You know the saying… You wait ages for a bus then two come at once!

Well, you wait ages to qualify for Boston (with a big enough buffer!) then you go back to back, baby.

After finally achieving my dream of racing Boston in last year’s Boston Marathon 2023 after the heartbreak of missing out in 2020 due to the COVID cancellation and then again in 2021 due to the US Travel Ban. Last year meant a lot, not to mention picking up my 6-Star Finisher medal as well. So to be back here doing it all again (minus the 6-star medal) 12 months on is a pinch-me moment.

Last year was one of those lifetime highlights and I am always wary of going back and doing something again after such a special first occasion but I think we are in safe hands with Boston, it is always going to be a special weekend.

So, like last year, I got into town late Friday night so on Saturday I went to the expo to pick up my race bib and have a look around to see what they have on offer. I did set myself a strict goal of not spending too much money and do I really need another Boston Marathon celebration jacket? I have the 2020 non-race jacket and the 2023 jacket, the irony isn’t lost on me that the 2020 jacket is probably going to be the only Boston jacket I get which had the logos embroidered on, unlike the latest jackets.

Bib Pick Up:

I got to the exhibition hall just before 10:30am after running the Tracksmith Morning Shakeout run. This is a similar time to last year and I found the queue to get in wasn’t too bad last year.

This year was a little different, the actual queue outside the building wasn’t bad and was fast-moving, in fact, you rarely stopped moving which was good. Once inside though, it was a never-ending line snacking around this big empty hall.

then down another corridor, up more stairs, down more corridors. You get my drift, right? They spread the queue out and control the numbers in the expo by holding you out in the hall and corridors. That said, you don’t stop moving, you are always progressing forward.

Then comes the plus point of that crowd control. When you hit the bib pick up desks, which are separated out into each coloured wave. There are very few people waiting in line. I walked straight up to my desk and got my bib in a matter of minutes. There is logic to that queuing madness.

Expo:

After bib pick up I moved into the main expo hall where all that queuing logic went out of the window. The Adidas stall was a free-for-all and was packed! I am not the biggest fan of large crowds and being pushed and jostled around so for me, big city marathon expos are my worst nightmare. Now, if you have been to the New York City Marathon expo, Boston isn’t quite as big as that, and outside of the Adidas section, it wasn’t too bad.

I came out of there with a Spike the Unicorn stuffed toy for my daughter, a big win for me. I get good dad brownie points and resisted buying the marathon jacket thanks to the crowds.

Insider tip here though, if you go to the Fan Zone, they also sell the Adidas gear there and there is usually next to no queue and yes, fomo got the better of me and I did buy the jacket later on today.

They had the usual wall listing to Boston Marathon runner’s names, now I am on my 11th world marathon major I have moved passed the stage of taking my photo pointing at my name on a wall…

There is also the Abbott Six Star Finisher Wall of Fame listing all those who have completed the 6 World Marathon Majors.

Woah wait hang on!! Didn’t you just say you were passed that pointing at your name on a wall business…

Turns out I’m not. In all seriousness though, when I became a 6-star finisher in Boston last year, the Wall of Fame was already up at the London Marathon expo so I wasn’t on the wall when I ran my next major so this is the first time I have seen my name up there in lights. You can bet your house that I will be back here looking at my name on that same wall in London next week too.

The rest of the stalls weren’t of any interest to me, to be honest, I usually just want to get that bib and get the heck out of there to de-stress.

One thing I liked about the Boston Expo last year and again this year was the section showcasing some of the Boston Marathon historic memorabilia, such as the medal from the very first marathon in 1887. Back then, it wasn’t called the Boston Marathon, it was the American Marathon. That was because it was the only marathon in America at that time.

Some more cool stuff included Des Linden’s jacket and race bib from when she won the 2018 marathon in those awful conditions. I watched that race and to me, anyone who made it through that is a winner!

When I finally escaped the expo, I think I was in there for about an hour in total, including the queuing time so it wasn’t that bad really. I did what all good Boston Marathoners do, and headed to the finish line to take some photos.

I then made my way over to the Fan Fest which has moved to City Hall Plaza this year and felt kinda out of the way from all of the action, but I understand there is construction work going on in the usual place so all makes sense.

By the time I got there, it was like I had gone to a different country. It was warm, calm, and sunny when I was at the finish line. Now at the Fan Fest, the wind was blowing a gale, and it was cold and pouring rain. That meant the outdoor stalls and activities were empty, everyone was in the beer tent sheltering. I took a chance during a pause in the rain to go out to the Adidas stall and totally caved in and brought the 2024 Boston Marathon celebration jacket. Yes, I now have three Boston jackets to go with the four New York jackets and one Chicago and Berlin jacket. I am a marketer’s dream.