Well I'm home! What an incredible Marathon! The estimate is that 500,000 people lined the course from Hopkinton to Boston. There were some very memorable moments on the course.

Mile 1: There was a permanent yellow triangular information sign on the side of the road "Dead Man Walking - Next 25 Miles"

Mile 3: There was a rowdy biker bar on the left with 100's of people and a really loud rock band playing.

Mile 13: The Wellsley Girls. This is Wellsley College and the girls form a gauntlet that you run through. Most wanted to "high five", some wanted a kiss or hug and one wanted to get married. You could hear them from about 1/2 mile away.

Mile 20.5: Heartbreak Hill. Well to me anyway, I was looking forward to it. Yes Heartbreak is long and steep, but it is also the last significant hill. So with that in mind, I was actually looking forward to it. There are a lot of, and I mean a lot of other hills that you have to climb prior to getting to Heartbreak.

Mile 25: The Citgo sign............meaning you only have a little over a mile to go.

The weather was not great. This was the third year in a row that it was hot. The start is at noon and it was already 70. The best temps for a marathon are in the 40-50 range. Approximately 700 people got medical attention..........mostly due to dehydration.

I was shooting for around 4 hours. I was happy with my time, considering the heat, with a net time or chip time(starting line to finish line) of 4:15:06. I was particularly happy with the way I moved up. In Boston you are seeded by your qualifying time, regardless of age. I was seeded 15,774 out of 21,000 something. I finished 12,528...........so I passed over 3,000 people during the 26.2 miles.

So what's next after Boston? I'm looking at the Air Force Marathon in September and the Austin, Texas Marathon in February 06. Those will be numbers 19 and 20.