Consultant. Runner. Aaron.: Chicago Marathon 2012

To call myself a Boston Qualifier is the light at the end of the tunnel of several years of marathon training. For every serious marathoner, it's the ultimate achievement in long distance running because it's the world's oldest and most prestigious marathon course. But, above all, it's an elite marathon with a competitive registration process. All the 25000 runners in the field have rightfully earned their places on the starting line.

I've harboured dreams of qualifying for Boston early on in my marathon "career", but at the time I was still a long way from making the grade. It was only when I got a London Marathon Good For Age place in April this year that I felt I had a serious shot at qualification. At that time I had the Chicago Marathon lined up next, which was perfect as it's a flat and fast course. Of course, over the five months of training for Chicago, there were doubts along the way, but it all fell into place in the later stages as I hit my target times in training and practice races. That alone gave me the belief that I was due for something special.

To add weight to the task, at the marathon expo the day before the race, I signed up to be a part of the Nike pacing team. That meant I wore a race number with a target time on the back of my singlet, so that others would be aware of it and try to stay with me, or give encouragement if they felt the pace was too slow. There were three elite runners in each pace group, who had the responsibility of running the marathon in a designated time. I was in the team to get the support of the pacers and the others in the team who also had the same time aspirations. One of the pacers had the formula 7:03 x 26.2 = BQ! written on the back of his shirt, so his responsibility of helping runners run a Boston Qualifying time was an important one. For me, the important question was whether I could hold that 7:03 pace for 26.2 miles.

The split times for every mile required to run a BQ!

As soon as the elites were introduced and the gun went off (to the music of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run, which seems to be the theme song of the Chicago Marathon and just what I wanted to hear!), it was time for me to take the stage. It was time to experience for myself what these runners must have experienced in the movie, Spirit of the Marathon, where the setting was the very own Chicago Marathon in 2005 (if you haven't seen the movie, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!).

The pacers did an excellent job of keeping the pace on track in the first few miles, and kept our group together in unison. Then for some inexplicable reason after mile three, I decided to pull away from the group and go out on my own. It was a brave move, and at the same time I was hoping it wasn't a fatal mistake as going out fast too early is almost always the reason why runners "hit the wall". Every time I passed a mile marker I kept looking at the watch and the target splits on my arm. Doing the maths in my head while running was hard enough but I was generally putting precious seconds into the bank. As the run continued, I kept banking time all the way up to mile 22!

Crossing into N. Franklin St at mile 12.

Traversing through Chicago's 29 neighbourhoods, and encountering supporters in the area, was such a thrill. Thousands of Chicagoans came out and lined the course for the entire distance to support the runners. The volunteers, who reminded me of the gamesmakers from the London Olympics, were superb in their roles. This is why I prefer running big-city marathons, because the energy from the crowd is so electric you can feed off this wave of emotion.

Carried through Chicago west side at mile 16.

It was probably the reason why I managed to put the hammer down in the 3rd quarter of the race where I ran my fastest splits, even though my legs were starting to feel uncomfortable after mile 10! I kept on running through the discomfort, focusing on the task at hand and hoping that my earlier decision to leave the group wasn't going to cost me dearly.

In Chinatown at mile 21.

The last four miles were the hardest I've ever had to endure. I knew it was going to be tough, but I just didn't expect how extremely difficult it was going to be. And I certainly didn't expect the drastically reduced pace I was going at. All I could think about was just to keep on going and going, keeping with runners that I knew would get me home on time, picking off those runners that were falling by the wayside and hoping I didn't lose all that precious time I had banked earlier.

Grinding along State St at mile 23.

I couldn't help looking around to see who was still with me. One runner, a girl from California, was more or less running with me since mile 20. We kept trading for the lead all the way to mile 25, but on the final stretch on S. Michigan Ave, she decisively pulled ahead and left me with a parting message, you're going to get it! She knew from my race number/target time on my back that I was going to get the 3:05 and gave me the encouragement as she set off.

With only 1000m to go I looked at my watch and I still had over 6 minutes to complete the race within 3:05. Surely nothing could stop me, unless I cramped up or, even worse, completely bonked at the final stretch.

On E. Roosevelt Rd in the final mile!

Thankfully it didn't happen - the final crowds on Michigan Ave and Columbus Dr were immense and responsive (I even waved my arms to get them to cheer louder and they did!). My finish celebration was planned well in advance too. Had I finished with a BQ time I would do the Mobot as I crossed the line, in homage to the awesome British distance runner, Mo Farah, whose performances over the past year, and most notably winning two golds at London 2012, have inspired me to no end! With 20 metres to go and nothing to stop me from claiming Boston Qualifying glory I raised my arms, Mobot style, as I crossed the line. It was over, I was done! I blew the Windy City over!

Crossing the finish and celebrating my BQ with the Mobot!

Michelle, the girl from California who I ran the last miles with, waited for me at the finish. We hugged and congratulated each other on getting new PBs that day! Then I waited for the three pacers to cross the line, to thank them for their great work. All three got home just in time, credit to them for executing such a difficult job with distinction.

Mission accomplished! A job well done!

I really enjoyed the whole Chicago experience, and I will not hesitate to return for another run in this great city. It's right up there with Berlin, another big-city marathon, perhaps even surpassing Berlin with its electric atmosphere, superb organisation, and the fact that I ran a BQ in the Windy City. My only regret is that I wasn't able to spend more time there - immediately after the marathon I had to walk two miles back to the hotel, to change and quickly check out before my evening flight to Boston. The people were very friendly and welcoming and took great interest when I told them I was running the Chicago Marathon, and even more when I shared the good news about Boston.

But the best bit was on my evening flight to Boston (not to scope the course, but to visit a friend) on a full American Airlines plane - we were basically treated like elite sportspeople traveling with the public. As I boarded the plane, one woman remarked, oh look, here comes the marathoners! I looked at her, smiled, and just said hey, how you doin'? as if I really was Mo Farah. As we landed in Boston, the flight attendant announced on the PA system, on behalf of the crew of American Airlines, and the passengers, congratulations to all those passengers who ran the Chicago marathon today, which was such a nice touch and the entire plane went into cheers of applause. With my qualifying achievement and the recognition from the public, it was as close as I got to being an elite sportsperson!

Qualifying for Boston has taken me over three years, several marathon attempts, and many thousands of miles logged in training. It's also given me the appreciation that there are no such things as shortcuts in running and that success in running takes time (think months/years, instead of days/weeks). Over the course of these three years, I've received a lot of support from all areas and walks of life, and I'd be remiss if I didn't thank the many people who have supported and helped me in achieving this fantastic result. So, in no particular order:

My coach at Reading Roadrunners, Coach Tony Canning, for his no-nonsense approach to coaching. In particular, pushing the intensity boundaries, never giving more recovery than is necessary, and (his favourite) moving the starting/finishing cones around so we weren't exactly sure where the real start and finish lines were!
The good folks at Reading Roadrunners, to name a few: Nelesh, Alan, Andy, Catherine, Simon, Donald, Paul, Dean, Bruce, Peter and others) who have challenged me to improve and push myself week-in and week-out, whilst also making it enjoyable as well with all sorts of random banter.
The many folks at Reading parkrun, who I run with almost every Saturday. In particular, Angela and Cookie Liu and family for their friendship and support, Simon Brimacombe for his long-standing support right from the start, David Lewis for his humour and enthusiasm to all things related to running, Peter Cook for inspiring me on a lot of levels, Keith and Jane Ellis, the Caswell family, and many others too numerous to mention.
My colleagues at work for putting up with me. In particular, Peter Gauld, an experienced Iron Man, who has seen me "transform" from a naive marathon runner wannabe in 2010 looking for quick fixes, to the experienced and strong runner of today... and Claire White for her un-failing humour, support and friendship (and pretty much everything!) while I was dedicating myself to meeting the Boston Qualifying standard, and on top of a very demanding full-time job that nearly got in the way of training.
All the folks on Twitter, Facebook, dailymile and Run Your BQ for their comments and support along the way, in particular The Crazy Cat, and others too numerous to name - you all know who you are! Special mention must also go to Jason Fitzgerald, founder of strengthrunning.com and the creator of the Run Your BQ online community, whose training philosophy aligns very closely with my hard work ethic - that the only way to improve your running is to run a lot, not through so-called training shortcuts promoted by many running coaches these days.
And my family for being supportive of my running, even though they think I should slow down a bit......

Even though I'm still technically in recovery mode, I can't wait to take it to the next level and I'm itching to resume training again. A sub 3-hour marathon time is within my grasp and to break that barrier will cap off an incredible running journey spanning over three years. To do it in London, on April 21st, 2013, on home ground, on the birthday of a dear friend of mine, and with the support of family, friends and the London crowd - I can't ask for anything more special than that! As for when I will run Boston, it will have to be in April 2014, where I'm sure that my time from Chicago is good enough for qualification in that year.