TSFM Ambassador’s Boston Marathon Experience Pt. I

Contributed by Paige Govey, a 2018 Ambassador for The Biofreeze San Francisco Marathon. Photo credit: AP Photo

Preparing for the Boston Marathon was nothing like I’ve ever experienced. I’ve run tons of races and plenty of miles in my life – in the snow, rain, sleet, and freezing temperatures. But this was different. This was a marathon. 26.2 miles in what promised to be frigid temperatures, an onslaught of precipitation, and high headwinds.

I spend most of the weekend leading up to Monday pretending I wasn’t scared… Like hypothermia couldn’t touch me. Like I knew exactly what I was doing. Like I was as experienced in these kinds of conditions as I needed to be. The truth was, I’ve lived in California for 4 years now – I hadn’t seen snow, hail, or sleet on a run in years.

My preparations the night before were the usual: eat some pasta (this time at the race-sponsored dinner, but man, was that the first test of our toughness). If you’ve never been to this dinner, it is a great experience that everyone should do at least once. However, this year was a different kind of experience. The line for this event is often wrapped around the block, but I assumed that wouldn’t be the case this year, thinking that no one would want to stand out in the freezing, windy evening air.

Perhaps I was totally wrong, or perhaps everyone had the same thought, but there we were, at the back of what promised to be at least an hour-long line, in the cold. Freezing cold. I think that’s the first time I felt scared about the race. Standing there, shivering, I realized just what we would be dealing with the next day. However, I pretended I was tough, that I didn’t want to cry and call it quits, and there we all waited, telling ourselves the same things, I imagine…

Stay Tuned for Part II!