Once again I say, I just can't thank you enough to Susan Hurley, Founder and Owner of Charity Teams and Kim Chisholm, Executive Director of the 26.2 Foundation for giving me the opportunity to run the 128th Boston Marathon! I originally talked on the phone with Susan after applying to a couple of charities. She was real sweet, but told me that most runners could promise to raise $20,000 - $30,000 right off the bat. She told me that most of the charities team under her were full, but for me to not give up. A week or so later I got an email from Kim asking If I'd like to do an interview for the 26.2 Foundation, which was a charity listed with Susan's charity teams. I was so excited to get another interview. Kim and I hit it off right off the bat. She had St. Jude experience, so my years of fundraising for them probably sealed the deal with me getting a spot on on the charity team. 💓 Meeting Kim's dad the founder of 26.2 Foundation, Tim Kilduff, along with her mom and sister at the Charity Brunch was icing on the cake for me. What an awesome family that is doing great things in the running world. I can't wait to see the marathon center finished one day. 💙💛
Every week I would get emails leading up to the race from Susan and Kim. We were giving loads of information and tips. I can't stress how much this meant to this Mississippi girl that had never been to Boston. Several of the charity runners were from Boston and every weekend they got together and ran on the course. I was so jealous of that, but I was thrilled to be on the charity team. 💓
It was finally race weekend and I was in Boston! At the expo they had a replica of the famous "Spirit of the Marathon" sculpture which sits at the one mile mark along the Boston Marathon course. It depicts Greek marathoner, Stylianos Kyriakides, a marathon legend and considered to be the first charity runner. I'm so glad I got a pic at the expo because mile one of the race was so crowded I could not get over to the side of the road to get a picture.
Monday, Patriots Day, was RACE DAY (4-15-24). Since I was on a charity team, I was given the opportunity to ride the charity bus which was a charter bus with bathroom to the start line instead of the school busses that everyone else was riding. For the marathon they bus you out 26.2 miles to Hopkinton to start and you run back to Boston. It takes about 45 min to an hour for the bus to get you to the athletes village on race morning. We met up at the Cheesecake factory to get on the busses. Look at some of my teammates.. they came dressed to impress. I don't think it was their first rodeo. 😀
I had met the young lady below, Vinh Hoang, at my charity brunch table and we sat together on the bus and ended up hanging out at the start line until time to start. She was real sweet. I enjoyed getting to know her. Boston was her 6th star!
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| A sweet girl gave us her float when she went to start and we relaxed until our time to start. It was kind of cool early that morning. We had to catch the bus at 7:30am, but our wave (wave 4 .. last wave) didn't start till 11:15am. So we had a good bit of time to wait in the Athletes Village. |
You can see how crowded it was trying to get into the village.. runners were everywhere..
The wait time really kind of went by pretty fast. We ate our breakfast and waited in line for the porta potty and sat for awhile.... and then it was 11:15 am time to line up. By then it was getting pretty warm. There was no wind as they had promised me on that marathon tour on Saturday! The guy had said that he thought we would have a nice tail wind the whole race! He was WRONG. Weather there changes like here in Mississippi! I had shed all my extra clothes I had worn that morning and was down to my shorts and tank. I'm so glad I had got my name on my tank at the charity brunch. So many spectators yelled for me while I was running. 💓 and I always shorten it to "Dee" because most don't know how to say, "Deleica". 😁
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| Of course I had to get the Goodr Boston glasses 😍 |
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| Flat Deleica ready... The book "Dream Big" is a book we got at the charity brunch written by race director, Dave McGillivray! He spoke to us at the brunch. What an inspiration! He's ran tons of marathons and across America like 2X! As race director he normally runs the Boston marathon at night the night before the race, but this year he returned to run it in daylight with the other runners. He's ran Boston every year since 1973! For 16 years he ran it with all the other runners and then when he began working with the race he ran it at night until this year. and Guess what.. he failed the first 2X he tried to run it. He was a small kid growing up and always picked last in sports.... but he's accomplished BIG things in his life! Never doubt the small guy. 💗 Click here to see his story |
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| Did I mention that Meb signed my bib at the expo! I will forever cherish this bib! 💙💛 |
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| My goodies I got at expo! |
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| Yes, I got a spike! I had been told if you don't get there early to expo they are sold out. So glad I got one. |
Did I mention that my foot had been bothering me leading up to the race? I had ran a very hill half marathon like a month prior in Jackson and then another half 2 weeks prior to the race and I kind of turned my ankle or something. This one foot has bothered me off and on a couple of years since I sprained it badly at the MS50 race on year. It had really been bothering me the whole week prior to race and I only ran 2 miles the week of the race. Once me and mom got to Boston my foot was swell during the day and ached so bad as we walked around touring the city prior to race day. I had really begin to wonder if I would be able to finish the race. I was feeling pretty down about that, but tried not to think about it or talk about it. Race morning I had KT tape all over my foot. I promised myself that I would just keep moving. Even though what you read online says there is a 6 hour time limit for the race, they had told us at the charity brunch that technically they do not shut the finish line down... there will be volunteers there waiting to hand you your medal and they really go by 6 hours from the start time of the last person that starts. I knew I was not in the last corral so I figured if I had to walk then I had time to make it.
Our wave was called to line up around 10:45am and I crossed that start line around 11:27am. It's pretty fast once they line you up. They are very well organized! I felt good once I started. My foot wasn't even hurting to start. I soon noticed I was running faster than I had planned and reminded myself that EVERYONE had said ...... pace yourself the first half... slow down.... the downhill will really work your quads and if you run it too fast then you'll be toast when you reach the newton hills which start around mile 15 or so. Most people who don't run think a downhill would be easy... well, go run a few and see. They really work your legs differently. So I slowed way down. It was so hard to slow down! Those that know me know that I tend to go out too fast from time to time.. I could hear Penny in my ear saying, "D, slow down.. we aren't going to keep this pace 26.2 miles". 😂 All these runners were zooming by me and I wanted to just zoom right behind them... but those voices in my head kept saying.. slow down... save yourself.... So I ran very easy. I stopped and waited a good bit at mile 8 1/2 for the bathroom. I had tried to hold it, but couldn't any longer. All that liquid I had drank that morning while waiting to start need to come out. 😁
When I got to the half way mark I was starting to get really HOT. My time for the first half was 2 hours 30 minutes. Longer than I would have liked, but I had slowed way down trying to save my legs for the 2nd half which would be very challenging with the hills after running downhill for so long. By mile 15 or so I really started to feel like I was going to throw up. The sun was just relentless. No shade! and NO BREEZE. Yep, it was only like 70 degrees which doesn't seem hot, but when you are running it is especially in the direct sun. Your body always warms up 10-15 degrees warmer than the temperature. That's why I really like 45-55 degrees to run in. 😁
I had reached the Newton Hills and I thought well this isn't too bad, but my stomach just kept feeling awful. I could barely choke down an energy gel and my LMNT in my water bottle. I knew I needed them, but I almost lost it every time I had to take one. I just kept telling myself, you've got to take in some electrolytes or you are not going to make it. I was sweating so bad. I could feel salt all over my face. I started grabbing water at the aid stations and pouring it on my head. Runners all around me were walking and looking sick. I saw several heading to the medical tents. It was at this point that I knew there was no way I was going to make a sub 5 hour marathon. Oh did I mention that my foot was now hurting along with every bone in my body. 😒 My hips hurt, my lower back hurt, my quads were tight, and my dang right foot felt like it was being squeezed to death by my shoe which meant it was swelling again. 😠
So I converted to my jog - walk intervals. I wanted to cry because I really wanted to have a good time at Boston! My training had been really good prior to the half marathon that made my foot hurt. But I also wanted to finish the race and finish standing up! By the time we reached heartbreak hill, I had saw 2 runners taken off the course on a stretcher. 😢 By this time I had to stop again for the bathroom. As I stood in line with other runners they were all saying it's the hottest race I've run here. Many of them had ran Boston several times. I was like I so wish it had been like Saturday or Sunday when it barely got to 56 degrees in Boston. But a marathon is a lot like life. Life has many ups and downs! It's how you deal with those ups and downs that truly show what type person you are in life. A marathon is the same way. Some can be magical, some can be failures, some can be fun, and some can be dang HARD. You must dig deep and find that MENTAL strength. Your body will say quit... but you have to say NO back to it. I always rely on my faith in JESUS. I draw from his strength. I will quote scriptures. I will admit there may have been a few ugly words spoken on that course too. 😂 And I thought of every friend that was praying and cheering for me! I could feel them. I remembered each person that donated to the 26.2 Foundation for me to be able to run. All those things gave me the strength to keep moving forward and I even saw this sign:
The crowds along the streets are AMAZING. There are only two other marathons I've ran that comes close to Boston as far as crowd support and that's London and New York. It's truly amazing to have someone cheering you for 26.2 miles. The scream tunnel through the Wellesley college is exhilarating!
Once we turned on Boylston street finally headed to the finish line, I knew I was going to make it. I stopped and walked to go live on Facebook with a video. In hindsight I probably should not have done that because there are no good photos of me coming across the finish line like so many others I've seen of other runners. I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:33. Not what I had wanted, but a FINISH. 💙💛🦄 I finished my 5th star! I'm so very happy about that... just one more to go to be a 6 star finisher. 🙏 I give God all the glory. 🙏
Some pics on course:
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| I started with some calf sleeves that I thought would help with the hills, but soon ditched them because it was so HOT! |
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| Got a coke at an aid station around mile 22 I think.. so good! |
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| coming in to the finish finally! |
My mom was at the finish line and had her phone up to get me coming in and just as I got close, the people beside her threw up a huge poster board for who they thought was their runner coming in! My mom missed the photo opportunity to get me and then the people said dang that wasn't their runner. So basically they threw up the poster and blocked mom and it wasn't even their runner. Mom was FURIOUS. They could of hung their poster down some and not blocked others from trying to see their runners. I never saw mom when I came in. I heard someone calling my name that I thought was her, but when I looked it was KIM! She was in the bleachers cheering for me as I crossed and my finish picture is of me looking at her in the stands. 😍
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| waving at Kim |
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| We had a LONG walk to get out of the finish chute... so I didn't see mom for a good 25-30 minutes after I finished. And security was so tight which I appreciated... but mom could not cross the street to get to the side I was on.. she had to walk many, many blocks to finally be able to get to me. The hotel had decorated while the runners were gone and they gave mom flowers to give me! The hotel even cheered us as we walked back in the lobby and they had it all decorated so nice. I'm glad because mom was able to get some pictures of me there. 
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| right outside our hotel at Boston Common park |
Mom had also did a really GREAT thing for me! I had always wanted a "traditional" Boston jacket in the blue & yellow with the embroidered emblem. They had not had those in the last few years. I guess they trying to save cost.... And the 2024 jacket was blue and red. Anyway, a good running friend of mine had told me that you can find the original jackets on ebay from time to time. I was skeptical about this, but looked. To my surprise I found one brand new on ebay in perfect shape for like $35! Thanks Jane for the tip! I got it and mom changed the date on it with her sewing machine to 2024 for me! 💓😍
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| I had to wear it out to supper even though it wasn't cold that night.. 😂😁 |
Many have asked me if I'm ready to do Boston again and so many runners I met in Boston try to do Boston every year! Yes, I'd love to do it again, but I have other states I want to do and Boston is very expensive especially if you want to stay close to finish line, expo, etc. My hotel was $600 a night! I know they jack the prices up like other races on race weekend too! The food is also pretty expensive. I don't think there was a single meal under $100 for the 2 of us. I don't regret spending the money at all! It was a fabulous trip with mom, but it's not a trip I could afford every year and do other races across the US. 😁😛😏
Added Boston to my bracelet
Tuesday after the race I was still feeling blue about my race time and a friend sent me this and said be proud you finished. I had also started to see several news post on how so many runners struggled in the heat. Here's a recap from one coach:
So I'll take my finish and be happy with it. Maybe one day I'll get a do over in cooler weather and a body that is 100%, but until then I'm going to celebrate my achievement and remember my journey to get here. Thank you sweet Jesus for allowing me this opportunity. finished my 35th marathon!
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| My sweet niece went to Boston 8 years ago on a school trip and brought this back to me and said maybe one day you'll run Boston. I never thought it would happen! Dreams can come true! Keep dreaming friends! 💓 and CONGRATS to those other Mississippi runners that finished. Most with amazing times! The local Zach, aka lightening, ran it in like 2 hours 50 minutes! 💪 |
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