Is this an IATF, USATF, XYZ, PDQ sanctioned event?
No! If sanctions were applied to this event, they would be in the pejorative sense, like those applied to rogue countries like Iran, Syria, North Korea and Canada. It doesn't even officially count for the Marathon Maniacs.  Why would I want to run this race?If you run the Boston Marathon, you won't see the elites – not even the soles of their shoes disappearing into the distance. If you run the Hopkinton Hop, you'll see something like the photo at right, which I shot from a curb in Brookline after last year's HH50K. Kara Goucher was still leading, I had a glazed old fashioned in my mouth and I knew my wife would be coming along in a couple of hours. It's tough to beat that. Wait, isn't this banditing?
Not if we don't interfere with or steal from the other race. One of the only ways to get disqualified in the HH is to impact the other race. Don't bandit. Don't interfere. Play nice! Why Framingham? Can't we start in Hopkinton?
The train schedules are spotty at 4 a.m., and Framingham is about as close as one can get. Besides, running a 50K (about 31 miles) while everyone else is just doing 26.2 is pretty cool. What sort of support will there be?
None! There might be a convenience store open along the course someplace, but don't count on it. Wooded sections serve well as restrooms at an early hour, and Starbucks stores work later. There will be no race support set up for the Boston Marathon at this hour either, and the Hopkinton Hop rules specifically forbid taking any support from the other race. Carry your own food and water! Donuts might be provided at the finish, and beer might be available at the post-race awards banquet later that evening, but you're paying your own bar tab. I may need special help or attention.
You won't find it. Nor will you find sympathy. Nor should you be doing this. This race is for experienced ultramarathoners who just can't stand sitting still. It's not a supported activity, and if you have trouble with that, go home and watch the marathon on TV. How long is the course open?
The course is open until the start of the Boston Marathon, or until the front-runners are a mile from you. In fact, the "course" is not a course at all, but rather a set of city streets, sidewalks and throughways which are open to traffic. Obey all traffic signals just as if you were a normal person - which you are. But I qualified!
There is a special option for those who are unable to achieve our rigorous non-qualification standards. These runners can run the course from Boston to Hopkinton, then turn around and run the Boston Marathon. Is this race a Boston Qualifier?
Not bloody likely! If anything, it might get you banned from Boston if you don't behave yourself. I want a medal!
At the end of the day we hope to meet up at a pub, where we can all craft our own medals from bar coasters. How do I register?
Click on the "Register" page to the left. Remember, however, that you are on your on recognizance and completely responsible for your own safety. And no whiners, please - they wake the neighbors. Is this just a bunch of B.S.?
Mostly. 364 days a year the Hop is a creative writing enterprise undertaken by a guy in Seattle, but on that remaining day it really does happen, and will probably happen again in 2011 despite his finally qualifying. |
