We only spent about 30 minutes at the expo. It was small but well organized. We waited in a short line to get our bibs and then went to a separate line to get our race shirt and Challenge Coin. This year’s Challenge Coin options included Boston Police, Boston Fire, State Police, MA Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation or an EMT coin. These coins are unique because they fit in the middle of the race medals. I selected the Boston Fire Challenge Coin. While at the expo we visited a few vendors. Our hotel, the Seaport Boston Hotel, was located right across the street from the expo and the race start – it doesn’t get much better than that!

Race Day!
The race started bright and early at 7am. As I mentioned earlier, our hotel was directly across the street from the start line so we didn’t leave the hotel until 6:30am. We met my friend in the lobby of the expo so that we could pick up our tribute bibs (the race offered 7 different tribute bibs). These bibs paid tribute to fallen first responders and could be worn on the back of our shirts during the run. Michelle, my mom and I selected Trooper First Class Walter Greene from the Connecticut State Police. Walter was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and served with the CPD for 28 years. He passed away from cancer as a result of his response and service in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Friday will mark the one year anniversary of his death. It was a honor to run with his tribute bib.

Thankfully the weather was perfect when we started! Low 60s and the rain had stopped a few minutes prior to the start. We also didn’t have high humidity – yay! While it did get a lot warmer for the second half of the race, I was so thankful that the first half was quite pleasant!

The race offered a nice tour of downtown Boston, including the State House, Government Center, Faneuil Hall, Boston Common, The Public Garden, the Old State House, and Post Office Square. We also ran through Back Bay, which offered a backdrop of the Boston skyline. For someone that hasn’t been to Boston is almost 20 years, it was quite a beautiful course!

Miles 1-3
The race starts at the Seaport World Trade Center on Seaport Blvd. After running over a bridge, you arrive in downtown Boston. Around mile 1 we ran by the Old State House. Then we ran by Quincy Market. Around mile 2 we ran by the famous Cheers bar and then split off from the 5 mile runners. At mile 3 we ran over the Massachusetts Ave bridge and we could see MIT.

Miles 4-6
Around this time we ran along the Charles River. We continued on Memorial Drive and then ran by MIT around mile 5. We then hit a little incline but still continued along Memorial Drive. I felt decent for the first half of this course. The weather was still great and I was keeping a steady pace. I also ran all of the inclines.

Miles 7-9
Still running along Memorial Drive and we hit the turnaround just before mile 7. Loved the view of the Boston skyline on this part of the course! After mile 9 we crossed back over the Massachusetts Ave bridge. We could also see the Prudential Center in the distance. During this part of the race we also encountered the emergency vehicle and cheer section! This section included police vehicles, fire engines, and active and retired 1st Responders cheering us on. They had their hands out so that we could give them high fives, which I did!

Miles 10-13.1
We ran along Beacon Street for a while before turning onto Arlington Street. Then we made a turn onto Boylston Street. It felt so cool to run down that street knowing that it’s part of the Boston Marathon! We could also see the Boston Common on this section of the race. At mile 11 we headed back toward downtown Boston. This was a cool section because people were downtown shopping at the Downtown Crossing and also cheering us on! At mile 12 there was a Tribute Wall to honor the fallen. This gave me the incentive I needed to keep pushing forward and finish the race.

Wheels pretty much fell off during this portion of the race. It was hot. The race results said the temps got to 88 degrees but it didn’t feel that hot to me (I would say more like 80 degrees). At this point I was running to find any shade that I could. The trifecta of my right hip, crappy stomach and heat forced me to walk a LOT more than I would have liked but that’s just how things go sometimes.

I was so happy to cross that finish line!

As with every race, there are pros and cons. Here’s my list:

Cons

Long Course – My Garmin measured 13.5 and Michelle’s measured 13.4. Michelle also said that runners around her had similar distances on their watches. I know I tried to run the tangents as much as possible and we didn’t really run a lot in the city with the building, so the course was definitely long.

Race Shirt – I liked the color and design of the race shirt, but it’s cotton so I’m not able to run in it. They had tech shirts available for purchase.

Pros

Mid-Sized Race – While I don’t mind super large races, it is nice to run in mid-sized races. This race caps out at 10,000 runners between both the 5 Mile and Half Marathon. The race course never felt crowded yet I was never alone out there. That’s a big deal to me as a slower runner. It sucks when you’re out on the course alone!

Post-Race Food – After finishing the race we had to go back into a large room at the Expo to grab our post-race food. I was a back of the packer for this race and they still have plenty of food left – tons of bananas, oranges, chips and bagels…BAGELS! They had plenty of seats and tables in the room as well if you wanted to sit down and eat. In addition, they were also were giving out Yasso Frozen Yogurt bars. That was the perfect treat after running in the warm weather. I highly recommend the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor – yum!

Race Logistics – I absolutely loved that the designated hotel for the the race was near the expo and the race start/finish. Also there were tons of great restaurants within walking distance from the hotel. Honestly, the accommodations couldn’t have been better! In addition, the race was super well organized. We had a wave start – faster paced runners were positioned on the left side of the street and slower runners on the right side. There were 3 waves with 5 minutes in-between each wave so my wave started around 7:15am. This ensured that there wouldn’t be any bottleneck sections on the course. I saw visible mile markers and there were plenty of water/Gatorade stations. The volunteers were amazing as well.

Security – I’m always very appreciative when I see security at larger races. There were a few different security checkpoints for runners and spectators. They were checking bags as well. Thank you to the Boston Police Department for keeping up safe and making me feel more at ease.

Pro and Con

Race Medal – While I like the race medal as it definitely fits in with the theme of the race, and I love that it fits the challenge coin, I don’t like that everyone got the same medal. I prefer when races have different medals for each race distance.

So, would I recommend this race? ABSOLUTELY! Not only was it super well organized, but I love that the races really focuses on paying tribute to our fallen law enforcement and first responders. In addition, the race gives money to various charities in the community as well. If you’re looking for a race in Boston, you’ve found it!