WHAT'S AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE?
Everything. I'll focus on the value. Chicago and Boston are the same price at $175 and New York is north of $200. Yes, that's a lot for a marathon, figuring I'll be running Detroit later this year for $70. However, there is value with Boston. The swag is better. Boston has sufficient transportation that boasts the longest ride provided by the organizing committee. While additional ticket prices could be debated, the runner tickets for both the pasta dinner and official post-race party are free. In addition to the value, it's hard for marathons or anything in life to live up to the hype that precedes. Rarer is exceeding those expectations, something the Boston Marathon is two for two when it comes to me.

WHAT WASN'T AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE?
I am grasping at straws on this one. With all of the moving parts this marathon has, and then pile in an extra 9000 people into, I thought it was flawless. You could definitely tell at some of the events why the cap it at 27,000 most years. The only hiccup I had was with my runner passport, but that is the USPS screwing up, not the B.A.A. unless you want to blame the B.A.A. for not properly hydrating the guy licking the envelopes. I thought everything else was handled as good as any other race if not better. I am also waiting for the extreme weather situation to render the heat sheets New York and Boston have trotted out recently. I still wish I had my big bag of stuff closer, but even the Boston Common thing worked because it was easier to find my wife this year than it was to find my family in 2008.

Read more at my blog: http://tkmarathonman.blogspot.com/2014/05/race-report-boston-marathon.html