Team Events: Anna-Bridgette Graham Runs the Boston Marathon!

After running my first marathon in Dayton last September, I qualified for Boston with a time of 3 hours and 27 minutes.  I could not be happier, I achieved my goal and did it well under the time I needed, which was 3 hours and 40 minutes.  I trained through the winter and wanted to see if I could improve my time since most runners drop time between marathons.  Training through the winter, my body was used to weather in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s.  I arrived in Boston late Friday night and, like the other 26,999 runners, was keeping a close eye on the weather.  Little by little the temperature increased from 80 to 82 to 86 to 88 to 90.  Meanwhile, the Boston Athletic Association sent all runners multiple emails encouraging us to not run because of the dangerous temperature.  Our bodies were not acclimated to the hot weather and because of that, we were advised to add at least 2 minutes to our minute per mile time.  For example, if I usually run an 8 minute mile, I should run a 10 minute mile during the race to avoid heat exhaustion, dehydration, and heat stroke.  For someone who wanted to run faster, this was devastating news.  Before the race, I met up with a soon-to-be family member, who was running his 20^th consecutive Boston Marathon, and we spoke about our race goal.  Our goal, simply, was to finish.  I had an amazing time during the race, I ran at a comfortable pace and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it.  The crowd provided invaluable support by turning on their sprinklers, spraying us with hoses, and passing out handfuls of ice.  The temperature, as it turns out, was a blessing in disguise.  It forced me to slow down and enjoy the experience and ambiance of the one and only Boston Marathon.  I hope to run the Columbus Marathon this fall to qualify again for Boston and return for another round. 

Thank you for all of your love and support!