A friend of mine ran the Woodlands Marathon last weekend. He, too, has been training to qualify for Boston. He's faster than I am and I always believed he had a really good shot of getting in. When I saw a Facebook post of him standing next to the finish line with the clock reading 2:56: (and change), I could only imagine the joy, pride and exhaustion my friend would be feeling at that moment.
But then devastation hit. News reports came out the next day stating that the leader car, a motorcyclist hired by the race committee, had missed a turn, taking runners down the wrong path and shaving about 0.90 miles from the course. While the race director was in process of reaching out to the Boston organizers, it was uncertain whether or not those who ran a qualifying time at the Woodlands Marathon would be able to use that time as a Boston Qualifier.
For those who did not qualify or attempt to qualify, it probably wasn't a big deal. But those who pushed themselves (as I'm sure my friend did) to the limits--leaving heart, sweat and (possibly) blood on the race course, Runners burn an estimated 2,600 calories while running a marathon. The recovery time can amount to several weeks. All the effort is worth it when you cross the finish line and achieve your goal. But to cross the finish line and find out that your efforts don't count toward your goal?!?! How would you cope? It's not like you can just do another one next week...Marathon training is generally a process that spans several months and after the race, your body is left so depleted that it takes several months to recover and be fully prepared to begin training again.
But I guess sometimes that's the hand life deals you and you just have to make the best of the situation.
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