Sunday, April 24, 2011

Boston Marathon Fun!

CONGRATS TO KRISTA FOR RUNNING THE PRESTIGIOUS 2011 BOSTON MARATHON!!!  Krista conquered the Beast in 3:39:59 (that's THREE HOURS, THIRTY-NINE MINUTES, and 59 SECONDS!), and had a marvelous experience from start to finish.  Can you believe she ran that far that fast?  I couldn't ride my bike 26.2 miles that fast, but she scooted across that course with aplomb.  Good job Kris!

Vick and Summer and I got to be a part of the adventure, and we sure loved being with Krista and seeing her run.  I must say, I've never seen anything like it: 27,000 runners, 500,000 spectators, and an entire city/region focused on that one event.  It was marvelous!  We flew into Hartford, CT, on Saturday, then went into Boston the next day so Krista could pick up her number and race materials.  Then on Monday we took her to the starting point in Hopkinton, then we were able to drive to a couple of points on the route to watch her run.  So much fun.  And we were proud to pick up our exhausted but exhilarated runner at the finish line in downtown Boston.  How did that skinny pigeon-toed little kid in the overalls and ponytails get to be such a great runner?!?  I don't know, but she sure has inspired all of us with her great feets/feats!

The next day we drove up through Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire to see the sights and add five states to the list for Summer and Krista (I think they have about 42 states total now).

We just had the best time (well, Krista had the best time, but we had the best experience!)

Here's a video at about the 15K point.  I'm giving Krista an energy bar.  She looks great!

Here's the finish line in downtown Boston the day before the race.
Excitement for the start of the race!
Krista with her li'l white purse at the finish line.
We walked the "Freedom Trail" and stopped this old graveyard.  This is the tombstone for "Mother" Mary Goose.
This is the start line in Hopkinton, 26.2 miles up the road from the finish line.  26.2 miles I say!
On the morning of the big race, Krista was ready to go!
Here she is just before boarding the bus to the athletes' village.
This was at about the 10K point (Krista not pictured--she's too fast to catch in a snapshot!)  Lots and lots of runners--you just can't imagine how many runners.
Not long after the finish, Kris still had energy for a smile . . . but that's about all!
We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse that night--Great food, but Krista was a bit rung out.  Who could blame her!  Actually, she did just great and we had a fun time.
Here we are at the Atlantic Ocean.  (Inside joke: When we arrive there I said, "Let's get out of the car."  You better believe Krista and Summer were popping out of that back seat before I even stopped the car!)
We toured the New England area and hit five states in one day.  It was a fun drive, and I especially like the miles and miles of stone walls in the area, like the one pictured above.  So interesting!

We hope to go back and do it again in the future.  Charina is running a half-marathon next week, so you never know--maybe we'll be going up there with her!

Nice work Krista, and thanks for inviting us to THE BOSTON MARATHON.  We loved it

Love, Grandbill

4 comments:

Royfam said...

You look GOOD dear! Good blog. Way to go Krista, you inspire us all.

Billy and Krista Hiatt said...

Thank you paude, for the great blog! And thank you for the great adventure! That was so marvelous!

The Lindes said...

here's what's crazy to me.....there were that many runners, but there were that many runners who run marathons well enough to get to Boston! that is a rather elite group i do say!

i'm so glad you all got to do the freedom trail! it really is amazing!

7Carters!E,H,V,B,R,C,E said...

thank you for putting that video on! I loved to see Krista RUnning!