Long Road to Boston

If this was a real blog, and I had gone to Boston, I could have blogged all weekend. But I didn't go, so I'm just going to recap.

You've got to love Boston. Over 110 years of tradition, some of the best athletes in the world, the only marathon in the world other than the Olympics or the World Championships that you need to qualify to get into...Boston is the ultimate. Just qualifying to stand on the starting line in Hopkinton is, for many, the pinnacle of their running careers.

Not the Gunkers, though. They were out for blood.

Both Anne Gullickson and FOG ("Friend of Gunks") Conni Grace figured to have a shot at a coveted crystal bowl in the womens' masters category, which went ten deep. Connie came oh-so-close, running 3:02:20 for 12th, less than 2 minutes from scoring a bowl. Anne ran brilliantly as well, clocking 3:05:12 for 16th master.

"El Fredo," Fred Stewart, also had designs on some crystal. Following Rich Edwards' win last year in the 60-69 age group, Freddy decided to take his shot, running 1:31:16 through the half, at which point he was third in the group. He held that spot--the final bowl position for 60-69ers--through 35K, but was passed late and wound up a tantalizing fourth, running an excellent 3:09:58, just 2:30 from the hardware.

Kevin Roach ran a beautiful 3:02:50, flirting with a sub-3:00 following a 1:29:54 opening half. Mark Mulpeter, who trained with Kevin and the rest of the Gunkers all winter, ran a very evenly-paced 3:18:54, a huge PR. FOG Wayne McDaniel ran a very solid 2:57, and the husband-and-wife team of FOGs, Alan Ruben and Gordon Bakoulis, ran solid races as well (2:47 and 3:15, respectively).