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The course: Fun, then sweat, then heartbreak hell
| Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham | Natick | Wellesley, Newton | Heartbreak Hill, Brookline, Boston |
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff
The Boston Marathon is divided into three parts: 14 miles of fun, 8
miles of sweat and 4 miles of hell.
That's one entrant's perspective. And except for a flukey Patriots Day in
1990 -- when my final mile was nearly my fastest -- the other 12 races I've
run from Hopkinton to Boston have followed that division.
It's not all grunting, groaning, moaning and misery. Any runner who has
trained properly will enjoy the mostly downhill journey from the starting
line to Wellesley Center.
Those 14 undulating miles are the sweet payback, the adrenaline-pumping
reward for running in all kinds of weather, six days a week, for a minimum of
three months. The crowds are large and enthusiastic, the body is supple and
rhythmic, and the mood is upbeat and focused.
The pain comes later, as does the mentally exhausting effort to
concentrate on pace, form and a rejuvenation of will. The payback for this
comes after the race -- maybe an hour later, maybe a week later, when starkly
etched memories flood the mind in satisfaction or regret.
To a runner, here are some of the landmarks along that memory lane of 26
miles, 385 yards:
Stage 1: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham
(From the Boston Globe archives, April 17, 1992)
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