I FINISHED!

With my back injury and horrible training over the past 6 weeks, I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to start in the marathon! Last week my hips were finally aligned correctly and I was finally walking without a limp. But I still wasn't doing much running.

I got up at the crack of dawn on Monday and got ready. After taking the subway into town, I waited at the Boston Common for the parade of buses which came 25 at a time, one group of 25 after another, taking all the runners out to Hopkinton for the start. Once off the bus, as I started walking towards the Athletes Village, I wasn't sure where my Team Eye and Ear building was.... it was tough to figure out where I was on the map they gave me. But I found a bright red T-shirt with Team Eye and Ear greeting us! He directed me where to go.

Once at our building (with heat and BATHROOMS!) I grabbed a banana and wrote my name on my shirt. I did hit that bathroom a couple of times, posed for a few pictures with the team and got myself ready to go.

I headed out with another team member through Athletes Village and we tossed our bags to be checked into the INSANE number of buses lined up by bib #'s which were headed back to Boston, then we started our walk down the streets of Hopkinton. After another port-a-potty stop (26 miles is a LONG way, especially after about 24 ounces of Gatorade that morning!) we made our way to the starting corrals... corral #7 for us!

The starting gun for wave three went off around 10:40am and we were off through Hopkinton making our way along the route. I chatting with so many great people along the way from all over and supporting all different causes (the "qualified" runners were ahead in wave 1 or 2). The energy was absolutely AMAZING!!

SO many different experiences along the way.

Writing my name on my shirt was the best thing I could have done. 26 miles of hearing "GO JULIE" was so incredible!.

Ray Allen's mom ran (the day after he won the game with maybe 2 seconds left and an AMAZING SHOT!) People were calling for "Mama Allen" as she was running. I saw her early, maybe somewhere in mile 3-5.

My friends were spread out ALL along the route. What a great support I had! They were absolutely amazing, planning out their day to support me! I was touched so much more than I can express!!! And more tried to go but just couldn't. They had signs they made and everything! It was just the coolest thing to see them there for me!

I saw a bunch of people I knew who were there for other people, which was nice to have them see me and yell out to me! That was cool too! Someone I used to work with was there just to be there and I heard her yell out, "I KNOW HER!" which was cool! :)

What they say about Wellesley College is true. I heard it before I got there. The girls lined up along the route with signs, screaming and cheering NON STOP! The energy was amazing. I started running so much faster and had tears in my eyes just passing the school. It was absolutely incredible. When I finished passing the school, I remember turning to another runner near me and said, "That was just amazing." There is nothing else I could say. It was just amazing!

Team Eye and Ear had a cheering section at mile 18 which was a great support to see them all calling for me.

Just at the base of Heartbreak, they had another Team Eye and Ear supporter... the same from right when I got off the bus! He was at the base, ran up to me to give me a high 5 and started jogging next to me. He gave me a great little pep talk and let me know what to expect for the rest of the race. Then he turned back and waited for the next runner. That support was just incredible!

The support from the crowd was amazing too! 26 miles of people, people and more people! I got water and Gatorade from the thousands of volunteers at the aid stations at each mile along the route. Then people along the route had water too, and FOOD, oh MY did they have food! I must have had 2 or 3 oranges in total from the number of orange slices I grabbed along the way (ME! The germ-a-phobe! Grabbed sliced oranges out of strangers hands!) I took twizlers, Hersey kisses, a brownie by heartbreak, some Vaseline on a Popsicle stick around mile 15 when my arms were starting to chafe a little around my singlet. It was just amazing how many people were just giving out SO much.

I had great conversations with so many other runners along the route. I saw so many friendly faces really encouraging everyone and hoping the best for all. Restaurants, bars and businesses with microphones and speakers blaring out great music and calling out names of runners and teams they were supporting. Big signs with the Sox score and innings keeping runners updated.

Everything was just incredible. So many different memories. So many small stories. So many great people I met and smiling faces I saw. TOO many people who yelled out "GO JULIE" for me, mile after mile after mile. Those cheers, that real and genuine encouragement from people I didn't know just kept me going.

I would love to do another marathon again, but I honestly don't know if any would come close to comparing to this. I don't know how it could. The crowds were so amazing. I can't see how anywhere else could have that kind of support for 26 miles of roads. There was never a spot where I couldn't see someone along the side of the road, even in the area they warned me about in Brookline. There were STILL people next to that cemetery! Not a lot, but people were still there cheering for the runners.

Doing the Boston Marathon was an unbelievable experience that I will never ever forget. I still can't believe I finished... I walked the final 2+ miles with the only jogging just as I crossed the finish line, but dammit, I crossed that finish line!

My official time, 5:43:36. Originally, before my injury, before I had to basically STOP training, I was hoping for under 4:30, but considering I really didn't run for about 6 weeks and JUST recovered from my injury the week before the marathon? And not only did I finish, but in under 6 hours? DAMN! I'm proud of me! I did this!

I accomplished a goal I set for myself. I finished the Boston Marathon! And you know what? I want to do it again next year!