Boston Marathon 2015, or why I love my job

Des Linden running the Boston Marathon in 2014, photo courtesy of Brooks.

Today was Marathon Monday -- so we had a viewing party in our Beastro. The Boston Marathon on the big screen, boxes of donuts, and 60 cheering Brooksies watching every step of the way. We were there, of course, to cheer on our athletes, including Amy (Hastings) Cragg and Des (Davila) Linden.

One of my previous favorite Brooks memories was my first Boston working there, when the race wasn't televised or streamed for free, but I paid for the stream and live tweeted the action on behalf of Brooks. I remember a little pod of people gathered around my monitor as we chanted GO DES! GO DES! GOOOOOOOO!

(I also remember an announcer saying that the lead pack stopped at a "refreshment stand" … which made me laugh and tweet about it … what were they picking up, hot dogs and cotton candy?)

This year Desi ran an amazing race, leading for a huge chunk of it, while both Shalane and Amy also running in the lead pack for a long time. The Brooksies gasped when the Ethiopians surged, dropping the rest of the pack. Shalane and Amy never closed the gap, but Des did, showing her toughness. (Which isn't to say that those ladies lack toughness!!!!) Amy ended up dropping out at mile 22, but Shalane ran on alone, and Des ran with the pack. But with a mile or so to go, the Ethiopians surged again, and dropped Des for good. Still, she was there in the back of the frame, running smoothly and looking like a total boss. She ended up with a strong 4th place finish, a time of 2:25 (gulp), and was the first American by far. So yay Des!

It was thrilling to be in a group of people all cheering on marathoners -- and I was thrilled that Rotich (Kenya) ended up winning the women's race. But of course the biggest cheer for was for Des, and they way she waved and smiled while she crossed the finish.

In other news, the awesome Tatyana Mcfadden won her third straight Boston Marathon in the women's push-rim wheelchair division. Again, she wore "Martin Richard" and 8 on her kit. I was gushing to Heather about Tatyana's achievements and how badass she is, and Heather said, "Oh my god, she's your girl crush." Fair. Totally fair.

How great is it to be able to watch the Boston Marathon at work? Seriously, great.

I'm already excited about watching the replay of London next weekend -- watching Paula run her final London Marathon, watching sweet Emma Stepto run at home, and watching the most amazing men's elite field ever. (Really, I need to run London at some point. Possibly the last full marathon I ever run.)