Living Every Moment

Day three of the Boston marathon (as I am now calling the days leading up to the actual race) began at 4:50am.  We awoke to a dark, cold and rainy world.  A quick shower and breakfast and we were out the door.  I am the warm blooded half of the couple and I left wearing two pairs of pants, two shirts, a hoodie and a jacket.  Nasty stuff.  

We hurried through the sleeping streets to the big white tent next to the finish line.  The Boston 5k race starts at 8am and we were lucky enough to be volunteers.  Shift duty started at 6am and, to be quite honest, I could not wait to get my very own Boston volunteer jacket.  The best part was that all the Runners' Edgers who were in Boston were volunteering. From all corners of the city they came.  Eight hours from home and I'm surrounded by friends in matching hoodies.  How very cool is that?  

Even cooler was when two runners from our group showed up to run.  They had received two last-minute entries and drove all the way from St. Catharines to Boston to run the 5k.  

Having run in plenty of races, it's nice to experience what the folks on the other side of the table do.  As the wind whipped and the rain lashed, we unloaded fruit cups, gatorade and bagels.  Lots and lots of them.  There were over 5,000 runners registered for the 5k which is pretty unbelievable compared to the races we're just to.  Once everything was set up we were put on guard duty to stop the runners from sneaking food and water before the race even started. 

The wind stopped, the rain cleared and the sun came out on time for the race.  We got to watch the start and then we were put on medal duty.  Unwrap 5,000 medals and get ready to hand them out.  

The first runner came roaring in at around 14 minutes.  The second was just behind him and then the insanity started and continued for 45 minutes.  The tent was packed as the herd moved through.  I spotted our two runner girls and had the honour of placing medals around their necks.  Another Boston moment. 

By 9:30am, our shift was done and we were ready to take on the town.  Doug headed out for his pre-race run and I headed down to Marathon Sports to buy myself a pair of Vibrams.  Yes folks - I now own five-fingered shoes and cannot wait to try them out.  

Run done and shoes purchased, we hopped on the subway and headed to the New England Aquarium.  Also known as the place where my marine biology dreams began.  It still looked the same - the same fabulous exhibits and the same amazing tank full of shark, rays, fish of all shapes and sizes and the giant turtle who has been there for forty years.  

This would be me holding a vertebrae from a humpback whale.   

And this would be a lovely sea dragon.  Which immediately made me think of My Little Pony.  

We headed to the Italian district for the requisite pre-race pasta dinner.  So did the rest of the 25,000 runners apparently.  We were lucky enough to beat the crowd and discovered a fabulous little spot called Marco.

They sat us at the bar and we were entertained by Matt, our charming bartender.  His dinner recommendations were spot on and his dessert ones were just as good.  Cannolis from Bova!  Yum!

One more stop on the way home.  We had already had dessert but someone had a craving.  And he's got a big race to run so how could I possibly say no??

Next stop: Hopkington.  For the start of the world famous Boston Marathon.