Boston marathon info

I sent this to my family to let them know exactly what is the Boston Marathon. I can't remember where I found it but it's concise and made me a bit nervous considering how much I hate running hills. My bum wasn't built for incline running... yet that is of course!

"The next Boston Marathon will be on April 18, 2011, according to tradition on Patriots’ Day. About 25,000 people are expected to contend, cheered on by 500,000 spectators.
The Boston Marathon ranks as one of the most prestigious running events in the world. This honourable position is attained thanks to the long history of the race, the challenging course and the fact that you have to qualify to register as an official participant. In order to qualify, every runner must have finished a certified marathon within a certain time frame determined by the age of the runner. The qualifying standard is high enough to make qualifying for Boston – also known as ‘to BQ’ – quite an achievement in itself.
The legendary course of the Boston Marathon has been the same throughout most of the history of the race. The route follows 42.195 km of winding roads from rural Hopkinton to urban Boston, and it is renowned for its level of difficulty. Shortly after the 25k mark, the road starts going up a series of hills, named the Newton Hills. These hills never reach truly high elevations, but their position after 25 km of downhill running, when glycogen stores are likely to have run out, can break even the toughest runner. The last of the four hills is known as Heartbreak Hill.
The Boston Marathon is one of five members of the World Marathon Majors, consisting of marathons in Berlin, Chicago, London and New York, apart from the one in Boston. For registration in the Boston Marathon and further information, please follow the link to the official site here. "

A New Year of Running Begins!

Welcome to a new year! It's been over a year since my initial marathon at Niagara Falls and I've been M.I.A from my posts. BUT! A new year, so I figure a new focus for my upcoming Boston Marathon process. Last time, I focused on raising money for breast cancer, which with phenomenal support, I reached my goal.

This year though I want to blog about what it takes to be a healthy and successful marathon runner. I keep listening to the news reporting about the increasing interest in endurance sports which I'm sure is fueled by a number of reasons now a days. I fully understood how fast the marathoner numbers are growing when the Boston marathon registration closed just a couple months after opening and before I had a chance to enter. This year it closed just within hours! Thankfully I was determined not to get stuck having to re-qualify and was sitting at work pressing refresh for pretty much 3 hours before I got in. It was like reliving when the backstreet boys came to lil ol' halifax and I sat by the phone for hours calling in to the radio station for tickets. I was 13 I swear. Anyway, I'm in so now for the fun part! Running!

Hardcore marathoners keep warning about amateurs, such as myself, jumping in full swing and nearly killing themselves in the process. No need I've been told, so I want to be do a bit of research on what's out there to help us newbies get going in a way that won't make our hearts explode. First steps I've been told to cut out my energy drinks. I'm not saying it'll be easy, those things are my life source, but in the following months I'll be getting info together which hopefully will help myself and some people out there who want a good way to get into running the fun, effective, and healthy way!

Countdown begins now... 107 until the Boston Marathon ladies and gentlemen!