The Boston Marathon

It took place last Monday, but I've only just found the time to blog about it. I covered the starting point of the run in a town west of Boston, called Hopkinton. It has traditionally started in this rural town since 1924 and the 26-mile, 385 yard course was run by no less than 20,000 people! The Boston Marathon is one of the toughest runs around, cos all participants must qualify for it, and must meet the designated time standard that corresponds with their age group. The qualifying time for women in my age group is 3 hrs 45 minutes. I couldn't do it in half that time even if I were dreaming about it! I really admire and take my hat off to each of the athletes who finished the course. It's really both physically and mentally challenging. One of my friends photographed a man near the finishing line, with his t-shirt drenched in blood on the left and right side of his front torso. It was caused by his bleeding nipples due to chaffing during the run! Ouch!
Mega and MJ went with me to Hopkinton. I rented a zipcar and we were there before 7am even though the races started at 10am as I wanted to avoid the road closures and make sure I could find a parking space. It was a little bit too long for Meg to stand in one spot to wait but luckily, the face painting and the balloons kept her entertained for a little bit. I was fortunate to sneak in front of the barriers and didn't dare move in case the officials discovered I didn't have accreditation and threw me out but thank God they didn't.
One of the amazing things about the marathon is that it took no less than 20 mins from the time the start gun went off til the time the last person crossed the start line! It was just a continuous sea of striding legs running past us. I've never seen anything like it! And this happened twice as there were two starting waves! It was a good experience overall and I'm glad we got to see it. MJ enjoyed himself too.

The start of the elite women's race. The winner was Dire Tune from Ethiopia who won in a time of 2:25:25. She is the small lady 5th from the left, in blue.
And there they go...
Start of the men's elite category. The winner was Robert Cheruiyot from Kenya with a time of 2:07:46. He's the tall dark guy in red, right in the centre of the picture.
Celebrity runner, Lance Armstrong looked cool in his trademark "Livestrong" yellow t-shirt. We managed to get our hands on a Livestrong poster as well.
He looked like he was actually running the race when he was actually just warming up.
I was pretty excited to see him in person. He's a real athlete. Even though he doesn't run many marathons, he was given the no. 100 bib and finished the race in 2:50:58, a very respectable timing.
Ok, ok, last one of him.
The start of one of the two waves for the rest of the pack.
My attempt at a "slo-mo" shot.
This scene passed me by for more than 20 minutes, twice!
Giving encouragement just after the start of the race.
Meg also stretched out her hands to give the runners a "handshake" (see first pix on top). MJ had a sore arm the next day after having held her stretched out for a while.
Some runners seemed to take the run more seriously than others, but these two "sisters" did actually finish the race! I don't know if they finished it in these robes though...
The sea of runners was pretty awesome! This is probably going to be the first and last time I actually witness the Boston Marathon in person!

Spring!

Spring is finally here...it arrived about two weeks ago, but the weather has been unpredictable and see-sawing, we weren't quite sure if it had really dawned on us. So the great weather brings about wonderful activities. Many joggers fill the sidewalks, the streets are more crowded, thowing ball (baseball and football) in small open spaces is a common sight, so is sun tanning.
Winter came and went and while we were griping a little about it towards the end, we now miss the snow, bundling up in our pea coats and snow sledding. The days are longer now, with the sun setting nearer to 8pm. We made full use of these long hours to take a walk yesterday on the Longfellow bridge, one of the bridges which links Cambridge to Boston over the St Charles river. The walk was extremely enjoyable and it gave me a wistful feeling about the looming date of our return home. Well, enjoy the moment, as people say, so we did. I apologise for not having blogged for a while. Work's been crazy and I met a few big deadlines this past week, and am going to just relax this weekend! You have a great one too! Take time to smell the roses!
A partial view of Boston's skyline on the left and Cambridge on the right.
Notice the contrail (condensation trail) left by a plane in the sky?
Sailing along the river is an almost year long sight, except between mid-November until end March thereabouts. Their sails make the entire scene postcard perfect.
One of my professors discourages us from photographing ducks, squirrels, pigeons and people's backs, but what the heck, they're pretty!
I'm a sucker for silhouettes, what can I say...
A silhouette AND a goose! A winning combination!
I'm so glad my family is with me to enjoy these moments. I walked the same route on my own in the fall but it wasn't half as enjoyable then.
Two ducks and a sunset.
MJ went crazy and shot a lot, not realising he had his sunglasses on until it got too dark and he took them off! So most of his pictures were a tad bright...but still nice. Most of these shots here were taken with my trusty F30 (yay!).
Meg kept bugging me to let her wear a dress! I agreed but only after putting on tights and a long sleeved t-shirt underneath, and then a sweater over everything! haha. It did get a little chilly once the sun set.
The tall building on the left is Prudential Tower, the 2nd tallest building in Boston after the John Hancock tower. We go there almost every Sunday after mass. The bright spot light you see towards the right is Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. They were playing against the Texas Rangers last night, beating them 11-3! Go Sox!
What can I say...I'll miss this place when we leave...sob!