2023 Boston Marathon is one I’ll never forget | By Joel Dziedzic

After running last year’s 2022 Boston, I knew I had to be cautious going out at the start and not get too caught up with the hype and adrenaline. I had a plan this time and I was able to stick to it for the most part.

The first 4 miles of the course are mostly downhill which is why it’s so easy to go fast and think you’re feeling great. If you go with this mindset, you will burn your legs up and pay for it later, which is what happened to me last year.

I had a pace arm band that told me what to shoot for with regard to my pace each mile. Throughout the race the plan was to stay between 6:40-7:10 per mile.

For some reason after about my 3rd mile my Garmin watch stopped showing me total elapsed time and was only showing my pace for each current mile. I wasn’t able to get it back to show me the total time.

I was able to see the regular time and ended up having to use that to calculate my half marathon time. Just before the race my friend told me if I want to get a sub 3-hour finish I needed to have a half marathon time of 1:27-1:30.

Doing the math in my head I knew I started at 10:25 a.m., therefore, I needed to be at the half marathon marker between 11:52-11:55 a.m. When I crossed that marker at 11:55 a.m. I had to rethink my strategy a little bit, but still not over do it.  I still had 13.1 miles to go. I was only halfway.

Shortly after the halfway point the course goes past Wellesley College, which is an all-women’s college, which is also known as the scream tunnel. Even without my hearing aids, I could hear the screaming from over 1/2 mile away.

The Newton Hills would be next, and I kept telling myself to stick to the plan, don’t go too fast, don’t go too slow.

Between mile 20-21 is the Famous Heartbreak Hill, last year I was proud of myself for cruising up the hill. This time I knew to take it easy and save myself, there’s still 5-6 miles to go after this hill. My watch kept telling me if I was going too slow (under 7:10/m) or too fast (over 6:40/m).

Once I reached mile 22, I kept telling myself, “This is just a short daily run distance, You got this!” At this point I figured I could start picking it up a little bit. I knew there were no more “big” hills and just a few rollers that don’t compare to our Kettles back in Washington Co.

Right around this time it started to down pour. The rain was coming down hard, I was soaked, my shoes were sloshing around, all the runners around me were splashing water with every footstep.

It was a mess, but it was a lot of fun. I somehow started to feel great, and I started to think I could maybe really beat my goal, remember I didn’t know what my overall time was, just each of my miles individually.  At this point I wasn’t capable of mentally figuring out my total time using the time of day, no way. I just knew it was time to go! Between here at the finish, I must have passed over a hundred runners.

I had a clear image of passing myself running last year’s race.

The last long straight away is Commonwealth Avenue, then you turn right onto Hereford Street for two blocks before turning onto Boylston Street for the homestretch. Shortly after I turned on to Boylston I saw the grandstand finish area and I was able to make out the clock for Wave 2. It read 2:58 something – It was within reach! All I had to do was keep running and not trip.

Getting across the finish line and achieving my goal was just an incredible feeling. To know that the training over the past several months paid off was a bit overwhelming.

I am so humbled by the support of my family, friends, school and community. I thought about so many of you throughout the race. I knew my coworkers and students back at Addison were watching and cheering me on. I knew so many of you were following and cheering me on from afar. Thank you!