Say a prayer for Boston

Woke up to some really shocking news this morning and learned of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  Memories flashed as I watched the scenes on the television, ‘Hey, we were there last year.’  I was AT the finish line waiting for the Man to finish his race just last year.  The runners, the supporters, the people behind Boston Marathon – I cannot imagine what they went through in those split seconds when the bombs set off.

This was close to the Finish line.  This was the place where we tried to find a spot to wait for our respective other halves to finish the grueling race.  The streets were jam-packed and it was almost impossible to find a spot where we will not be pushed.  In the end, we gave up trying to secure a spot and moved to the nearest mall which provided an unblocked view of the street with the runners in sight.

It was somewhere along this spot that the blasts happened.  A day of joy and celebration for runners and supporters alike quickly turned into a day of horror.  A day where the city comes out to support the runners and mark their achievements as they crossed the finish line turned to little importance.  Truly a sad day indeed.

This incident is probably a little closer to our hearts  because we were there.  We were amongst the many who participated in this world-celebrated running event, we knew how important the weekend was to Boston who went all out to make us feel welcomed during this event.

During the course of my work, I also met with some of the organisers of the Boston Marathon.  I’ve had the privilege to work with some of them and learned of what they do at the Boston Marathon.  Thankfully, they are all safe and my prayers go to them and their teams during this difficult time.

When President Obama addressed the Boston Marathon explosions, he said. “Boston is a tough and resilient town. So are its people. I’m supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together, take care of each other, and move forward – as one proud city.”

And it’s true, I know in my heart that Boston will get through this trying time and will rise victoriously as Champions again.

‘Thoughts on the Boston Marathon’ -> Guest Post

The Man was up for another guest post!  This time, sharing his thoughts on his recent run at the Boston Marathon.

Go on, have a read and leave a comment to let him know what you think, won’t you?

—
Let’s rewind to a seemingly random day sometime last December.  This conversation took place:
BB: “Guess what?  Your Christmas and Birthday Present will be the entrance of the Boston marathon April next year!”
Me: “Really?  Wow that’s  great!” (Not quite knowing what I was really getting into)

I have never done a Full Marathon in my life but I did 2 Half Marathons in Singapore because the gal was mostly organising marathons and I did it more as a support for her event.  However on the back of my mind, I had always wanted the challenge of finishing a Full Marathon.  Guess she could really read my mind.

The Race:
Race day was on 16 April 2012, it’s a late morning flag off for this race. But being a one way race, all athletes have to travel to Hopkinton for the flag off.  We then have to run/hop/walk for the next 26 miles in order to get to central Boston for the finishing line.

This is me hanging around the athlete village waiting for flag-off, my flag-off time was 10.45am so I had plenty of time to hang around before the flag-off.  So while I was at the village, I had my arms painted with my name (that way people can see your name and cheer you along the way) and you could even get a pre-race massage if you wanted.

“Boston is all in!” this is the official tag line for the race but I never really understood what it meant until I finished this race.  The race began at Hopkinton and the race course takes you through shland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline before finishing at central Boston.  I was amazed that for the entire duration of the race, there were no lack of supporters for the whole 26 miles!  From the start till the end, both sides of the race route were lined with people.  They are there to hand you drinks; freshly cut oranges; there are people enthusiastically playing music; screaming your name; spraying you with water to cool you off. Basically doing anything and everything they can to help you finish the race.  So this is what it means for a city to be all into something.  I could go on and on about the race but will stick to a few most memorable parts of it.

My favorite part of the race has to be just after the half way point where u pass by Wellesley College.  Wellesley College is an all-girls College.  Just imagine a thousand girls on each side cheering you on !  And this is right after when you are just about to feel tired after the 13-mile mark.  The enthusiasm from the crowds definitely gave me the energy boost to carry on!  The best part of it?  It seemed like its a tradition of the College for the girls to put up banners to encourage runners to kiss them!  I have to say I was really really tempted! :p

The hardest part of the race had to be the  infamous Heartbreak Hill.  It’s actually a series of 7 hills over a 5 to 6 miles distance in Newton.  The hills are not particularly steep but it’s comes at the 17-mile point where psychologically you are at your most tired state.   This was also the point where I started walking. My original intention was obviously to finish the race without stopping at all, but the hills got the better of me.  It was also here where I spotted the first Anti-Marathon “supporters”.  What are they?  Basically instead of cheering you on, these guys attempted to give runners beers and encouraging the runners to give up running the race.  I didn’t see anyone do that, but like the kisses from Wellesley college, this was definitely tempting too!

The best part off the Race has to be the final mile!   Here you have hundreds of thousands of fans lining up from Beacon Street to the finish line at Kenmore Square.  I was dead tired by now, but the screams from the supporters and the desire to show the BB the Finisher’s medal kept me going on.

I finally finished the Race in 5hr 22 mins, it’s a far cry from what I had really wanted to do.  But I was still glad that I managed to finish it.  I would really want to do this again, but next time with better training and probably a few more races under my belt before taking on this event again.

~~ The Man

Related articles

• Heat forces Boston Marathon, runners to adjust (hosted.ap.org)

Boston eats

Before going to Boston, Crystal for Expat Bostonians kindly shared a long list of things to do and places to eat in Boston.  We did make it to most of her recommendations given that we were only in Boston for about 4 days.  Wished I had more time to eat our way around Boston but I think we did fairly well:

Everyone told us that we have to have oysters and lobsters in Boston so that’s what we did when we arrived in Boston.  For seafood that’s fresh and won’t burn a hole in your pocket, Legal Sea Foods is the place to go!  According to Crystal, if you like seafood, this is a local tradition.

The oysters were so fresh and good that on top of the dozen that we ordered, we added more of our favourites in the next order.

And the highlight of the meal?  Fresh steamed lobsters!  Portion was huge so we ordered 2 of these babies to be shared among 4 people.  It made for a very fulfilling meal I’d say.

I’ve been warned by Crystal that I should not leave Boston without making a trip to Finale Desserterie & Bakery.  She also recommended that I should have the Molten Chocolate Cake paired along with a glass of Moscato and to thank her after that.  So  in the 3 odd days that we were in Boston, I became obsessed with hunting down Finale.  My concierge was actually amazed when I specifically asked for Finale for it’s a place where locals go to most of the time.

I guess unfortunately for us, we arrived at Finale during tea-time and couldn’t order anything from the menu.  Since we were there, I made it a point for the group to order some cakes to be shared.  After all, I couldn’t make a wasted trip to this place.

I call this the Death-by-Chocolate Cake.. sinfully good and rich.  Best shared with friends if you are not a big dessert person.

And for the mens’ victory dinner after the Boston Marathon, we headed to Ruth’s Chris Steak House to get a bite of the yummy steak.  Lighting was really dim at the place so I couldn’t get a clear shot of our steak.  Again, be warned that portions for the steak run quite large so if you are a relatively small-eater, you could always order one steak and ask the server to portion it into two for you and a friend.  Be sure to order a couple of sides to share if you are doing that.

While dining, we saw a couple of people proudly wearing their Boston Marathon finisher’s medal.  Puzzled, we asked our server what the significance was (actually we also wanted to know if there was going to be some privileges for the runners).  Turned out, there was nothing of that sort, our server laughed and said that the runners are probably proud to wear their medal for completing such a grueling race.  Fair enough.  But as we finished our dinner, our server placed two congratulatory dessert for the Man and his friend compliments from the restaurant.  I thought that was a really sweet gesture.  It’s no wonder why people are proud to wear their finishers’ medals.  They get the star treatment for that day! 

Another must-go according to Crystal is Mike’s Pastry.  She wrote this:

Mike’s Pastry is on Hanover street–Line is always out the door, and it’s worth the wait, no matter how long.  I need a moment just thinking about their cannoli. it is also the reason I consent to eating Italian.   http://www.mikespastry.com/  This place is famous for a reason.  You really need to go there even if you throw the rest of my list out.

Does making to the door of the place count?

Well, she’s right.  The queue was extremely long.  It was the ‘out of the restaurant’ type of long.  With 2 men having to rest early and prep for the all-important race the next day, no one was interested in queuing.  So I had no choice but to give this a miss.  Well, I know Y from lil’Snooze will be heading to Boston soon. If you do get your hands on the cannoli, please tell me what I missed!

Lastly, if you are visiting Boston and are pressed for time, then perhaps a trip down to Quincy Market might be ideal for you.  We were there two days in a row simply because it was such a fun place to head to and the food choices that you can get there?  You’ll be spoilt for choice.

There you have it – my little guide on eating around Boston thanks to Crystal!!  If you do make it to any of these places, do give a shout-out and let me know how you find them.

Feeling smart..

Bear with me.. just a couple more posts to go before I round up our recent New York-Boston trip.  Yes, after taking close to a thousand pictures, I think I’m almost done trying to document them.

Boston – home to Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – amongst the many other colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area.  So on a lazy Sunday, we decided to check out both universities for the fun of it.

This shot by the stair-case leading to the library reminded me of a scene from Gossip Girl.  Hehe.

We passed by the Memorial Hall Tower but got chased out because only students are allowed inside the tower.  Oops.. missed the signs for this one. ;p

And don’t mess around here in the Harvard University for they have their very own police squad patrolling the grounds.

After checking out the vibrant Harvard area, we hopped on to the train and headed to the direction of MIT.  The grounds were a little quieter over at MIT but it still made for a very leisurely walk.

 

Take me out to the ball game..

My first baseball game – Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays.  Was very lucky to have scored the tickets to watch Boston’s fave home-team play at Fenway Park along with the Man’s colleagues and 2 of his friends.

With absolutely no clue on what to expect from baseball, I went on Twitter and asked for HELP.  Thankfully, Crystal from Expat Bostanians replied within minutes and gave me a crash course on what I needed to know on baseball.  I planned to save the messages so that I could share them with you guys but I can’t find them on my tweet-feed anymore… gah!!!   So relying on poor memory, here goes:

Fenway Park is America’s most beloved ballpark.  This year marks it’s 100th year anniversary.

My fave Red Sox player has gotta be David Ortiz – nicknamed Big Papi.  This guy sure commands presence when he goes on the field and the crowd sure cheer him on!  I was also really psyched to see Papi in action when he scored a few of the home-runs for the Red Sox.  Another player which I enjoyed watching is Kevin Youkilis.

And just like in the movies, you could easily purchase your snacks (ie: popcorn, lemonade, coke, hot dogs, candy floss) from these guys.  I’m particularly impressed with this guy selling peanuts!  If you want a packet of peanuts, all you have to do is to signal at him and he will hurl a pack right at you.

I haven’t seen him miss while throwing those pack of nuts.  I honestly think, with my limited baseball knowledge, he has a shot on the field.  Hehe

And on the 7th inning, the crowds stand up and belt to the tunes of Sweet Caroline.  It was fun to join in the song thanks to the tip that Crystal had given earlier in the day.

In the end, the Red Sox won!!!  The Man says that this being our first baseball game, we had been lucky to have caught such a high-scoring game and to witness a couple of home-runs during the game itself. 

So my very first baseball game experience was really an eye-opening one.  I hope to learn more about the game… but first, a friend recommended that I catch Moneyball (staring Brad Pitt) to understand a little more about the sport.  So that’s what I will be doing soon.

Boston Marathon 2012

He did it!!!

Ran his first full-fledged Marathon at Boston.  The Man trained really hard for this but the weather was a killer.  The temperature suddenly peaked to 32 degrees Celsius on Race Day.  I guess this temperature shouldn’t come as a surprise coming from Singapore where our temperatures can go up to 35 degrees Celsius on some days.  But the Man was training in Geneva and was used to temperatures between 10 – 20 degrees, so this came as a rude shock to his system.

Nevertheless, he completed the race!!!!

Woo hoo B!!!!  You the Star for completing the race!

Here’s my little encouragement card that I made for the Man.  Noticed how I put a little paw-print at the side to symbolise that Sparky was also cheering him on as he ran the grueling race.

We went up to Boston with another friend who was running the same race with the Man, his wife and another 2 of their relatives.  So while the men were running, us 4 were trying to get a good place to spot our men at the finishing line.  Unfortunately, it was massive crowded close to the finish line.  Try as we might, we simply couldn’t get a spot.  In the end, we found a nice cool spot to view the race over at the 2nd level of Lord & Taylor.  Hehe.

Here’s the shot of the finishers again!  Congrats you guys for finishing the race!

Friend sent this over just the other day with the subject that read ‘Proof of War Hero – Most Battled’.  Indeed!

Related articles

• Boston marathoners cope with high temperatures (reuters.com)
• Boston Marathon: if you can’t stand the heat… (sportsscientists.com)