B2B -- Heat, Hills, and Sweet Sweet Strawberries

Janine S

I’d first heard of the Boston 2 Big Sur (B2B) Challenge from fellow NY Flyers Sungwon H and Joe J. It consists of 400 runners committed to running the Boston Marathon on Patriot's Day, and then running the Big Sur Marathon in California on the last Sunday in April. Some years this means the Challenge is six days apart, and in other years it’s 13 days. Without much deep thought other than wanting to stay relatively fit during the winter, I signed up and convinced Nina P-T to take the challenge with me. And so, without a very consistent training season (should’ve rejoined the wildly successful Flyers Marathon Training Program) we headed off to run Boston on April 16 for the first of 2 marathons on two coasts in 13 days.

Boston, April 16: My race was abysmal. After standing under the "sun lamp" in the corral, I was hot even before crossing the start. The funniest comment I heard after my wave began, and the runners were racing down the road, was from a guy who said "it feels like we are all running from Godzilla." I think that was the only time I laughed during the Boston race.

The first time I wanted to quit was when I passed the Harley guys that were drinking beer at Mile 2. They were having fun, and I wasn't, so joining them seemed like such a good idea, but I barreled on. The second time I wanted to quit was at Mile 7 when my leg started cramping. (Only 19 miles to go…Oh no.) At Mile 8, when I threw up my GU gel, I really, really wanted to quit. The problem was that the Boston Marathon was tied to the Big Sur Marathon in that to get the cool B2B jacket you must FINISH both marathons. So after the GU incident, at around Mile 8.5, I began running solely for the love of the jacket. Mind you, I'd never seen the jacket, but I HAD to have it; I HAD to finish, for the jacket and for the extra medal that says B2B.

Luckily for me my very good, dear friend Sungwon flew into Boston that morning and offered to run me through the Newton Hills beginning at Mile 18. Thank God. So from miles 8-18, I walked, I ran, I ate popsicles, licorice, a lollipop, pretzels, orange slices and dumped water over my head and I focused on ticking off the miles knowing with each passing mile that all I had to do was get to 18 and Sungwon would carry me in.

Kids with hoses squirted me and I ran under all the Boston Athletic Association icy spray tents despite that my blisters were forming before the half. As I approached each spray tent, I would question whether the few seconds of icy spray were worth the further damage to my feet. Mostly I decided yes, and I would grimace and then run through the cold misty tents, and frankly it sort of added to the entire torturous experience.

At last I saw Sungwon, at Mile 18, at the amazing Flyers cheering station!! It was an oasis for sure, and thank you, thank you, FLYERS in Boston for the overwhelming and encouraging support. Special thanks to Alan G who gave me electrolyte tablets and to those that cheered for me and to Sungwon, who was there waiting.

Over the next half-mile, we started chatting, and Sungwon told me I was running well, and asked me if I needed water, and life was good. Not too far ahead of us, I spotted one of the first hills of Newton, and I braced myself for the climb. Just then Sungwon said she had to fix her hair, and she'd catch up to me in a minute, so she stopped and up the hill I climbed, alone. I reached the top and proceeded, looking back a couple times to find Sungwon, but I LOST HER. Her story later was that I must've been running faster than she thought, because she couldn't find me (hmm… 10:30 pace?). To this day, I'm not sure what exactly was going on with her hair (but it is lovely!).

Stephanie P (left) Looking Terrific
with Sondra M (also Terrific) in Boston

And on I went running (and walking) for the jacket. It was around Mile 22 that Flyer Masters Captain Stephanie P passed me, looking terrific! I was walking and talking and she tapped me and said "start running!" I dropped in behind her and kept up for a little while. A mile later it was Flyers Faithful Lara that was passing me and I ran with her until almost the finish. I really kicked it in when I saw the finish line. I caught up to and then PASSED Captain America, but sadly Elmo and the Hamburglar crossed the finish before me (adding insult to injury). It was a personal worst (PW) for me, more than an hour slower than NY 2011. I finished though, and that's ALL I needed to get on that plane to Big Sur.

Big Sur, April 29: With the expo a block from our hotel, Nina and I attended the expo first thing Saturday morning when it opened at 9am and we stayed there all day! There was this tremendous line-up of speakers and so we listened to, talked to, and hung out with Jeff Galoway, Dean Karnazes, and Bart Yasso, among others. We met up with our Flyer friend Murat B (fellow B2Ber) and dragged him along to take photos with Dean. Dean even invited us to join him on his 35 mile run (yes, RUN) to the start of the marathon in the morning (he said he gets up around 2am), and we all laughed, but he was serious!

Nina, Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes, and Janine

Murat, Nina and I met at 4:00am on Sunday morning to take the bus to the start. The luxury bus drove an hour in complete darkness, and we could feel the hills (mountains) under the bus and from the moonlight we saw we were on the edge of a cliff for much of the ride. When we arrived at the start, I immediately wanted to get rid of my bag. Other runners were lying around WITH their bags and no one was panicking (except the three of us) about where to drop it. An announcement was made sometime later that we should drop our bags before lining up, but if we forgot, we could just drop them AT the start. The first “corral” was sub 3:45, and those runners could line up at the front. The second “corral” was 3:45-4:45 (ours), and we just walked up behind those that were already there, and the third was 4:45 – 6:00. It was all very civilized without pushing or ropes or officials or having to show your number.

Our new friends Bart and Jeff were standing at a podium at the start, and then the gun went off and dozens of white doves were released creating this beautiful vision to begin the journey. So after passing Dean Karnazes running in the opposite direction at Mile 1 (he yelled to us “I’m a little late!), Nina and I soon lost Murat as we had been personally convinced by Jeff Galloway to use his “method” for this marathon, and so we were walking 1 - 2x per mile for 20-45 seconds (it is a very strange feeling to walk on purpose, and slightly embarrassing to me, especially in the beginning).

Janine, Nina and Oh What a View!

The first 5 miles of the course are easy and flat to downhill and we were surrounded by giant Redwoods, and the weather was sunny and perfect. Moments after ditching my gloves and arm-warmers around the 10k mark, the sky darkened, and there was a huge headwind (we later learned it was the worst wind in 5 years, about 25 mph) as we started up the hills. All of a sudden, it was cold, and dark, and foggy and it felt like we were running though a windy cloud. We couldn't see the edge of the road, or the ocean although we could hear it, and since we came for the views, we began to wonder whether we'd be able to see anything!!

At Mile 11, the fog began to lift, and we felt the pounding of the Taiko drummers (click here to see and hear them performing at the Big Sur Marathon) in our stomachs before we could actually see them. The drummers mark the beginning of the hardest hill, a 2.5 mile climb up to Hurricane Point. The hill twists and turns out of sight and the drummers’ rhythm matches the feet of the runners.

About a mile from Hurricane Point, while still climbing and battling the crazy wind, we began to hear the most lovely piano sounds pulling us up the mountain. At the top of the hill, there is a tuxedoed man playing a grand piano, and the music echoes through the air, and the runners celebrate having reached the halfway point.

Nina and Janine Stop Briefly for a Serenade at the Half

The next half is more hills and endless, breathtaking views of the ocean, of cliffs, of cows and flowers and the famous Bixby Bridge. There are no spectators on the course, so there are many moments when there is complete silence except for the patter of feet and the sounds of runners breathing. Nina and I stopped often to take pictures as each mile looked more beautiful than the last. At Mile 23, there are volunteers with giant bowls of the sweetest strawberries, and every runner stops to eat one. It was surely the best strawberry I have had, ever. And then soon after, we saw the finish line. There was no mad dash, just more running and laughing about “another” hill at mile 25.5, and how fun it was, and how beautiful, and how great we felt (thanks Jeff). We collected our first medal and headed toward the tents.

Finally, Nina and I made it to the B2B tent where we first saw the JACKET!! (It's the coolest, greatest jacket, really) and we also got our second medal. There was amazing food, chia drinks, beer, more strawberries, and we sat in the sun and met other B2B finishers, and found Murat who was ahead of us by 40 minutes! We stayed there until the marathon had reached its 6-hour cut off, and then we walked to the finish and cheered in the final runners. Nina would yell and cheer them on, and Murat would dash over and literally run them in to the finish.

Janine, Nina and Murat with B2B Medals!
And, Most Important, Wearing THE JACKET!!!

Later that night, there was a huge B2B party and we met Wally the race director (and his entire family) who told us he created the B2B challenge because whenever he would invite people to run his marathon, he would hear “I can’t, I’m running Boston.” After years of hearing that, he created the B2B. Big Sur is frankly the opposite of Boston on many fronts, and that’s exactly why it works. There is no award money given in Big Sur, so the race is usually won by locals (this year the winner ran 2:32:25). Big Sur concurrently runs a relay, a 9 mile race, and a Big Sur 21 mile race, which we asked about because it’s such an odd distance. It turns out that it was created for someone in Wally’s family who likes to race walk, and most people can race walk 21 miles in 6 hours. Also, due to the fact that the marathon has that strict 6 hour cutoff (in order to reopen the highway), any runner who will not finish, gets loaded onto the dreaded sweeper bus. Everyone on the sweeper bus gets a 21 mile race medal (Wally said it makes them really happy!)

Somewhere during the B2B challenge and still afterward, I recalled and contemplated all the reasons of just exactly why I run. The B2B is a full, rich experience of the complexity and dichotomy of all that’s right and good about running. Boston, with its intensity and amazing athletes, all so fit and wired and buzzing with energy and competitive spirit. Well I love all that; it’s invigorating and electric and aggressive and fun. Then there is Big Sur with its doves, cliffs, drummers and piano, mixed up with fog and crazy winds and monster hills and sweet, sweet strawberries - just how my heart would describe running! And for the record, my Zen feeling and love of life lasted at least until the plane touched down at JFK.

-Janine S