Pre-Marathon Info – Heidi

Friends, family and co-workers have given me lots of energy with their good wishes for the Marathon on Monday. Newton-Wellesley hosted a pasta dinner for the Newton-Wellesley runners last night. It has been great to have a few “team” gatherings this year. Everyone has been asking me what I'll be wearing and where they can see me, which are both hard to gauge until I see a weather report Sunday night and see how my body holds up over the long course.

BUT, here are my guesses! First of all, my number is 24,157 and the start time for us non-elite runners is 10:30 am. Based on my experience from last year, I think it will take a good ten minutes to even reach the starting line and, given the crowds, the first mile or two is slow. The weather report now is for 50s and drizzle. If it's over 50 I'm hoping to wear the Newton-Wellesley “outfit” I was provided with last year, which turned out to be a bad match for the horrific weather! I have a white Adidas singlet that is plain on the front, has black stripes on the side and a Newton-Wellesley logo on the back in blue. I have black shorts with blue stripes on the sides. Last year the weather was so bad, I wore my black Nike dri-fit hat. I only have one other hat, which I'll wear this year. It is white and my choice in hopes the weather won't be so bleak! I'm going to see if anyone has a Newton-Wellesley patch or something I can affix to the front.

Last year my pace was roughly ten-minute miles, which included walking at Gatorade stops every 30 minutes and a bathroom break at the Burger King along the route. Since I'm crazy enough to do this again, my goal for myself is to improve my time. I would love to be closer to nine-minute miles (but don't want to set myself up for a fall as the ultimate goal is to finish and be healthy). I am hoping to not stop at all so don't be upset if I don't stop to chat. I'll be looking for all of you and I can't tell you how great it is to see familiar faces out there. The runners completely draw on the energy of the crowds! My biggest question for myself is whether I can complete the distance without one porta-pottie stop. I'll let you know next week! You'll have to do the math in terms of when I should be where but I'm hoping to be in Wellesley and then into Newton in the very wide range of 12:40 to 1:40 (give or take half an hour on either side).

Thanks again to all of you for your good wishes and moral support!