•1:45 PM
The 114th running of the Boston Marathon is so close, but yet so far away. According to the web widget running on my site, the race is a mere 35 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds away.
For those registered to run in the race, you’ve received the same emails I have and for the most part they are quite motivating; everything from pre-sale on the apparel, health tips, and the Boston Running Fitness Examiner’s Ben Haber. Ben chronicles "Faces of the 2010 Boston Marathon" who’s profiling the anti-elite runners that are running the race.
Ben's article last week profiled Vanessa Van Dongen who likens Boston to “running mecca” vs. my description of “running Nirvana.” A great read -- for both of us Boston will be a first, but rather than raise money for a charity, she time-qualified in her fifth marathon in Chicago…I am qualifying by my pledge to raise a minimum of $3,250 for Dana-Farber, 100% of which will fund the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. If you have not already done so, please go to my secure online website to make a donation (or you can write a check made payable to "Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge" and send it to me).
The stories are quite motivating particularly as we get closer to Nirvana. What I can’t figure out is the emails I keep getting that’s advertis
ing all of the Boston paraphernalia. Don’t get me wrong…I’m ordering EVERYTHING when I get there… jacket, shirt, magnet, coffee mug, hat, water bottle, mouse pad, bumper sticker, pennant, and bobble head doll if they sell them.
Something about the timing that rubs me the wrong way.
So what am I supposed to do, order online and stare at this stuff for another five weeks? The Adidas Ad touts, “Run Boston Better.” The issue is that you can’t wear it until you’ve earned it. Talk about a SI Cover photo jinx…what would happen if you wore that jacket before the race…I can’t even go there.
It reminds me of a story (true confession time) when I was a kid in grade school and we’d gone skiing at Cypress Mountain in the northshore mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was a real “badge of honor” to show up to school on Monday with a lift ticket (they had the wire brackets back then) on your Patagonia down ski jacket.
The issue was I attached the un-removable lift ticket to my ski pants. My mom, being the trooper she is, delicately removed my brothers lift ticket and re-attached it to my jacket Sunday night so I could walk in “like a peacock” on Monday. Problem was, I was still considered a "child" and a year off from hitting the "youth" lift ticket age and I was “busted” by one of the older students. A proud moment turned into a major embarrassment.
In modern sports (football, basketball, hockey, etc.,) the cardinal sin is premature celebrating—even though they had Super Bowl winner caps printed up for both the Colts and Saints, you don’t see them wear them until AFTER the game is over (what do they do with the boxes of Colts Super Bowl champs caps anyway?)
My point is, quit teasing me because I won’t buy the goods until I hit the expo and I won’t wear that jacket until I’ve earned it—after the race.
For those registered to run in the race, you’ve received the same emails I have and for the most part they are quite motivating; everything from pre-sale on the apparel, health tips, and the Boston Running Fitness Examiner’s Ben Haber. Ben chronicles "Faces of the 2010 Boston Marathon" who’s profiling the anti-elite runners that are running the race.
Ben's article last week profiled Vanessa Van Dongen who likens Boston to “running mecca” vs. my description of “running Nirvana.” A great read -- for both of us Boston will be a first, but rather than raise money for a charity, she time-qualified in her fifth marathon in Chicago…I am qualifying by my pledge to raise a minimum of $3,250 for Dana-Farber, 100% of which will fund the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. If you have not already done so, please go to my secure online website to make a donation (or you can write a check made payable to "Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge" and send it to me).
The stories are quite motivating particularly as we get closer to Nirvana. What I can’t figure out is the emails I keep getting that’s advertis
ing all of the Boston paraphernalia. Don’t get me wrong…I’m ordering EVERYTHING when I get there… jacket, shirt, magnet, coffee mug, hat, water bottle, mouse pad, bumper sticker, pennant, and bobble head doll if they sell them.Something about the timing that rubs me the wrong way.
So what am I supposed to do, order online and stare at this stuff for another five weeks? The Adidas Ad touts, “Run Boston Better.” The issue is that you can’t wear it until you’ve earned it. Talk about a SI Cover photo jinx…what would happen if you wore that jacket before the race…I can’t even go there.
It reminds me of a story (true confession time) when I was a kid in grade school and we’d gone skiing at Cypress Mountain in the northshore mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was a real “badge of honor” to show up to school on Monday with a lift ticket (they had the wire brackets back then) on your Patagonia down ski jacket.
In modern sports (football, basketball, hockey, etc.,) the cardinal sin is premature celebrating—even though they had Super Bowl winner caps printed up for both the Colts and Saints, you don’t see them wear them until AFTER the game is over (what do they do with the boxes of Colts Super Bowl champs caps anyway?)
My point is, quit teasing me because I won’t buy the goods until I hit the expo and I won’t wear that jacket until I’ve earned it—after the race.
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