I always admire long distance runners, especially marathoners, for their persistence and physical fitness; however, I never thought that I could become one of them. Thanks to Valerie Vasquez, an audit partner from Deloitte, who talked me into the marathon training in March 2011. Valerie was so encouraging; after talking with her, I was convinced that I could run a marathon even though, at the time, the longest distance I had ever run was 3 miles. I signed up San Jose Fit and started my training with the yellow group in April 2011. From coach Larry, I learned running techniques, electrolyte drinks, GU, stretching, PR, etc. Qualifying for Boston had become my goal since September 2011, shortly after I finished my very first half marathon at 1:44. Boston Marathon earned its distinction as the "Holy Grail" and the Super Bowl for serious runners. It is the world premier running event and one of the six world marathon majors (Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago, New York, and Tokyo). It is the only race that runners have to be qualified to get in; in order to enter the race of 2013, all runners had to run another race within 18 month to meet the following qualifying time:
Age Men Women
18-34 3:05 3:35
35-39 3:10 3:40
40-44 3:15 3:45
45-49 3:25 3:55
50-54 3:30 4:00
55-59 3:40 4:10
60-64 3:55 4:25
65-69 4:10 4:40
70-74 4:25 4:55
75-79 4:40 5:10
80+ 4:55 5:25
Roughly speaking, less than 5% of marathoners could achieve such time requirements. When a runner finishes a marathon, he/she is a marathoner. When he/she qualifies for Boston Marathon, he/she becomes a Boston Qualifier. it is a milestone that normally takes years of trainings to achieve. In year 2012, I trained with coach George and Vivian; after watched "Spirit of the Marathon", I signed up to Chicago Marathon, and my goal was to qualify for Boston Marathon in Chicago. I finished Chicago Marathon at 3:32. After the race, the first thing I did after going back to the hotel was to sign up the Boston Marathon 2013. I was thrilled to enter the 2013 Boston race in October 2012. Stefano is a Boston marathon veteran who had run this race twice before year 2013. He advised me to come in early to get my size of the Boston marathon jacket and other gears. However, our flight was already booked, and we could only go to the Expo on Sunday. As such, I ordered Boston marathon outfits online before the race. When my hubby and I were at SFO waiting for our flight, a few Bostonians came forward to chat with us and wished me good luck on Monday.. When we arrived at Boston on Saturday night, we felt more excitement of the event from local businesses, Bostonians, and the runner community. In the restaurant, the waitress gave us the warmest welcome. In the subway, when the Bostonians saw me wearing a Boston Marathon jacket, they wished me good luck, have a great race, enjoy the run, etc. One runner from Minneapolis gave my hubby her pre-race dinner pass when she learned my hubby was there to support me.
We stayed at Cambridge Marriott, near MIT. On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Champions, the waitress proudly showed us her Boston Marathon T-shirt:
 
After the breakfast, we went to the Expo to pick up the bib number.
We arrived at Expo shortly after 9:30a.m. but many people were there before us：
Love the poster: “This is your moment!"：
Watched the Boston course preview on the TV：
Unicorn, the symbol of Boston Athletic Association：A unicorn was chosen as the Association's symbol and appears on the Boston Marathon medals since 1887.
I have been wearing New Balance running shoes for my trainings and races over the past two years。The headquarter of New Balance is in Boston; we can see NB posters everywhere：
Beautiful ladies in costumes greeting runners on the Boylston street：
We went to Atlantic Fish Co. for lunch. A day later, the second bomb exploded just outside of this restaurant. The restaurant was very popular and was almost full shortly after noon. Wheel chair runners were here as well：
I ordered Lobster pasta for the carb loading:
Hubby ordered Lobster meal：
After lunch, we took a walk on the MIT campus：
Famous Ray and Maria Stata Center：
This must be a student dorm：
We had a nice pre-race dinner with Morten, Stefano, Anita, and Lou. We went back to the hotel before 9. However, for whatever reason, I lost my sleep that night. Did I sense something at that time???
On Monday morning, I got up at 5:00, grabbed a cup of oatmeal from Starbucks, and headed to the subway to catch the bus：
Boston Common, where all runners to take school buses to the Athletic village. I had never seen so many school buses before.:
Runners kissed/hugged their loved ones for good bye：
No one could ever imagine what would happen in the next a few hours; all the runners will remember this day; especially, those people who were trying to find their families and friends at the finish line.
I was amused to see the guy with a quilt. A runner joked with the guy: can we help you with anything? do you need food or money?! ：
After an hour bus ride to the athletic village, I finally realized how smart the "quilt" guy was. I was assigned to Carroll 2 which would not start until 10:40 a.m. and I needed to wait for about 3 hours at Athletic village, together with 24,000+ runners. April morning in Boston was still chilly (the temperature was in the lower 40th), I felt cold shortly after leaving the bus. The grass / ground was too wet to sit on it; I decided to walk around to keep myself warm and also kill time.
Inside of the athletic village:
I envied those people who had sleeping bags with them; I might bring one too next time：
Another runner was juggling to kill time：
At 9:30, I felt hungry. I took a high carb concentrate drink from a sponsor table. Shortly after it, my stomach started to give me trouble. I went to the toilets three times before running to the starting line.
There were so many spectators along the course; a lot of kids who eagerly to high-five runners, and the cheering was on and on.
"Scream Tunnel" in front of Weasley College at mile 13 (a photo credit to Stefano)：
It was the favorite part of the course for many male runners. A running friend was kissed 6 times by those beautiful girls.
I had a GU after mile 6 and then went to the bathrooms 4 more times before the mile 17. Around mile 12, my gamin watch fallen off due to a lost pin. I couldn't monitor my pace anymore and became a little anxious...
My hubby went to mile 17, Woodland, to meet me. The photo below was taken from the green line subway. It was so crowded; he felt like, he was back in China.：
Spectators along the course at Woodland：
About half a million spectators watched marathon along the course while the total population of Boston is less than a million. Crowd was everywhere. Watching the race and cheering for runners was the city's long tradition.
"Runners were coming"：
How happy NANCY was：
The pink lady was running with joy：
Fair lady ran playfully：
"Are you taking a picture for me? okay, let me take one for you too..”：
A brother was pacing for his sister.：
A guy was running with Hotdog costume：
I saw my hubby in the crowd and told him what had happened. He encouraged me to run for fun and just enjoy it. After talking with him, I felt much better and joyfully for the rest of the race：
My hubby went back to the Woodland station and was waiting for the train back to downtown：
At Kenmore Square：
On the bridge：
Close to the finish line: it was so crowded that my hubby could not even enter the area.：
Last part of the course，Boylston Street，where the bombings occurred：
My hubby decided to meet me at the family reunion area：
A happy husband greeted his wife after the finish line：
I continued the race with a grateful heart. I reflected how blessed I was to have Larry, Vivian, and George as my coaches, and great running friends from San Jose Fit and Running Addicts. Running is a privilege. Thinking of the movies "Chariot of Fire" and "Spirit of the Marathon", a book by Ryan Hall, Running with Joy, and reciting "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31) and “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9) kept me going. I also heard music Ole, an Africa worshipping song that gave me tremendous boost spiritually and mentally. I ran joyously to the finish line with a finishing time of 3:47.
The following two pictures credit to Stefano：
My hubby was waiting for me at the family reunion area A. After collecting my bag, I followed the crowed left the marathon area and then realized that the family reunion area was in the opposite direction. I called my hubby for help; he decided to meet me at Arlington subway station. Soon before I met my hubby, I heard two canon like sounds. Were they for the celebration? I was pondering. Then, I noticed the policemen were running to the finish line direction. What's wrong?!? My hubby and I decided to walk to Boston Common to take the subway back to the hotel. When we got there, the policemen announced the subway had been shutting down. The policemen patiently gave people very good directions about the alternative routes.
We were about 3 miles away from the hotel so decided to walk back. We saw a few ambulances drove to the finish line direction :
Another ambulance to Mass General Hospital：
People were watching the news outside of a bar：
We got many calls, voicemails, Text Messages，Facebook messages，emails, from our friends and coworkers, near and afar. My husband and I were deeply touched by the love and we are so grateful to have them in our lives. After getting back to the hotel and replying all the messages, it was 6:30pm already. We were angry and sad. We prayed for Bostonians, runners, and the families and friends who were impacted by this evil act. We pray that the criminals to be captured and punished.
Beautiful Boston dusk (a view from our hotel room)：
When we checked in at the United Club at Boston airport on Tuesday morning, the receptionist, a wonderful old lady, told us that she felt sorry for what had happened on the marathon day and hoped we could come back again. We were deeply touched by her kindness. We told her: like Bostonians, the marathoners are not easily to be scared; we are strong and persistent. We will come back to Boston running the marathon again, and we stand together to fight the terrorists.
When the suspects were captured / killed 4 days later, we celebrated together with Bostonians and our runner friends. We soluted to FBI, Bostonians, and BAA. We talked with Stefano, Lou, Morten, and other SJFit friends, we all determined to keep up on running; we will run Boston Marathon again！
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