April 21, 2014 - A Day to Run Through the Cramps after Shaking the Winner’s Hand

Juan Martinez

I am an avid runner who normally trains 75 miles per week when not in marathon training phase. I’ve been running consistently for eight years, after seven years of no running while serving in the U.S. Navy. Prior to the Navy, I ran in high school for three years from 1994-1997, seeing lot of the New York City marathon being televised in my backyard, since I am a Jersey kid.

I was always intrigued about racing in a marathon, but I was more intrigued about racing the Boston Marathon. I ran three marathons prior to the 2014 Boston marathon. My debut was the 2010 Suntrust Richmond (Virginia) Marathon. I took 11th place with a time of 2:39:09. That time qualified me for Boston, but not the 2011 race since registration closed out the preceding September. My BQ was good for 2012. Good thing I was not motivated to race the 2012 Boston Marathon, since it was an oven that year!

April 20, 2004 - Nine years apart, tears for Boston

Emilio Romero

My wife had died four years earlier – just one month before the marathon which would have been our first. I had trained like crazy for about a year. A dearly loved aunt had flown to Houston to be with my three little kids while I ran the marathon. The very few stars in my then film-thin firmament were starting to align; but my children (10, 8 and 6 then) didn’t want to go to the Expo, they wanted to see the Aquarium.

In the aftermath of any defining moment in our lives, we often try – for good or bad —to make sense in retrospect and pinpoint when and how it all started. And while I say I had trained my butt off for almost a year, the most persistent memory of those months, which ultimately were supposed to qualify me for the Boston Marathon, takes me back to the track at my youngest son’s high school. Early in the morning, the familiar lyrics started whispering the music in my ears, saying first there's nothing, but a slow glowing dream your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind; and then the speedwork started: 13 x 1600 with 90 seconds rest in between.

2013 - "It is the spectators who make the Boston Marathon what it is."

Matthew Amick

For the most part, my story of the 2013 Boston Marathon is very similar to many who have run it before me. From the first time I considered trying to qualify, and thinking "Oh, that won't be that hard," to realizing I may never be able to qualify, to the grueling training it took to become fast enough. But, Boston is the granddaddy of marathons! It is the one all marathoners strive for. Therefore, when I finally qualified, it was a huge relief!!

Once my entry to the marathon was accepted, I decided I would run it as a celebration, not as a race. I wasn't concerned about effort and pace, but just wanted to soak it all in.

Part of that celebration was the expo, which was AMAZING!! My wife (a faithful half marathoner, tempted to run a full some day), and I could not get enough of the expo. It was the best one we'd ever been to. Yes, we tend to geek out on that kind of thing. Who wouldn't get excited about seeing Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan, & Meb Keflezighi in person? Oh, and I chatted with Adam Goucher and did a shake out run with Bart Yasso. But then Marathon Monday arrived.

1987: Even short fat guys can perform if they train for it!

Rob Crosswell

I first started running in the mid 1980s. I had gained a lot of weight, and determined it was time to take action on that matter. I went to the track at the high school, and a few of my friends were there. They told me they were training for a marathon. I was impressed. I believe that was when the seed was planted for my personal marathon mania. (By the way, none of those friends ever made it to a marathon finish.)

Shortly after that, I met an amazing guy named Joe Muldowney. Joe owned a small local running shoe store. I went in, and I guess I had him chuckling as I was asking about racing flats. At any rate he sold me an appropriate pair of training shoes and I was off. I have always been something of a passionate athlete, but I also have certain passions about food and drink that require an extra level of training effort to overcome. Joe introduced me to the necessary commitment to compensate for this lifestyle weakness. (Don’t quote me on this, but I think I may have stopped drinking beer for a year after my first New York marathon as part of a training regimen which was overseen and supervised by Joe.)