The True Champions of the Boston Marathon

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The final stretch of the Boston Marathon leads to one of the most iconic finish lines in sport. Almost 26 miles into the 26.2-mile race, you make a final left-hand turn off Hereford Street and onto Boylston, and there in the distance, you can see the blue arches of the bridge that’s mounted above the blue and yellow finish line painted on the road.

I’ve run the Boston Marathon five times and this last quarter-mile always brings me to tears. Runners are often an emotional wreck this far into a marathon, but there's something magical about Boston, with its 117-year history, that brings out a powerful sense of being a part of something big.

When you cruise down that last straightaway, you can’t help but feel an incredible bond with the spectators who line the street on either side 10 or 15 people deep. Their cheering, clapping and high-fiving propels you through those final torturous strides toward your goal.

The two explosions that struck near the finish line at the 4 hour and 9 minute mark of Monday’s race hit densely packed areas of crowds – probably some of the same people who cheered me on the last time I ran Boston in 2011. And the thing about spectators in Boston is that they’re not just there to cheer on friends and family. This race has enough of a tradition that it brings out families, college kids, construction workers and just about anyone, to cheer on some 24,000 runners they’ve never met.

You might think it would be boring to stand on the street for hours watching people drag their tired selves through the end of a race, especially hours after the winners have come through, when the throngs of recreational runners come pouring in. But Boston Marathon spectators know better. They see the looks of determination on our faces. They know how hard we’ve worked to get to this point. They care.

If you’ve ever set your mind to train for any kind of athletic endeavor, you know how much it means to have other people recognize that commitment, and the marathon offers a unique experience to have thousands of people cheer you on as if you were a pro sports star. With 500,000 spectators along the point-to-point course, the Boston Marathon is the Super Bowl of amateur athletics, and as a runner the cheering crowds make you feel like you just caught the game-winning Hail Mary pass.

My best memories of approaching the Boston finish line are seeing the looks of excitement on the faces of all the little kids that I high-fived. It’s incomprehensible that one of those boys was killed. Some of the runners were injured in the blasts, but it was the spectators who suffered the brunt of the damage. They are the real heroes of the race. 

Joggling 800m: I Really Dropped the Ball On This One

I learned a couple of valuable lessons in my 800m joggling world record attempt on Saturday:
1) Don't slow down on the second lap.
2) Don't drop the ball with 50m to go.

Pacer extraordinaire Jay Brecher – who runs a sub-2 800m – agreed to go out at a 32 first lap and 65 for 400m, but I lagged behind a little too much and hit the 400 in 66 or so. The third lap felt pretty good but I was still a couple of seconds behind schedule at 1:40. The good news was that my legs and cardio felt relatively fresh heading into the final 200, and I still thought I had a good shot at a 2:13, with a 33-second last lap.

Down the backstretch, I made a solid move, and started to gain on Jay, who was still running on a 2:12 pace. Coming around the final bend, I put the hammer down, but my leg turnover suddenly fell out of synch with my juggling and one of my tosses went too high. I tried to regain the pattern, but moving at a 4-minute-mile pace, this proved impossible and I dropped.

By the time I scrambled around to pick up the ball and start up again, I lost about four or five seconds. Looking at the clock as I finished, I dropped again just as I was crossing the line, which I also did in my joggling marathon record, but in that case I had a couple of minutes to spare. In the 800, every second – and every catch – counts.

I'll try again in an outdoor race, and maybe even take a crack at the mile record of 4:42.

Here Goes: 800m Joggling Record Attempt March 16

Mark your calendars, joggling fans (all five of you)! The stage is set for my attempt to smash the 800m joggling world record of 2:13.24, set by Eric Walter at the 2011 IJA Joggling Championships in Rochester, NY. I'll be chasing this record this Saturday, March 16, in a special exhibition event at the Canadian Masters Athletics Indoor Track & Field Championships at York University in Toronto.

My University of Toronto Masters Track Club teammate Jay Brecher is going to rabbit the race with a goal of hitting 2:12. This will be a chance of pace from the marathon. And if I drop a ball, I'm pretty much toast.

New Goal: 800m Joggling World Record

It will be mine! Oh yes, it will be mine!

I've been training at the 800m with the University of Toronto Masters Track Club and have decided to make a go at the 800m joggling world record, which stands at 2:13.24. That's a brisk pace for sure, but should be within reach based the 200m time trial I did in 31.8 seconds indoors.

Now I'm wondering if I could make a run at the mile record of 4:43. Hmm, that's a tough one.

Joggling Makes "Unusual World Championships" List

Joggling made the list of "Unusual World Championships" in Mishpacha Magazine (the "#1 Jewish family magazine" – is there more than one?). There I am at the bottom looking very serious wearing a GoPro camera on my head as I joggle the Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington, Ontario. Thanks to photographer Peter Hein for sending along the image.

Seeing this photo reminds me that I'd like to get some better POV joggling footage. The angle of the head-cam for that one was a bit too high, so you couldn't really see my hands, just the beanbags popping up into the frame. Next time I'll tilt it down to get the full effect. 

I switched up my training recently to specialize in 800m track racing. I haven't tried joggling this event yet, but last time I checked the 800m joggling world record was 2:14. A very tough record, but within the realm of possibility. Maybe I'll give it a shot ... with a GoPro.

Joggling at the Track

After a great track workout yesterday evening with the UTTC Masters Track Club, I did a little joggling at Varsity Stadium. This track is pure magic.

Joggling: The Movie

I found this random, funny trailer for "Joggling: The Movie," by accomplished juggler Pete Ucciferro:



which is the perfect segue to announce that Benjamin Fingerhut's documentary, "Breaking and Entering," has been released on iTunes, Netflix and Amazon. It features some mind-blowing joggling footage of my joggling duel with Zach Warren at the Salt Lake City Marathon. Get the details HERE. And watch the trailer here:

New York Times: 3 Beanbags and 26.2 Miles

New York Times Joggling Article

New York Times reporter Sara Beck put together an excellent piece on 67-year-old joggler Jack Hirschowitz, who will be joggling his fifth New York City Marathon on Nov. 4. I was quoted a few times in it, calling joggling "a fringe sport for the odd lunatic." Lunatics in a good way, of course. 

Beck describes the rules of joggling and sums up quite succinctly the types of competitions: "Records have been set with five balls. Clubs are possible, but awkward. Knives are discouraged. Hurdling should be left to the experts."

I agree that joggling knives isn't advisable in a marathon, but on a treadmill is fine, right Tyler Wishau?

Zen and the Art of Joggling

Oh, the intensity of running 42.195K while tossing and catching beanbags 32,000 times. Photo courtesy of the Trapline Marathon.

Trapline Marathon: 1st Joggler and 1st Overall

The Trapline Marathon is no ordinary race. The starters' gun is a trappers' rifle (that was so loud we all froze at the line for a second of stunned silence before making our way forward), the start-line posts are made out of wooden snowshoes, there was a moose on the race course and moose stew served after the finish (a different moose, I was told by race organizers), along with a smorgasbord of other local delicacies.

The people in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador (how's that for a lengthy place name?) welcomed this wacky joggler with open arms and a good sense of humour and didn't even get mad at me when I won the marathon overall while juggling, in a time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 32 seconds, and also set a course record.

I can say with near-certainty that this marks the first time anyone has won a marathon while juggling. I, of course, think this is pretty cool, however, the rest of the runners behind me might think otherwise. But I salute all of the runners in the full marathon, half-marathon and 10K at this spectacular race. And thank you to the hawk that flew half a foot in front of my face near the halfway mark for not making off with one of my balls. I salute you, too.

(Images courtesy of the Trapline Marathon)

The Bannister of Beer

The beer mile is getting a lot of press now that American Olympian Nick Symmonds is going for the world record. A video from TMZ shows Symmonds running a 5:15, which is very close to Canadian Jim Finlayson's world record of 5:09.
When I was the editor of Canadian Running, I assigned a feature article to Finlayson so he could tell the story of his record, and of his quest to break the magical 5-minute beer mile barrier. Here it is, one of my all-time favourite features in CRM, "The Bannister of Beer":

Next up for me: the joggling beer mile. Wonder what the record is for that one?

Matt Feldman Destroys 5-Ball Joggling 1-Mile Record

They say learning how to juggle five balls is 10 times harder than juggling three. When it comes to joggling with five, I'd say it's about 60 times more difficult than the traditional three-ball joggle.

Considering that, Matt Feldman's recent world record for the five-ball joggling mile of 6:33 is nothing short of astounding. Even better, there's a good video of it, so you can see how fluid his form is with the five-ball pattern on the run. Feldman makes it look easy, but trust me as one who has tried, this is reedonkulous skill.

Would this not be an entertaining Olympic event? Imagine a dozen jogglers and 100 balls flying around the track in an Olympic five-ball 1500m joggling final!

 

Wacky Sporting Champions

Guinness World Records has a new ebook dedicated to "Wacky Sporting Champions," including the basketball spinner from Benjamin Fingerhut's documentary, Breaking and Entering. I wonder if any jogglers made it in there?