In with the old, out with the new.
I ran a 3:13:55. That’d be good enough to qualify for Boston under the old rules in my age group (albeit probably not fast enough to make the cut-off for getting my ticket punched). But it’s 3:56 OVER the BQ time standard for 2019.
I ran as fast as I could. It was nearly ideal weather — overcast, brisk, even a little chilly at times. But the promised tailwind never really materialized and there was a good mile stretch on a cloverleaf overpass that featured a headwind. Still, only the second time I’ve broken 3:15 this year. So that’s something.
We got bused out to the starting line in the wee early morning hours.
The route was one long mostly straight road back to Biloxi, run along the beach coastline. Because I was for the most part just slightly ahead of or later behind a clump of runners, it was mostly a solitary affair. But there were oodles of police patrolling intersections, and there were aid stations probably every 1.25 miles — an abundance of aid such that I would often skip a station now and again.
I did briefly see Des at the finish line festival — but as I didn’t BQ I didn’t feel right asking her for a photo.
I did however get a shot with a few others.
And though some of these were already posted to social media, here’s a few funny (hopefully funny ha-ha, not funny how odd) photos:
