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<\/a><\/p>\nEditor’s Note: Let me clarify – there’s a lot of good in Boston and some wonderful people (more on this in a moment).\u00a0 But it’s so darn cold.\u00a0 And I’m a grouch sometimes.\u00a0 So take some of this with a grain of I know this is hyperbolic “Kevin-hole-ness” which is a passive-aggressive phrasing to describe me.\u00a0 I don’t like the defense of “I was just kidding…” but in this case I kinda am just kidding to an excessive degree to try and make a point.\u00a0 There’s some seriously bad driving in this town… and did I mention it’s cold?\u00a0 It’s gonna snow tomorrow.\u00a0 On April 15th.<\/em><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Yesterday I went to the Seaport Convention Center to pick up my race number.<\/p>\n Last year we were someplace else with expo rooms leading to more expo rooms and it all felt sprawlingly overcrowded and overwhelming. This year was a more contained layout in a spacious hanger type hall, though just as overwhelmingly crowded for this introvert wall flower.<\/p>\n I bumped into major sponsor MarathonTours and said some hellos. I also ran into one of my Mainly Marathon friends; she was working the info desk and I was reminded that the running family is legion and though there may be a lot of folks coming and going, you\u2019re bound to run into some one you know… sometimes especially at the big races.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I had dinner with Meg, Julie, and Aimee, three great women I hadn\u2019t seen in far too long. I caught up with them, hearing stories of their lives and was reminded of how life carries on even when we\u2019re not looking. That\u2019s a self-centered viewpoint, as if when I left Boston in January 2015 life here would be frozen in place. Only in one\u2019s memory. Only in one\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n I remembered at least to try and snap a group shot before parting ways once more. I didn\u2019t love my selfie attempt but the one we asked the hostess to take was even worse… so here\u2019s what I call Three Women and a CryBaby.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n This morning I\u2019m running the BAA 5K in the backbay of Boston. It\u2019s a good dry run as well for getting to the buses on Monday morning.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a dry run as there\u2019s no rain, it\u2019s a brisk morning, and the sun is shining. This is going to be a marked difference from the snow (!!) tomorrow and the colder, wetter temperatures of Marathon Monday.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m trying to enjoy the day in Boston.<\/p>\n I bumped into some Mainly Marathon friends while waiting in my corral.<\/p>\n We split up before the start as they said I was much too fast for them… but as the air horn sounded intermittently in \u201cpulse\u201d wave starts for groups of folks to start running, it became increasingly clear not everyone was conscientious in accurately self-seeding their pace. A lot of ducking and weaving around folks walking in the 7-7:59 \u201cpulse\u201d I found myself in.<\/p>\n And considering the record set last year was something just over 13 minutes for the 5K, one would expect there to be a lot of speedy folks floating about. Not that I was looking for a share of the $40,000 prize monies but I didn\u2019t want to be tripped or trip up anyone either.<\/p>\n There were a few bottlenecks amidst the 3.1 mile out and back to boot.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s always a thrill running through the Boston Finish Line… even when it\u2019s 0.75 miles from our 5K finish.<\/p>\n The actual finish line was back at Boston Common, back where we began.<\/p>\n I had brought street clothes for before and after the race so availed myself of the bag check. The 45 minute post-race line to reclaim my stuff reminded me why I try never to use that service at races. They had just crammed 10,000 bags for 10,000 runners in too small a space. I wasn\u2019t alone in grumbling about the process; I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s a good way to do this but I know this wasn\u2019t the best way. Boston Common is an expansive space; two or three tents to space out the bags wouldn\u2019t have been too difficult to manage.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Having grabbed my stuff, I opted to hit a few tourist attractions BC adjacent. The famed exterior for Cheers… and now a theme bar… is here. I posted to Instagram that I was actually much more sad to see Melville\u2019s, the restaurant upstairs from where everybody knows your name, was closed.<\/p>\n And as I\u2019m wont to do, I made a pilgrimage to check on the Make Way For Ducklings art installation on Boston Public Garden. I thought they\u2019d be dressed for the marathon but they were still in their Easter bonnet best.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n As a lunch treat, I stopped at Dumpling Palace, a place Steve has taken me a few times. It\u2019s a nice Boston tradition but they would\u2019ve been better with my brother here to share them.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n