Star Alpine Physical Therapist’s Boston Marathon Memory: Part 1 - by dennis mccrea

Congratulations to Alpine’s Dennis McCrea, PT for stepping out and taking on this years’ Boston Marathon. Here’s Part One of Dennis’ story.

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Traveling to Boston makes the Race finally seem like a reality. It is a long training period, and the race day seems so far away.

There were a lot of people on the plane wearing B.A.A.(Boston Athletic Association) Boston Marathon windbreakers. I visited with John who had run Boston 7 times, which was not unusual for those that I had met. He said it was hard to describe what the race is like until a person runs it. He gave me some good advice to avoid starting out too fast, which was easy to do with the energy from the crowds and the early down hill portions of the course. He said it would catch up to me by mile 20, and my legs would be shot. He also said the “Wellsley girls” at the half way point and the crowds towards the end of the race would give me the boost I would need to finish the race.

I asked runners who had run Boston in 2013 when the bombing occurred and what that was like and the common statement was “it was so senseless”.

Crowds were every where in Boston. With 30,000 runners and their family and friends a lot of  have descended on Boston. The subway is packed, especially when the Red Sox play. Long lines to pick up my Bib number. The runner’s Expo with all of the vendors at the convention center was also packed as were the restaurants.

My wife and I did get to see some of Boston, a beautiful and historic city, and we got to see the Red Sox play in the classic Fenway Park where they play. People were so friendly every where we went and were so helpful in giving us directions. I would like to return just to spend more time there.

We stayed in Brookline, 3 miles from the finish line near Coolidge Corner. It’s a quiet area but also a lot of shops and restaurants nearby. Brookline is the birthplace of JFK and near Boston University, home of the Terriers and runner up in the 2015 NCAA hockey championship game. Easy 30 minute jogs each day, stretching, foam rolling, keeping hydrated and protein and carbs in me.

The weather has been great, but always a cool breeze it seems off the water. I kept an eye on the weather reports, and they kept saying that on Marathon Monday the weather was going to change to rain and increased winds as a storm was coming up from the South. The rain was not supposed to arrive until later in the day, however. I was anxious for Marathon Monday to arrive.

Dennis McCrea, PT