Chicago2Boston - Unrestrained Optimism Takes Over

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Way back in January (8 weeks ago), I was itching to put something on the calendar that seemed plausible.  I opted for the Chicago Marathon even though a big city marathon seemed impossible.  A friend (Thanks Stef!) made the decision easy by pointing out that I could just buy insurance for the race registration, refundable hotel, etc.  If the Chicago Marathon didn't happen, I'd be out $50 at the most.  Sold.  With the rollout of the vaccine starting and some more time maybe we could get races back in their full glory by the time the starting gun goes off in Chicago on October 10th, 2021.

One week later, my jaw dropped when The B.A.A. announced that the Boston Marathon was going to be held on October 11th, 2021.  At first, I was pissed.  I'm still chasing a 10 year streak of running the Boston Marathon, how could they pick the day after Chicago?  How rude!  However, my anger soon turned to excitement.  This created a once in a lifetime possibility of back to back major marathons on two subsequent days.  I was already accepted for Chicago, so no backing out there, why not rally?

It was fun imagining, with the help from friends, just how something like this might come about.  The logistics aren't *that* bad, but only after someone else had figured out the secret ingredient of going to Boston twice during a long weekend.  (Thanks for the tip Erin!)  The first trip to Boston on marathon weekend is to pick up your race bib.  The second trip, post-Chicago, is to actually run 26.2 miles in Boston.

I've had the following itinerary saved with Google Flights for about 6 weeks now.  Over that time the price has jumped around but has generally been on an uptrend.  When I woke this morning and saw that it had dropped to $503 overnight, I talked to Amanda about the risk and jumped in with both feet.  By the time I got there the price was up to $534 but, close enough.  Hurry up, take my money!


It was fun (and scary) pulling the trigger on a non-refundable flight for a stunt that included 2 marathons in 2 days and one of them (Boston) is so tentative that they haven't announced yet when registration is going to open.  It is very possible that the Boston Marathon won't happen and if it does there is a near guarantee that the field size will be small.  How small?  Nobody knows.  So, with my bet of non-refundable purchases now increased 10+ times from where I started let's review what the gaps are and the chances that I can pull this off.

Required Items

  • Boston Marathon registration (TBD)
  • Boston Hotel (TBD)
  • Chicago Marathon registration ✅
  • Chicago Hotel ✅
  • Flights ✅
  • Fitness (TBD)

Boston Marathon Registration (TBD)

I'm feeling pretty good about this one, or at least as good as I can feel about something where the organizers have stated that registration won't be opened until they have confidence that a race can be held.  
  • Approximately 25% of the US population has had at least a partial vaccination for COVID as of yesterday (3/13/2021).  
  • Massachusetts has announced that indoor and outdoor stadiums can re-open on March 22nd at 12% of max occupancy.
  • I've got a strong BQ from Chicago 2019 that should be allowed as a Boston Marathon registration time.
    • 2:56:35 was the time from Chicago 2019
    • I'll be 49 y/o on October 11th, so I need 3:20:00 or better to register
    • The cutoff in previous years has been based on time under BQ so that there is better equity across age/gender when deciding who to accept.
    • I'm 23:25 under BQ
    • From 2014 to 2020 the average number of registrants that beat their qualifying time by 20+ minutes was 4,525.
So, the 12% stadium number really has nothing to do with running a race, but I'm going to use it anyway.  If it is safe for a stadium to be at 12% occupancy on March 22nd, then my logic is it will be safe for the Athlete's Village where they queue the runners before the start should be able to handle 12% occupancy by October 11th.  This ignores that there could be a public health concern about spectators that derails everything but I'm in happy land right now so I am going to completely ignore that inconvenient thought.

In 2020 they expanded the field size from 30,000 to 31,500 people but I'll stick with the 30,000 as the baseline to posit that they will allow a field of runners at least 3,600 strong.  Oops.  With that, I'm probably on the bubble and miss the cutoff.  I've been on the bubble often when it comes to Boston so I'm calling that "close enough" and betting that between now and October things will improve enough that I'll once again squeeze in just barely.  Quick side note, from 2014-2020, I beat the cutoff by, 6:51, 7:25, 6:51, 2:09, 2:30, 1:00, and 1:29.  That last near miss of 1:29 would have kept me at home except an unexpected bump in field size provided just enough buffer to let me squeeze through.

Boston Hotel (TBD)

I'm struggling with this one because it means putting more non-refundable money on the table.  I always stay in the 'burbs of Boston to save on accommodations but if I'm flying in late Sunday for a race Monday morning and with no access to a car it becomes a requirement to stay at an expensive downtown hotel that has easy access to everything with public transportation.  The downtown hotels that are non-refundable are more than I want to pay.  The ones that are refundable are way more than I want to pay.

Amanda came to the rescue on this one and suggested that I reach out to my buddy Chris.  He has come to Boston with me a few different times for the marathon.  We don't see each other often enough now that we live in different states.  Her suggestion was to see if he wanted to join me this year.  If the marathon happens, it is a repeat of our prior Boston Marathon centric get togethers.  If the marathon doesn't happen?  He and I can still spend 2 days in Boston and enjoy the area, maybe even run a virtual 26.2 while we are there.  I love that she looked at the problem and found a way to guarantee a win instead of waiting for fate to torpedo our plans.

Chicago Marathon Registration ✅

I'm very lucky that the race of my lifetime in Chicago 2019 gave me a quick/easy path to a guaranteed spot for 2021

Chicago Hotel ✅

This is a more complicated, and not really complete, but I'm calling this one "green" anyway.  I have a refundable hotel stay at my favorite Chicago hotel for Saturday and Sunday night.  I need a bed to sleep in on Friday and Saturday night now, ideally I also need a place to shower after the race on Sunday.

I'm lucky that a friend and old coworker lives very close to the start/finish line of the marathon.  He and his wife have graciously agreed to allow me to crash on their couch Friday night and/or use their shower on Sunday.  With them as a backup, everything will work out but I'm going to go ahead and call the hotel to see if I can change my reservation.  They won't let me change it or cancel/rebook online.  There is also the option to stay at a cheaper hotel Friday night near the airport.  With all of the possibilities, and a buddy as a backstop, this will work out...just need to do a little refinement from where I am now.

Flights ✅

These are booked and non-refundable, what could possibly go wrong?  I'm most nervous about the flight from Chicago to Boston after the first marathon is complete.  The Chicago Marathon starts ~7am.  I'll likely take 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours to finish.  So, worst case I should be done and leaving Grant Park by Noon.  If I take 2 hours to shower, eat, ice bath, etc. then after a ~1 hour commute to the airport I should be entering security at the airport by ~3pm.  The flight leaves at 5:57pm.  The numbers work and have enough buffer that I shouldn't have to stress about every lost moment, but I do still think that there is some risk here.

Fitness

This is the big wild card.  I've never done an ultra.  I'm a guy who often hurts himself swinging for the fences during training.  I'm currently heavy from poor habits and lifting heavy sh!t.  I've only been able to run for 1+ hours once in the last 4+ months and that was last weekend.  Time will tell here.

Final Thoughts

It wasn't that long ago that I wanted to focus on being flexible and wait to see what the universe lets me have in 2021, but now I know what I want 2021 to be about.  It would be amazing to emerge from a pandemic with an athletic stunt that only became a possibility because of COVID.  This would be the most amazing way to come out of the cocoon of isolation and social distancing that I can imagine. 🤞



Update...Update...Update...This Just In

3 days after I bought the plane tickets and 1 day after writing this post, the BAA has announced registration for the 125th Boston Marathon (2021) will be on April 20-23, a little less than a month from now.  The in-person field size will be 20,000 so I'm feeling like this is actually going to come together!!! Yay!!!





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