Run to Win

Just a quick note this morning: I happened upon a great article at BU Today where a first time Boston runner interviewed some noteable folks about the Boston Marathon with a bent towards getting tips for a first timer.

It’s a great ready, and features advice from John Kelley the Younger, Amby Burfoot, Bruce Lehane, Mary McQueeny, Rick Hoyt, and “Bricklayer” Bill Kennedy’s great-great-nephew Patrick.

Any one thing that stands out about your first Boston?
Driving into Hopkinton, there was half an inch of snow on some rooftops from a little shower, but it was melting fast. The crocuses and forsythias were everywhere. It fulfilled all my romantic images of winter passing and spring arriving and all of it getting mixed up in one glorious Boston Marathon day. The first thing I saw was Old John Kelley warming up on the side of the road and then the Japanese runners in their white Rising Sun uniforms. It felt as if it had happened just for me.

The other main anecdote is Heartbreak Hill. If you had read about it as much as I did, it loomed second to Everest in one’s notion of magnitude. I literally had the experience where I thought I should have been approaching Heartbreak and I was turning to the spectators and asking, “Where’s Heartbreak Hill? How much farther to Heartbreak Hill?” And they answered, “You just went over the top.” The expectation of a mountain made it easy.

You can read the article here:
http://www.bu.edu/today/arts-entertainment/2009/04/07/picking-marathon-brains

Photo by preedHeartbreak Hill is the last of four hills in Newton and is a recognized landmark in the Boston Marathon. If you ask any runner why it is called that, they will be sure to tell you it is because it breaks the hearts of thousands of marathoners every year as they are faced with an arduous climb at one of the most difficult points of a marathon, the 21^st mile. They would, of course, be wrong.

Heartbreak Hill really is not very impressive. It climbs a mere 80 feet over the span of about a half mile. It does come at a tough point in the race, and after thousands of marathoners have battered their muscles into jelly over a predominantly downhill course it can be a little difficult. However, for somebody used to hill training and who has run smart, it really is not a very remarkable climb. There is a lot of history there, though, and the crowd is always excellent along this stretch of the course.

The true story of Heartbreak Hill comes from 1936, when Johnny Kelly was defending his first Boston Marathon victory (his second came a decade later in 1945). Johnny Kelley thought that “Tarzan” Brown (Ellison Brown) had used up all that he had on the first three hills in Newton, and he showboated a little bit as he passed him. He patted Tarzan on the back, and Tarzan took offense. Being an absolute animal on a race course, Tarzan took off and broke Johnny Kelly on his way to the victory. It was on that fourth hill that Tarzan “broke his heart,” leaving a memorable name and a well-recognized landmark on the course.

There is a statue that was erected in 1992 of Johnny Kelley that depicts him from 1935 clasping his hand from 1991. It appears at the base of the third hill.