Boilermaker 2008
Posted by john on July 15, 2008 in Running
This past weekend was the 2008 Boilermaker. This is probably the best race I go to all year. It is one of the nation’s largest 15K races, with over 12,000 runners taking the line this year. As usual, I went to Matt’s place for the weekend. I arrived Saturday to help him move to his new house and clean his old apartment. We ended up spending most of the day tooling around in the Jeep (topless, of course!) running errands. We went to Target, Barnes & Noble’s, the running store and other places. Of particular interest was the book that literally jumped off the shelves at me - “Men are Greater than Women” - a book which I think was written in jest, but it is probably the most misogynistic books I have ever read. It is also one of the funniest. Matt and I spent the weekend reading passages to each other at meals, during stretches and whenever we had a few minutes.
Like last year, we got our free pasta dinner and met up with Matt’s fiance and her sister (incidentally, we also ran into them at Target). The pasta was good and we felt very energized for the next day’s activities. After dinner, Matt and I attempted to set up the volleyball net that I purchased as a house warming gift for him, but the instructions were not clear and the assembly was not straight forward. We gave up after two hours and played with his Frisbee instead.
Sunday morning was the big day and we arrived early as per standard operating procedure. I was fortunate enough to meet up with Greg before the race. I also ran into an old high school friend whom I have not seen in years. This is the second year in a row that has happened at the Boilermaker - I am surprised that this happens year after year because the sheer amount of people (participants, volunteers and people who cheer us on) almost dictate that finding someone I know from my past is a very, very low probability.
I was in the yellow coral, which was a step up from my previous year (the dreaded gray coral). The yellow coral is much nicer - fewer people, faster people and far less dodging at the start. I felt strong at the start and I recalled several of the sights - the neighborhoods, the golf course, the bands and the people. This race is probably the most exciting race I run.
I did not need to consume gel during the race, but I did start to lag at about 8 miles. I kept up as best I could, but I certainly could have used a bit more training in the weeks leading up to the event. At the end of the day, I ran an 8:03 pace for a total of 1:15:53. I was happy with that, but I really wanted to break 1:15:00. After I crossed the finish line, I ran into Greg again. We talked for a bit and I let him know where I was going to meet the rest of the runners from our group. I got some water and went to the designated meeting area. It was a few minutes before I met up with the runners, but after that I managed to get three free beers (note that the FX Matt brewery hands out large quantities of beer to all runners, free of charge). We ended up hanging around for a while before we headed back to Matt’s house. During that time, I saw Mary, Cassie, Marie, Corey and the rest of the people in my group.
Back at Matt’s house, I promptly fell asleep on the living room floor. So did Matt. We probably napped for an hour or so before we got up to prepare for the party. Most of the people in our running group stopped by, so did Mary, Greg and Cassie. There was plenty of food (burgers, dogs and chicken) and beer. We ate plenty and had a real good time. Unfortunately, most were so tired from the run in the morning that we did not party late. We went to bed at a reasonable hour becuase I had to get up to drive home the next day.
Overall, the Boilermaker is generally one of the best race weekends of the year. It is a great race, I get to see my friends that I do not often see and spend some time away from home. I look forward to next year already!
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