I love this race.
Okay, I may not say that every year… I can think of a few years I’ve had my head handed to me by those hills… and I might be a little biased this year because I had a pretty decent race (my 3rd fastest time in the dozen or so times I’ve run this race)… but still… I love this race.
I love the history of this race. 120 years old, which as we all know (because it says on the back of most of the shirts for the past few years) is older than the Boston Marathon (by 2 years… 1894!), making it the oldest road race in North America. I’d be willing to bet there aren’t many, if any, races in the world that are older than that either. Someone (else) should look that up.
While we’re on the topic here’s a bit of ATB trivia you may not know.
Why is ATB 30 km and not the standard marathon distance, 42.2k / 26.2 miles? Well, because there was no such thing as a “marathon” when it started! There were only “long distance” races. The Boston Marathon only started 2 years later, as did the Olympics, which also featured the marathon. But the distance in the first marathon in 1896, at the Olympics was only 40 km… then 40.26 km, four years later… then 40 km… then 41.86… then 42.195… then 40.2… then 42.75… then in 1924, at the London Olympics, they had to tack on a bit to make it go by Buckingham Palace, which put it at 42.195… which is has been ever since.
And in case you are thinking the distance has anything to do with the ancient “marathon” in Greece… and Pheidippedes, the messenger… well you are partially correct. There are at least 2 different versions and corresponding distances that go with the legend.
Theory number one is that Phedippedes ran from the city of Marathon (and battle of Marathon) to Athens to tell them that they had won the war… and collapsed and died after delivering his message… about 40 km.
Theory two is that he ran from Athens to Sparta to ask the Spartans to help them defend Athens from the Persians… to which the Spartans said no, so he turned around and ran all the way back to Athens… a nasty out-and-back run of 246 km… each way! Check out the current race the Spartathlon, which is one of the hardest ultra-marathons in the world, and it follows this course… albeit, just one way!
Either way, the official distance of the marathon has really only been around since 1924. ATB was 30 years old by then!
And one other bit of ATB trivia… I believe that’s what I was talking about originally… so, Rob, you ask, why is it always so early in the year… 3 weeks before Boston? Well… it has nothing to do with Boston (aside from being the perfect training race, 3 weeks out, especially since in emulates the Boston course almost perfectly… maybe a bit harder, considering it is only 30k!)… but it is because of the lift bridge! If they waited any longer into the spring there would be boats that need to use the lift bridge, which would interrupt the race!
By the way, if you want to see a great movie with both the Boston Marathon and Around the Bay at the center of the movie… check out the heart-warming movie “Saint Ralph”… a great movie and a running classic!
I actually had what I thought was a great idea while running around the bay this weekend… somebody (else) should pass it on to the Race Director at Boston and or ATB… but I think it would be very cool for Boston to give ATB a bit of a tip of the hat… by making Around The Bay the only race in the world that you could qualify for Boston in a distance less than the marathon! (I’m not saying they should make it easy or anything, it could still be stupid hard, eg. you’d have to get the Gold medal at ATB… sub 2:00 hours for the men and sub 2:15 for the women), but that would show a bit of class and respect by Boston for the only race older than it. Anyway, just an idea.
Okay… that’s all I have to say on ATB trivia. Unless you buy me a beer.
As for the race… well, they had a bit of a new route in the first 10k. Didn’t love it. But you know what, I love the fact that it is ugly. You know, some races are great because they are huge (Boston, Berlin, NYC, Chicago, Marine Corp, London)… some are great because they are quaint and small (Clarence Demar, Corning, etc)… tons of them are great because they are scenic destination races (Bahamas, Big Sur, St Georges, etc.)… but ATB… well, a big chunk of it is quite ugly. But too bad. Again, it was around long before the mega marathons or before anyone thought of flying across the country or the world to run a “scenic” race. It is, what it is… and doesn’t try to be anything other than that. And being 120 years old, well it has a bit of street cred… and doesn’t have to apologize to anyone for what it is. And it’s tough. I like people and races like that. Although I can’t say I know that many 120 year old people… and none that can run 30k.
Anyway, it’s a good race. You should do it.
Like I said, I really like that race. Or maybe it was because I had a good run. More likely though it’s because I got to knock back a few pints at the Gown and Gavel with some great friends after the race and talk all about it! 😉
See you there next year.
Oh, I almost forgot… because I know you all keep score… here are the results for the LOSTies and friends… (sorry if I missed anyone!)
ATB result, 2014.JPG
Cheers,
Rob