The Rick Report: Boston, in two parts

For those who were wondering, our illustrious running pal and story-teller Rick Cleary had a bad day at Boston this year and registered a DNFY--that's did not finish YET. As has been his tradition in the many many many (did I say many too much) Boston Marathons, if he is forced to DNF, Rick goes back to the spot he dropped later and finishes the run. And true to his word, this year was no exception. Here's Rick's report:

"I finished the 2009 Boston Marathon this morning (May 1), crossing the line 264:48:07 after the second wave gun was fired last Monday. Given the 71 seconds to cross the starting line back on Patriots' Day, my chip time is 264:46:56. Nice to be in under the challenging 265 hour mark, though I was almost 261.25 hours past my needed qualifying time for 2010.

A few highlights of the run in from the point where I stopped at the Woodland T-stop last Monday:

I chose today because my son Tommy had his three year old doctor check up, and his pediatrician's office is quite near where I dropped out so it was easy for Ann to leave me off there. If you ever want a warm up to elevate your heartrate, I suggest holding 31 pounds of wiggly toddler that needs to have blood drawn for a lead screening. Way better than stretching.

-I realized running up Heartbreak Hill is MUCH easier without doing 17 miles ahead of time. It's quite a nice neighborhood when you're not exhausted.

-As I neared mile 21, I had a sudden impulse to veer off the course and run right over to work, and keep doing the course a little at a time over more days. This time I worked through it and kept on track.

-I ran a little under nine minute pace for the part I did today, about 8:30s in the early miles when you don't have so much traffic and slower once in town where there was a lot of standing around at street corners. Adding how long I ran before I quit last Monday and how long I ran today I did a 3:48:30 marathon with about 261 hours of rest.

-There were people giving away free samples of Quaker "Mini Delights Multi Grain Chews" right at the Boston finish line; so it felt a little like the real post race! I didn't get anybody to take my picture or anything.

With this year's race done, time to decide if I should try to re-qualify...