Per the usual, I went on my walk around the neighborhood after getting home from work. I ate dinner and took a shower, before getting ready to drive out to the airport to catch a red eye flight out to Boston. My flight was with American Airlines out of LAX. I had cashed in some miles for a free flight. I was able to pick a seat in the exit row for both legs of this trip out to Boston. I tried to time it so that I would arrive at the LAX Economy Parking garage at about 8 pm. After I found a suitable EV parking spot, I hopped on the shuttle for a ride over to terminal 4.
LAX Economy EV Parking
Friday 4/12
I had a layover at Philadelphia International Airport. The plane landed at about 6:30 am and I got off at gate A21 in terminal A. After using the restroom, I started making my way over to the Starbucks in terminal C. On the mobile app, I ordered a bacon, sausage & egg wrap and a grande blonde vanilla latte. Once my order was ready, I walked over to the food court that was between terminals B and C. I would eat at Chick-fil-A, but airport locations do not qualify for rewards on the mobile app.
Food court
Bacon, sausage & egg wrap and a grande blonde vanilla latte
I caught my connecting flight out to Boston at gate B11 in terminal B. While waiting, I ended up talking to someone wearing this year's Boston Marathon jacket. Lo and behold, he turned out to be a fellow Marathon Maniac #6617 from New Jersey.
I landed at Boston Logan International Airport at right before 11 am. After getting off of the plane and using the restroom, I went to catch an airport shuttle for a ride over to the MBTA Airport Station. The shuttle was quite crowded with most of the riders headed to the Rental Car Center. It seemed like I was the only one that got off of the shuttle to ride the MBTA. I tried to use a kiosk to buy a 7 day unlimited pass ($22.50), but it seemed like they were in the middle of implementing the mobile app. All of the kiosks looked to be only selling single ride tickets ($2.40) or to load value onto a CharlieCard. I talked to an employee at the station that was there helping other people. He gave me a CharlieCard to use at a kiosk to purchase and load the pass. Once I got my pass, I went to the platform to wait for a train up to the MBTA Government Center Station to catch a green line train.
Catching an airport shuttle
The first green line train that was there was the E line going out to Heath St. I hopped on that and got off at the MBTA Prudential Station. It was very convenient to have the station exit right into the Prudential Center. Since I was here a couple years ago, I had an idea of where to go for the race expo over at the Hynes Convention Center. Thankfully, they had the newer scanners like the ones out in Walt Disney World, so there wasn't a need for them to search my bags. I was hoping to bypass the long line for the expo since I wasn't picking up a race bib, but I had to get in the queue with everyone else until I reached the stairs for the exhibition hall. I met up with my friends near the official merchandise checkout lines. It turned out to be great timing since they had just finished paying for their items.
For lunch, my friends wanted to eat at Wagamama. It was pretty convenient since it was also inside the Prudential Center. It wasn't my choice since I don't like Asian fusion restaurants. I ordered the grilled duck ramen. It took forever for my food to arrive, but when it finally did, it was actually not bad. However, I would still prefer to get a bowl of ramen from a Japanese or Chinese restaurant.
Grilled duck ramen
After lunch, we went our separate ways. I hopped on the green line and took it over to the MBTA Park Street Station. There I would catch a red line train headed down to Braintree. I got off at the MBTA Wollaston Station and walked down to the Howard Johnson hotel. I checked in and was assigned to room #233 on the second floor at the very end of the building. It looked like the place had just been renovated a bit. The stairwell definitely smelled like it had been given a fresh coat of paint.
Howard Johnson
At a little after 5 pm, I decided to head out for some dinner. I walked over to the Wollaston Station and took the red line all the way up to Cambridge and got off at the MBTA Central Square Station. From there I walked over to the Go Go Curry restaurant that was located inside the H Mart food court. The setup was a little bit weird as it shared a ordering counter with Sapporo Ramen. They had signs letting you know which cashier was for which restaurant. I ordered a home run chicken katsu curry and added fukujinzuke. Once my order was ready, they punched in my order number and the machine then announced my order number. Unfortunately, the portion was smaller and the food quality was subpar compared to what I was used to in New York. After I was done with my meal, I went inside H Mart to buy some drinks and snacks. The selection here was a bit lacking compared to other H Marts that I had visited. I ended up buying a bag of shrimp chips and a big 1.5L bottle of Calpico. I really wanted some more stuff to snack on, so I went across the street to buy a bag of mixed nuts and a gallon of water from Target.
Home run chicken katsu curry with added fukujinzuke
I had not plan to get back so late, but I didn't get back to the Wollaston Station until 8pm. Thank goodness, the area was pretty quiet and seemed to be safe. Back at my room, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's 5k. I took a shower and watched some WWE Friday Night SmackDown before calling it a night.
Flat runner for BAA 5k
Saturday 4/13
I got up early to get ready to head up to the Boston Common for the Boston Athletic Association 5k. I did waffle a bit if I wanted to bring along my jacket. Eventually, I did since I was planning to pick up my race shirt and checking it at gear check. I left the hotel at about 6 am. Since it was a bit chilly, I jogged over to the light rail station. I arrived at the Park Street station at a quarter to 7 am. From the station, I headed towards the corner of Boylston St and Charles St where I found the tent where they were passing out the race shirts. After I got my shirt, I headed north a bit to get a clear bag to check my stuff. Since it was still early, I used one of the portapotties that was near Beacon St to take care of some pre-race business before the place got too busy.
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
I found it interesting that gear bag check was DIY. In all of the races that I had run, I've never seen it done this way. They had volunteers stationed at each entry point, but they were barely checking to see if you had a bib. After I dropped off my bag, I walked around to check out the starting corrals and eventually met up with my friends.
Gear bag check-in was DIY
Bumped into David
Met up with my friends from Seattle
We entered the corrals somewhere between wave 1 and wave 2. It really didn't matter as it was total chaos in there with scores of walkers positioned at the front of wave 1. The race started at 8 am. We did not reach and cross the start line until 10 minutes later.
The 2 wave corrals were self-seeding and it was a total mess!
Inside the corral next to Beacon St.
I can see the start line!
That first half mile was way too congested! The course started on Charles St heading south with a right turn onto Boylston St. There were way too many people either walking or barely jogging. Eventually, I followed a tall guy that was carving his way through the crowd. Next was a right turn onto Arlington St followed by a left turn onto Commonwealth Ave. At this point, I had sped up to about a 7:15 min/mile pace. Normally, at most of the 5k's that I'd run, that would be fast enough so that very few people would be passing me. Not in Boston! There were many runners still passing me. At about mile 1.5, we made the turnaround at Charlesgate. It was pretty cool to run the underpass at Massachusetts Ave. That was followed by the right turn onto Hereford St and a left turn onto Boylston St taking us through mile 2. They had people and signs at the Boston Marathon finish line to tell runners that that was not the finish line and to not stop. There were many people pausing for a quick photo. At about mile 3, we made the final left turn onto Charles St for the last stretch to the finish line.
Finish: 23:47
Click here for my Garmin data.
Shortly after crossing the finish line, I saw Joan Benoit Samuelson off to the side. I was going to take a selfie with her, but an older guy that was there to make sure people kept moving, highly encouraged me to move on. So not to cause a problem, I complied. As I continued down the finisher chute, I bumped into the race director, Dave McGillivray. I did manage to grab a quick selfie with him.
Bumped into Dave McGillivray, the race director
Finisher medal
Back of finisher medal
Quite a bit of post race goodies for a 5k
I met up with my friends at the gear check area. Once we got our stuff in order, we went on a "scavenger hunt" of the Winteractive Canadian art experience around the Downtown Boston area. It was somewhat windy and on the chilly side, so I was glad that I had my jacket with me. About halfway through visiting all the art locations, I really needed to pee, so we ended up stopping in a Starbucks to use their restroom. Since we were there, I placed an order for a grande blonde vanilla latte on the mobile app.
Winteractive Canadian art experience
Untitled #2 (The swing): Winter St at Tremont St by Mark Jenkins
Untitled #4 (Stair walker): 31 Bromfield St by Mark Jenkins
Echoes - A Voice From Uncharted Waters by Mathias Gmachl
Myth and Evidence by Mathieu Valade
Bill Russell
Play Features by LeMonde Studio
Blissful Rendezvous by Kezna Dalz
Play Features by LeMonde Studio
Untitled #1 (Fisherman): Summer St at Chauncy St by Mark Jenkins
Grande blonde vanilla latte
Island of Warmth by ATOMIC3
Territories 2.0 by Olivier Roberge
Play Features by LeMonde Studio
Endgame (Nagg & Nell) by Max Streicher
Untitled #5 (Clothesline): 9 West St by Mark Jenkins
We had trouble locating the Untitled #3 (Woman suspended) by Mark Jenkins. It was temporarily unavailable. It was pictured on the upper right quadrant of the photo near the location where it was originally displayed. We were told that it was removed due to people thinking it was some sort of suicide attempt.
Untitled #3 (Woman suspended): Temporarily unavailable by Mark Jenkins
After that we went our separate ways. I entered the MBTA Downtown Crossing Station to catch a red line train back to my hotel. Back at my room, I ate through all of the post race snacks before taking a shower and just vegging out in my room.
Downtown Crossing station
That evening, I walked back over to the Wollaston Station to check out Big Fun Cafe. I was hoping that they would have an open table for me, but the girl told me that it would probably be about a 20 min wait. The girl first spoke to me in Cantonese, assuming that I understood. Sorry, I only know a few phrases. Instead of waiting for a table, I placed an order for the spareribs with black beans clay pot rice which would also take about 20 minutes. I milled around the area to check out the nearby stores before returning to wait inside the tiny restaurant as it was a bit windy outside. Once my food was ready, I grabbed one of their menus and took my food back to my room to enjoy. It was ok, but not as good as the spareribs that my mom makes. However, I still want to return sometime to check out other items on their menu.
Spareribs with black beans clay pot rice
Sunday 4/14
I didn't have anything planned except for meeting up with my fellow Marathon Maniacs at the marathon finish line for the traditional pre-race Marathon Maniacs photo that was scheduled for noon. I slept in a little. At just before 8 am, I went down to get some breakfast. There was actually a lot of people eating down there, so I took my food back to my room.
Hotel breakfast
I got ready and left the hotel at about 10 am to go catch the train. I took that up to Park Street Station to transfer to a green line train. I was planning to get off at the Hynes Convention Center Station since I thought they had closed off the MBTA Copley Station for the weekend. I was incorrect. They were only closing it on race day, so that's where I got off. I took a quick selfie at the finish line before meeting up with my friend. Since she had taken the commuter train in from Hopkinton, she needed to go use a restroom. We ended up using one at the Starbucks on Boylston Street. I was going to get a cup of coffee, but the place was packed.
Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo at noon
We walked over to the other Starbucks over on Newbury Street. While this location was also busy, it wasn't quite as busy. Per the usual, I ordered a grande blonde vanilla latte on the mobile app. After getting my drink, we started heading back to the finish line for the photo. We waited off to the side until more Marathon Maniacs started showing up.
Grande blonde vanilla latte
The finish line was quite crowded around that time! After we were done, my friend and I walked over to the nearby Crazy Good Kitchen to get some lunch. The place wasn't too busy when we got there and since it was just us 2, we decided to get seats at the bar. I ordered their Hot Mess and Cheese burger. It was a very tasty burger, but man, it was a wet one! My friend forgot to warn me ahead of time that I should probably get the cheese sauce on the side.
加油!
Boston Marathon finish line
Hot Mess and Cheese
After we were done with our food, we made our way over to the Public Garden to get pictures of the Make Way for Ducklings. Mrs. Mallard and ducklings were dressed up for the marathon.
Make Way for Ducklings
We then headed over to the City Hall Plaza to check out the Boston Marathon Fan Fest. Eventually, it got quite windy and started drizzling, so we started heading out. We headed towards South Station as my friend needed to catch a commuter train back to Hopkinton. I waited with her until a platform was announced for her train. Then I went down the escalator to catch a red line train back to my hotel.
Gronk!
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway
South Station
Instead of getting off at Wollaston, I decided to get off at the MBTA North Quincy Station to check out Taipei Cuisine. I arrived at an odd hour between it being too late for lunch and too early for dinner. The first lady that seated me and took my order was pretty nice. However, the lady that brought out my food and gave me the bill had a very sourpuss face! It was as if she was using her facial expression to say, "how dare you disturb my break! Why are you here at this odd hour?" I ordered their spicy beef noodle soup (N2 台灣牛肉麵). It was not bad, but I've had better.
N2 Spicy Beef Noodle Soup 台灣牛肉麵
Monday 4/15
I got off at the MBTA Park Street Station to catch a green line D train out to Riverside. However, there was something going on as we were told that that train was not running. So I hopped on the next E line train and got off at MBTA Arlington Station. From there, I caught the next D train that came along. It actually turned into an express train as the conductor informed us that there was another D train right behind us. During the ride, I ended up chatting with a group from Texas that was also riding out to be spectators out on the course. They were attempting to be at multiple locations. I got off at the MBTA Newton Centre Station.
Course map
From there, I walked across the street to get some coffee at Starbucks. Per the usual, I placed my order on the mobile app before going inside. I ordered a grande pistachio latte. After I finished off the coffee, I used their restroom before heading out. I headed west on Beacon St and then headed north on Walnut St. Once I reached Commonwealth Ave, I tried to find a spot to cross the street. Unfortunately, that section near mile 19 had barricades to discourage spectators from entering the course. The officers that were stationed there really didn't want me to cross even though the race had not reached that area. Eventually, I came up to the aid station and the volunteers there allowed me to cross over to the north side of the street. I then headed over to the corner of Lowell Ave to wait for my friends to show up.
Grande pistachio latte
Newton City Hall
John Kelley statue
Marcel Hug
Eden Rainbow-Cooper
Sisay Lemma
Emma Bates
Chase pack
Des Linden
Tony
Meb!
Cade
Chris
TP3
Ted
Almi
Lorinda
Amy
Stacy
Glen
Keith Straw
Karen
leprechaun
Gretchen
Mimi
I stayed until a little past 3:30 pm when the last runner that I was tracking came through. Then I started walking back to the Newton Centre station to catch a train back. The train got quite packed when it reached downtown Boston. It was taking forever to go from one station to another. Eventually, it reached Park St, where I switched over to a red line train headed for Braintree.
Newton Centre Station
I exited the train at the North Quincy Station. Since it had been a rather long trip, I decided to use the restroom inside Target before I continued on with my trip back to my room. I bought a drink and a bag of Siete chips after I finished using their restroom.
Since it was about 6 pm, I decided to get some dinner along the way. I decided to check out Dagu Rice Noodle. It looked quite busy when I had walked by yesterday. After I was seated and had the chance to look over their menu, I ordered the A1 Signature Rice Noodle Soup with Braised Bone-in Pork. I must say that that was some tasty broth! This place was definitely the best out of the 3 restaurants that I had tried so far in Quincy.
A1 Signature Rice Noodle Soup with Braised Bone-in Pork
Tuesday 4/16
My flight home was at about 11:30 am, so I planned to check out pretty early to head over to the airport. I booked a basic economy flight on American Airlines with a layover in Indianapolis. Fortunately, the plane for the first leg was a smaller plane so every seat was either a window or aisle seat. No middle seat to worry about. I was assigned a window seat for the second leg. More importantly, I wasn't assigned to board in the last group as was stipulated for a basic economy ticket. I'm not sure how that works, but I might have a better seating priority somewhere in their system. At about 6:45 am, I went down to get some breakfast which I brought back to my room.
Last hotel breakfast
At about 8 am, I dropped off my room keys at the front desk and made my last walk over to the Wollaston Station for this trip. I was getting quite good at timing the arrival of the trains as I only had to wait a couple of minutes for the train to arrive. Originally, I was going to take the red line up to the Park St Station and transfer over to the green line. Then take the green line over to Government Station to catch a blue line train over to the Airport Station. Then finally from there take a shuttle ride to the airport. However, I decided to call an audible and get off at South Station to catch a silver line SL1 bus over to the airport. In the end, I think that turned out to be the better choice since it was quicker and there was way less transferring to do.
Catching the SL1 bus to the airport from South Station
After getting through TSA security screening, I started heading over to my gate in terminal B. Along the way, I came up to the Starbucks that was next to Gate B17. Per the usual, I placed my order on the mobile app. I ordered my usual grande blonde vanilla latte. I then walked over to Gate B11 where I found yet another Starbucks. I found an open seat to wait for my flight and to drink my coffee. Near my gate was a Boston Marathon finish line photo op. I helped a few people take their pictures.
Grande blonde vanilla latte
My flight into Indianapolis Airport landed at about 2 pm local time and docked at Gate B6. Since I was in the last row, I was pretty much the last person to get off of the plane. My connecting flight was out of Gate B8, but I had a couple of hours to pass. I walked through the concourse to check out the food options. I thought about getting a burger at Shake Shack, but eventually got a drink and sandwich at the Starbucks next door. I placed my order for a salted caramel cream cold brew and bacon, gouda & egg sandwich on the mobile app. While I waited nearby, one of the employees was very boisterous in trying to get people to try a sample of the new spicy lemonade refreshers. I wasn't interested so I politely refused. Eventually, a swarm of young kids came through the concourse. They were more then willing to take a sample.
Grande salted caramel cream cold brew and bacon, gouda & egg sandwich
I boarded the plane which left Indianapolis at around 5 pm. The Chinese lady sitting in the middle seat was pretty darn restless and squirmy. She kept bumping me while I was trying to take a nap. She even reached over and raised the window shade which let in some really bright sunlight! Eventually, I gave up on trying to take a nap. I saw that she was trying to get out and used the lavatory. However, the girl sitting in the aisle seat was sleeping. I told her in my very limited Mandarin Chinese to just wake the person up. Ironically, she said that she didn't want to disturb the person! She had no problem disturbing me! She ended up climbing over that person. Now that she knew that I spoke some Chinese, she tried to have a chat with me. However, I had to tell her that my Mandarin was very limited since I had come to America when I was only 6 years old. Unfortunately, I only can speak fluently in the Taiwanese/Hokkien dialect.
Tomato juice
The plane landed at LAX at just before 7 pm. After getting off of the plane and using the restroom, I made my way out of the terminal. There was quite a bit of remodeling taking place in terminal 4, so I couldn't use my usual route to exit. I had to double-back a bit to use another exit out to the baggage area. Fortunately, I got outside just in time to catch a shuttle headed to the LAX Economy Parking garage. It was a nice drive home since there wasn't much traffic on the freeways at that time of the evening.
I think this trip accomplished its purpose. I got a good taste of the Boston Marathon. I wanted the experience to give me more motivation to finally get myself here whether it be by running a BQ, securing a charity spot, or by the luck of the draw. This marathon is the last one that I need to complete all 6 of the World Marathon Majors. Running it would also finish off the 50 US States plus DC.
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