8 Days to Go!

What a great way to head into the final week before the marathon...as of today we have raised $10,470 and surpassed the $10,000 goal for the 2nd year in a row!!!!  Thank you to the numerous donors who donated a little or a lot, requested company matches and/or supported DFMC through the various fundraisers that we put together!  Running with DFMC for 3 years, we have raised over $31,000 for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Cancer Research!  You have motivated me throughout training and will be a huge part of my 2014 Boston Marathon experience!

$8K Pacesetter Gloves, hope we don't need these on Marathon Monday

This past Thursday was the last Arc run of the season for me.  Runners get together at the Arc in Brookline, and run together, returning to the Arc for socializing and rehydration.  After a 5.5 mile run with 5 other team members, we finished by heading up Beacon St over I-90 and passing the 25 mile mark.  This will be our view with 1.2 miles to go in just 8 days.  Of course, there will be 1000s of fans cheering us on, including those in the patient partner program!  Mile 25 energizes all of us DFMC runners with lots of cheering, high fives and more as we head to the finish!

Mile 25, DFMC Patient Partners  and the Citgo sign, we're almost there!

We also had our last DFMC group run this Saturday.  We had a smaller group than normal due to the SI cover shoot at the finish line but still a good turn out and great volunteers at our 3 water stops to finish the training season.

Starting our run with the Barr Impact statement.

Amy, Matt and I, having run most of the training runs together finished this one together as well. We figure that we've run the Newton Hills around 20-24 times during the training season.  Come April 21, we'll know those hills as well as any other part of the course!  We also wondered when was the last time that our long run for the week as 'only' 12 miles? Regardless, we enjoyed running in shorts and t-shirts!

Amy, Matt and I having finished another 12mi training run.

As we were near the 13.1 mile mark and Amy wanted to see the start line, we headed out to Hopkinton.  Having only been to Hopkinton twice before, it was nice to see the area when I was not about to run 26.2 miles to Boston.  A few pictures from the trip out to Hopkinton...

Self-explanatory

The start line needs a fresh coat before Marathon Monday!

Hopkinton is ready for the 36,000 runners

Wiki page for Dick and Rick Hoyt

The Hoyt's have been a staple in the marathon for decades

Throughout the course we'll see these signs as we move from town to town.  Ashland has also painted their fire hydrants BAA colors blue and yellow!

1 mile into the race, we'll reach Weston Nursery and see the 'tree of shoes'.  It is a nice landmark for unfortunate circumstances.  Meg Menzies was hit and killed by an alleged drunk driver while training for the Boston Marathon.  The story is better presented here

Tree of shoes to remember Meg Menzies

Driving the course was a great way to get excited for the marathon (not that that was necessary).  For those that can't see the whole course, here's a mile-by-mile guide of what we'll see as we run from Hopkinton to Boston.  Again, thank you to the numerous donors and everyone who has supported my 2014 DFMC efforts!