Finally having crossed the finish line, as always I griped at the people who dead stop in the middle of the way where I need to keep forward movement. Similarly, people who crowd around the very first volunteer who is handing out whatever (medals, heat sheets, food/drink) rather than moving on down the line to subsequent volunteers handing them out -- keep moving people! And get out of the way!
Getting the heat sheets was really tricky. While they always do a good job of affixing some tape so it stays around you, the wind at this time was SO strong that they were flying in everyone's face. Eventually, I just wound up taking it off and shoving it into my gear check bag; after all, it was quite warm, so I didn't really need it.
Thankfully, I had checked my flip-flops. So, I found a good space out of the way where I could put my bags down and do the swap of my sneakers and socks for flip-flops. Oh, that felt SO good. I was worried about what felt like major blisters during the race, but it turned out that such was not the case. Possibly only because I got my sneakers off so quickly.
After maybe 20-30 minutes total of doing the needful post-race, I made my way... slowly... down the stairs into the T. Cruel, Boston, cruel.
Finally, the T arrived, I made my way up the stairs and was next to a red wave runner who was looking like he was still in a lot of distress. I offered up the bottle of Gatorade that I had from the expo (since I hadn't needed it after finishing), and that seemed to help a fair bit. Transferred to the Red Line, it was CHAOS in the station because there were still people streaming in from the Red Sox game, in addition to the large number of marathoners and accompanying spectators. Mercifully, when I got on, there was someone leaving who had vacated the corner seat of the car, which I was able to sit in. It enabled me to eat and drink a little more (though, technically, I shouldn't have been consuming anything, at least beyond water); I couldn't have attempted it were I standing up and holding on.
Part way back, I remembered that I had wanted to get my medal engraved after the race, because I had no desire to be up early enough to make sure I was on line for multiple hours at Marathon Sports prior to the start of their medal engraving on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, after I got back, soaked in the tub for a bit, showered, and changed, it was early enough to give a shot at going back in.
As if the city was saying something to me, when I made my transfer to the green line for the last leg of this trip, I was greeted by a specially wrapped T:
I arrived at Dick's Sports at about 6:15pm. After I got on the line, several of us recent arrivals to the line were advised that we weren't guaranteed to have our medals engraved. It all depended on how fast the line ahead of us went compared to the 7pm cut-off. There weren't that many people in front of us, so I managed to get my medal finished by 6:45pm. While I was able to have a little extra added to my name (JARED LEVINE / DUNKIN'), the time I gave them was the wrong one. (!) I gave them my gun time (4:18:11) as opposed to my chip time (4:14:40). Oh well.
Since I made it back in, I made my way to Summer Shack a couple of blocks away, where I have had post-race dinner a few times before. It is a VERY loud place, but fun, and has some tasty seafood. This time, I entered just behind a couple of other people wearing their medals. The three of us were greeted by HUGE cheers and a bell being run at the bar -- they totally made us feel like celebrities. Always heartening.
Tuesday brought the lunch that I would really like to have immediately after finishing, but they're closed on Mondays. :-(
Having nothing set on my agenda for touring about for up to 3 hours, I made my way back to the hotel to get my bags and simply went to the airport. I was not looking forward to the return trip, since I had a late flight with a connection in Newark - ultimately landing me back after 11pm. I went to the gate and asked about getting one of the earlier flights. They were able to get me onto a flight that was set to leave only 15 minutes after my original, but direct. So I got back about 2 hours earlier than I otherwise would have, and didn't even need to pay a change fee, since I freed up a seat they otherwise could use for a standby on my original flight. Bonus!
Hopefully I'll see you again next year, Boston. I've got to get a better time to feel more comfortable about my odds getting in, though. Fingers crossed!
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