Well that was quick.
 Because the damn thing sold out so fast!
The 2011 Boston Marathon sold out in one day. This means that there will be quite a lot of people who don't get to run or will try to bandit.
The Hopkinton Hop Marathon/50K/double-marathon/whatever-you-want-to-run is an activity for dedicated runners to assuage their feelings of inadequacy while their spouses, parents, children, and faster friends run the race we all wanted to get into but didn't because we're slow, fat, clumsy, undisciplined and generally have other things to do than follow training schedules and set alarm clocks to register on time.
This race is also a way to get bandits off the course. Boston's crowded and getting more so, but before the sun rises the race course is deserted, so why not get a run in then rather than fight the crowds?
The HH50K is original of the series, started in 2009 when the Race Misdirector missed qualifying for Boston by 18 seconds, but didn't want to run with the red snakes as a bandit. Or more precisely, his wife forbade it.
Being in Boston and not running on race day is rough on the ego. Instead, he ran from their B&B in Brookline down to the Amtrack station in Back Bay to catch a 3:30 a.m. train to Framingham. From there he ran to Hopkinton and back to Brookline. After getting lost a few times, the mileage topped out at about 50K. The after-party consisted of sitting on the curb eating donuts and catcalling the elites.
2010 saw four of five (details are sketchy) runners, some of whom actually saw each other on race day. Pretty sure we'll have more in 2011, which might mean fewer people getting lost and definitely will increase the amount of mirth.
As for our protagonist? He's running the big boys' race for a change. :-) |