Spectating Boston -Congrats to all the Runners

What a crazy wonderful weekend!

First we drove 15 hours back from OBX on Saturday, arrived home, slept, and left for Boston Sunday morning.  My son went with me so it was a great catching up time too!  We arrived in Boston in time to go to the Expo and buy a few things. There were SALES since the Expo was ending.  Good thing since Mom was buying for both son and daughter!  I had to get myself a little momento of Em's first Boston too!  Then we (Em's friend, Tall Fella was with us too)found a place for dinner, (sorry I don't remember the name but it was near NikeTown) where I had absolutely one of the best restaurant meals of

At dinner  the night before

my life. It was pasta, chicken, gorgonza cheese maybe??? and butternut squash with a killer sauce!  Yum!  Then Em and I headed back to the hotel while the Young Men hit the town.  Before I knew it Em was up and getting ready to race her first Boston!!!!  I took some pics of her and off she went to catch the shuttle.

Ready to race!

The three of us - myself, my son and Tall Fella headed out. We ended up avoiding the subway and walking all the way. It was a beautiful day and the public gardens were beautiful!!

In Boston Commons

                                                                                                              

We found the place we wanted to stand near the finish line.  I texted Emily to let her know where we would be. We had some time to peruse the area with two of us staying put.  Tall Fella knew where the clean indoor bathrooms were, one of many reasons he made spectating this race so much fun!!! I got some free coffee, free Ben and Jerry's ice cream, a free latte and free hot chocolate. Good thing I knew where the clean bathrooms were!  I found a Lulu on the way to the bathroom but in spite of going through it 1 3 times I resisted!!! As it got more crowded all 3 of us decided to stay put.

Emily's cheerleaders walking to the Marathon

Before we knew it the first wheelchairs were coming in! Wow!  They were amazing!  Then the women and of course the elite men. Yes they were exciting for sure but I love seeing the "regular people."  I cheered and rang my cowbell for hours.  I have a cowbell blister but I didn't let that stop me.  We were surrounded by people that were really into cheering also. For some reason my text alerts weren't coming so the lady next to me texted her brother who was tracking people for her. From that point on he tracked Em for us!!! They were from Seattle - such friendly people just like all the bloggers from Seattle!  Emily was on track with her prediction so we had an idea when she was coming.  Thank goodness for Tall Fella who could see her a long ways off.  As he said he helped her pick out that running skirt for 4 hours at the expo so he would have known her anywhere!  She saw us and heard us and all the people around us going NUTS FOR HER!!!! It was an emotional moment for me seeing my daughter rocking Boston! I'll let you read her specific info in her race report.  We made our way to the finish area and collected our girl. We all went out for a congratulatory meal! It was very fun to be part of this huge crowd in Boston. So many people feeling so proud and so happy enveloping everyone in a huge feeling of good will!

With her proud brother

With the two tall guys

With her very proud mom

Now I Need to RACE!!

This coming Sunday I am running The Sweetest Half.  I am not tapering for this half and it is somewhat hilly.  The half that I am specifically training for is at the end of May. But I am looking forward to this race. It is a new race for me and should be fun. It is very close by and I have heard it is well organized and scenic. That works for me! Here is my favorite racer who ran it  last year.