m thankful for the opportunity.

Help support the show! - http://www.patreon.com/dailyinternet   Merchandise! - https://teespring.com/stores/the-ireadit-emporium   #5 - Yuki Kawauchi just became the first amateur runner to win the boston marathon in decades. a high School Administrator, He's Known As the "Citizen Runner" in Japan, and he has to go back to work tomorrow.   #4 - Kendrick Lamar has won the Pulitzer Prize for music for "DAMN" the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the award.   #3 - North and South Korea reportedly set to announce official end to war   #2 - Trump has reportedly halted new sanctions against Russia:   #1 - Broadband advisor picked by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai arrested on fraud charges   Listener Submission - A Burmese python with a tracking device led Florida officials to a record-breaking sex party     Connect with us:   Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dailyinternet   Website: http://mjolnir.media/ireadit Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/ireaditcast   Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ireadit YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZXcQHg5RGMinTm5_yLOGVg   Instagram: https://instagram.com/ireaditcast Twitter: http://twitter.com/ireaditcast E-mail: feedback.ireadit@gmail.com Voicemail: (508)-738-2278   Michael Schwahn: @schwahnmichael Nathan Wood: @bimmenstein

Jojo and Kevin chat after a historic day in Boston and discuss Desiree Linden becoming the first American woman since 1985 to win the race, Yuki Kawauchi's surprise victory, the incredible top-five finishes from Sarah Sellers and Shadrack Biwott and the horrible weather that turned the race upside down.

Martin speaks to the Rio-bound Hawkins brothers, there’s a 100-year-old lady knocking some awesome press-ups, speedy Brits at the Payton Jordan Invitational, news of a new UK marathon, Kipchoge sets his sights on Olympic glory, we speak to Ben Pochee about the Night of the 10,000m PBs and Yuki Kawauchi wins the Kawauchi Half Marathon.

We have been to the Zurich Marathon and met the Japanese great, Yuki Kawauchi. Boston Marathon was tight. Manchester marathon was this past weekend and the Virgin London Marathon is this weekend coming. Of course our interview is with Yuki Kawauchi (with the help of Japan Running News, Brett Larner), you Rate YourRun and the Jabra Podium is stacked.  

Martin is joined by Liz Yelling as co-host as Tom is still on holiday. Win a chance to meet Mo Farah and an entry into the Vitality North London Half and an entry into the Zurich Marathon and meet Yuki Kawauchi! Join us for a nutrition discussion with Chrissie Wellington and Warren Pole and hear Liz's long run progression ideas.  

We speak to Jacquie about her V60 victory at Comrades Marathon, Josie Perry drops in to talk mental toughness, talking of toughness, we bring you news of Yuki Kawauchi, Kenya name their team for the Commonwealth Games, Tony is here with his Trials plus we have got the usual Rate Your Run, Winner Of The Week, Listener Launch Pad and the Podium.  

Kurt Fearnley is a two time Paralympic wheelchair marathon champion, multiple Big City marathon champion and overall top bloke, Yuki Kawauchi is the mansuit master and Jantastic continues to motivate runners around the World. Tony's team take down the Jantastic twitterati, Viv Fraser rants and adidas dish out the high viz stash!