"Qualifying and running the Boston marathon has been a goal of mine for almost a decade. The road there was full of ups and downs, successes and failures amid countless races and marathons and miles all centered around the same goal. But in the end, it was worth it. Boston more than lived up to the hype for me, and it gave me everything I could’ve asked for and then some. Many people asked me days leading up to the race “are you excited?!!” But to be honest, all of the logistics of the pre-race stuff was always at the center of my mind. Hotel accommodations, flights and getting the family safely to Boston was priority number 1. But then once we were there, it was “where do I need to be?”and “how do I get there?” and “how long will it take? What do I need to bring? Even race day morning I had to take a train to the finish line, just to hop on a bus that took me to the start, where I needed to stand around and wait for a couple of hours until it was my time to go. I really didn’t have a chance to relax and enjoy the moment until I was physically standing at the start waiting for the gun to go off. THAT was the moment I’d been waiting for. All of the training and planning and travel was behind me, and I was finally able to turn my brain off and hit the “run” button and do what I do.
Running Boston was the first time in my life where I felt I was a part of something bigger than me. The crowds were enormous, police and secret service everywhere, news coverage and helicopters flying above. Heck, there was even a flyover, which really gave it a Super Bowl feel. From start to finish, through little town after little town, the race course was packed with fans and spectators. For the first time in a long time, I ran without caring about times or splits or paces. I ran just to run and soak it all in. Seeing my family just before turning up Boyleston and heading towards the finish line was the cherry on top.
As our plane left the airport, my daughter and I sat at the window and looked down over the city of Boston. We talked about all of the fun we had. It’s hard not to feel nostalgic and sentimental about our experience. About the people. About the community. The Boston marathon was always meant to be a “one and done”. A check the box and move on to other goals and adventures. But that moment in the airplane changed my mind. If I ever had the opportunity to get back there and do it all again, I’d smile."
So how did New Balance help get me to Boston? What role did it play in helping me achieve my goal of running Boston? The answer is quite simple: their shoes kept me going and got me to starting line after starting line healthy and ready to run. When I needed a fast shoe for my track workouts, I found the FuelCell Supercomp Pacer. For my long weekend runs, the Fresh Foam More v4 was up to the task. With all of the technology changes in running shoes today, I feel like a lot of runners get too caught up in what kind of shoes people are wearing. As much as I prefer New Balance, there are plenty of other great shoe brands out there, from Nike to Hoka to Brooks to Saucony to Asics. But the reality is that new runners become good runners and good runners become great runners through hard work and miles and miles of running....not because they wear the latest and greatest shoe on the market. My running advice, in terms of finding the right shoe, is go to a reputable running store and try on a bunch of shoes and find out what feels best for you. Then all you have to do is put in the work.
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