Endless rain into a paper cup by Sam M. '07

DID YOU KNOW? The Boston Marathon has only been cancelled once in its 111-year history, in 1918. That was because of World War 1.

So it’s not like a little wind and rain is going to stop them from running it tomorrow. Look, guys, I know I’m doing a biofuels UROP and everything, and I love the MIT energy initiative or whatever just as much as President Susan Hockfield, but I’m sick of hearing about global warming when I check out the weather report in mid-April and this is what I get…

I’ve been much more of lame-o about running outside since I got a MacBook and the above information was available to me with a simple push of F12. In case I did something stupid and you can’t see the picture, basically, it says 42 degrees, raining, and crazy windy. So I was sitting at Burton-Conner desk today earning $9 an hour and contemplating whether or not I should run the Boston Marathon tomorrow (I’ve been training since September), when I got this e-mail from Mitra.

From: Mitra Longshoreman
To: All of Mitra and Sam’s Mutual Friends
Time: 17:29 3/15/07
Subject: Marathon Monday

Hey everyone,

Despite the gross weather tomorrow, Sam and I will be attempting to run in the
Boston Marathon. If you can brave the rain, we’d really appreciate it if you
could come cheer on the runners.

I’ll be wearing black capris, red jacket, and maroon MIT cap; if the fashion
police don’t pull me over, we expect to pass through Kenmore Square between
2:20 and 3:00.

Thanks & hope to see you tomorrow!

Mitra

…which pretty much committed me right then and there.

No, really, Mitra’s e-mail didn’t push me over the edge. Sam’s Mom already made a 300-mile journey northward to see me, so I couldn’t let her down by skipping out.

No, no, not really. Beyond all my obligations to Mitra’s friends and Sam’s Mom, I’m hella excited about running 26.2 miles tomorrow. I feel like the wind and rain whipping in the faces of thousands upon thousands of runners is going to form some sort of crazy unbreakable bond between us that I will remember for my entire life. Plus, if I can run a marathon in sleet and get a degree from MIT within 90 days of each other, really, what can I not do?

True story: I walked into the floor lounge tonight to ask if I could borrow some nice fleecy running pants, which I eventually got from, of all people, Dizzle ’09. Blogger Laura ’09, who’s an EMT from New Jersey, is going to be working at Mile 23 tomorrow. She showed me her EMT handbook, which was open to the page about how to resuscitate hypothermics. Oh, I just can’t wait.

I can’t promise a McGannesque liveblog, but I’ll try to post tomorrow night letting you know that I lived through the ordeal and ended up learning the true meaning of determination. Or that I lost three toes. Something like that.

Also, thanks to all the awesome prefrosh that I met during CPW. I was going to try to have a kind of “hands-off” CPW, but you kids were so awesome that I just couldn’t manage to stay in my dorm room, and I think my weekend was a lot happier for it. Special thanks for reading my blog and recognizing me, even though I only blog like once per equinox now. You should go back and read my old entries, when I was actually diligent, and clever.

Anyhoo, by the time you read this, I’ll probably be in Hopkinton. Think warm thoughts for me, like Asok would.