Boston Marathon 2024 race report – and a shoutout to the Ealing Eagles
Written by Molly Deely
Marathon morning began by taking the T line to Framingham with Andy and Caroline to drop off our bags and board our yellow school buses to the start line in Hopkinton. I was wearing a Boston Celtics T shirt I’d been given by my cousin the day before. It was XXL and looked like a dress, but it kept me warm while I waited. There’s a funny picture of me in my massive top with Andy at the bus queue- the only picture from the whole event where I’m smiling!
Running in fancy dress isn’t allowed at the Boston Marathon but I did see a few odd outfit choices in the athlete’s village. Lots of men with no tops on and a woman in a backless tennis dress to name a few. In hindsight probably a clever decision and I’m now jealous of the nice even tans they must all have compared to my awful vest burn.
As the start time grew closer we were separated into our different corrals and made our way down the 0.5 mile walk to the start line. By this time the sun was out in full force glaring down at us completely exposed. Luckily there were lots of volunteers with suncream on route.
The start of the race was very fast, and I must have been overtaken by hundreds of runners within the first few minutes. I tried my best to be sensible, my mantra for this race being ‘don’t exert yourself’. It didn’t last very long.
Quite early on I realised that the race strategy I had planned would not be possible due to the heat. I found myself stopping for water at mile 2 as it was already so hot. There was Gatorade and water at every mile marker which was much needed.
Due to the steep downhills in the first few miles I knew I would have to pace it carefully and not go off too fast. My adjusted goal pace was already feeling hard one mile in and I knew it wasn’t going to be my day. I had to work hard to stick to my pace and I never really got into a rhythm.
Miles 10-16 were when it started to get painful. I was throwing cups of water over my head to cool down and drinking as much as I could. I was wearing my tried and tested marathon kit, the same kit I had worn for my two previous marathons as well as my trusted body glide. Despite this, I had painful chafing from mile 10 onwards. It felt like everything was going wrong.
By mile 17 I was slowing down and had accepted my fate. I slowly ran up the first 2 Newton hills without much trouble. It wasn’t until I ran downhill that I really felt it in my legs. At mile 20 I was struck with immensely painful cramping above my knees like nothing I’d experienced before. From then on in I was run walking to the finish line, speeding up when I saw my American cousins at mile 23.
My race didn’t go to plan but I wasn’t too disappointed as I’d had an amazing weekend with my fellow Ealing Eagles.
When I joined the Ealing Eagles back in April 2022 if someone had told me 2 years later I’d be running the Boston marathon I would never have believed you. It has been a whirlwind 2 years in the club for me and I am so grateful for all the training, advice, and encouragement I’ve received since joining.
I was not a runner when I joined the club and had been in bad shape since the pandemic, struggling to find the motivation to exercise. Once I became an Eagle I ran the evening club run every Monday and Wednesday religiously for 3 months. Having a group to run with helped me so much and I loved how friendly and sociable everyone was. It was at these club runs I heard about Summer League and I was lucky enough to run the 4x400m relay at Battersea. That was when I knew I had fallen in love with running and this club.
Cross country season was when I really got a taste for racing. I enjoyed representing the Eagles and trying my best for the club. The camaraderie and team spirit was infectious and I loved cheering the men’s team on after the women’s race had finished. If it wasn’t for the Eagles I never would have ran a marathon let alone one of the most prestigious marathons in the world and I am so proud and lucky to be a member of this club.
