Race Day Plan (2020)

I will be running the 124th Boston Marathon ,at 6:00 AM on Saturday, September 12th; 30 min before sunrise

Rather than do the virtual run the actual course (which is being discouraged), I will be running 10×2.6mi USATF certified Charles River Marathon Loop.

I’ll set up my “aid station” on my Subaru or on the sidewalk near the start adjacent to the parking lot for Christian Herter Park. Here are directions if you want to stop by in the later miles.

The plan is to run 8:20-8:30 per mile pace for the early miles, and then see what happens in 2nd half. Ultimately I’d like to finish under 4 hours — somewhere between 3:40 and 3:59 — which would put me at the finish around 9:40-10:00 AM Anything under 4:19:37 would be a “flat ground” PR.

The official BAA app appears buggy, so I’ll be using Garmin LiveTrack for those curious to follow along. Send me an email if you’d like to get the tracking link automatically when I start. It should also post to my twitter account at that time.

The biggest challenge for the race with be uncertaintly associated with my limited long run preparation. I only did two 16 milers whereas many marathoners do two 18 milers and a 21 in their preparation. How my legs will hold up in last 10 miles is unclear, particularly if it warms up.

It was a hard choice to not run the actual course, but I’ve raced Boston twice, and run the 1st 19 miles several times, so I’ve had that experience.

Photo above is my virtual packing/dressing check list. Thanks to Sue and Susan for the custom-made Rotary technical shirt!