Boston Marathon is one of the most sought-after races to take part in anywhere in the world. As well as being steeped in history, one of the main reasons for its popularity is its requirement to qualify to get a spot – something thousands of runners focus on every year.
Tom heads to the city to take on the 26.2 miles wearing the Nike Alphafly 3.
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JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:30 – The Expo
03:54 – The Tracksmith Shakeout Run
05:03 – The Race
13:00 – The Kit: Nike Alphafly 3
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Hey Tommy from the Run testers I'm Currently in Boston about to do the Boston Marathon on Monday it's Saturday At the moment and I'm on my way down to The Expo to pick up all my stuff and uh See what's Happening at the Marathon Expo so um I Will report back throughout my trip Because I'm going to be doing a few Interesting things while I'm here as Well as the race uh see you in a Bit yeah [Music] H I am back now from the Expo back in my Hotel room um I'm going to break this Video up into bits because I got a few Bits to talk about and I'm going to Document it as I go along so the Expo I Was pretty excited about going to the Expo actually because it's Boston Marathon it's I was expecting a really Really impressive Expo it's not that Impressive really it's um obviously You've you've got the uh Adidas um store At the front which is absolutely rammed We got there I got there at 9:00 in the Morning um it's opens at 9:00 so there's Quite a big queue to get in and you have To wind your way all way around the Building you eventually get to the Entrance to pick up your um uh bib that Doesn't take very long that was really Quick really simple but when you get Into the the shopping area the Adidas
Area it was really really busy it was it Was chaos um of people buying stuff I Bought quite a lot of Kit I don't Normally buy Marathon kit when I go to Do um go to an expo but because this is Boston Marathon I wanted some souvenirs So I got some really nice kit actually From the um from the Adidas shop there's Some really nice design this year for The Boston kit and I've already seen Hundreds of people wearing what they' Bought around Boston as I wandered Around afterwards to get myself a bagel And check out some of the shops um apart From that shop there's a few bits and Pieces at the Expo there's some nice Interesting there a um there's a big Stage with people talking uh doing Discussions on various um aspects of the Marathon and other stuff as well that's Quite impressive there's a few nice Little things like Photo places that you Can go and and um there's lots of little Freebies and stuff like that that are Quite nice including a little bell that Um you can give to a spectator to um Wave as your as the runners come in um But other than that there weren't really Many other brands there there's quite a Small area of Brands which um wasn't Very impressive to be honest there Wasn't really much going on in the uh Little secondary area um had a few Brands like aftershocks and uh or shocks
Uh and a few and a few other brands like That but um there wasn't any major major Big Brands there it wasn't like um London or New York Marathon Expos so it Wasn't actually that impressed by the Expo was quite excited about it but it Wasn't great uh afterwards though I went To the main street where all of the um Sports shops are uh I had nipped into Rabbit and had a chat to those guys About the kit they've got in their new Shoe so I'm going to be testing that Shoe out soon uh popped into tracksmith And a few other places as well that's The really good bit of the um before the Race because it is buing with Runners All the shops seem to have special Bossing kit on uh well worth um having Wanted up and down that that road to see What is available there really really Impressed by that uh so now I am heading Back into um the center and I'm going to Go for some food with the tracksmith Guys to talk about what they've got uh Coming up in the future right catch you [Music] Later morning it is Sunday the day Before lost the marathon so I'm heading Down to the tracksmith uh shop to do the 5K ShakeOut run that they do um and uh I'm also going to be doing a gate Analysis beforehand I've been wanting to Do a gate analysis for a while um so I've got the opportunity to go down and
Um get one done and hopefully see why I Keep destroying Super Shoes um so that Should be interesting uh and I've also Got a massage uh a little bit later as Well so um yeah feeling feeling pretty Good um never had a massage before a Marathon before so we'll see how how That pays off um and then yeah I'm going To go and start prepping for tomorrow's Race see you in a [Music] Bit no [Music] Hey Tom here it is 5 a.m. in Boston the Morning of the Boston Marathon uh I'm Feeling pretty good actually I went to Bed about 8:00 p.m. last night so I've Had quite a lot of sleep I'm not feel That nervous about it I think mainly Because I'm not actually aiming for a PB In this I'm just trying to get a sub Three so uh the pressure is off compared To Chicago um and Berlin so I'm not Going to take my phone with me cuz my Google uh pixel 8 Pro is massive and it Weighs me down so it's probably worth a Few seconds uh of my time so I'm going To leave it here I'm going to come back In a bit and um record my view of the Event and how I got on uh I'm going to Be using the Nike alphafly 3es which is A bit of a risky move because I'm not Sure if I like them as much as the AL Ones um but we'll see by the end of this
Race if uh I've um turned to really Really liking them um so right I'm going To go and head to the buses to get to The start line of the Boston Marathon Which is 20 mil away or something um and I'll be back in a bit catch you later [Music] So I had originally planned to record my Race video after running the Boston Marathon but I was so wrecked afterwards That I just went back to my hotel and Just lay there um and eventually went Out for some food so I'm back in the UK Now uh and I will give you an overview Of the race and the kit that I used for The marathon um the race itself is an Interesting one because it's not one That I ever thought I'd ever be able to Do uh up until about 3 years ago my Marathon times sat around the 330 Mark Uh which is way off what I'd be able to Get uh for a qualifying time uh for Boston um but in the last two years I've Done a 255 in Chicago and a 253 in Berlin so um I could do Boston Marathon So it's a bit of a big deal for me to be Able to do it because it's a marathon That I never even thought I'd even Attempt to get into um definitely not um For the next 15 years or or so until I Can hit the age points where it starts To come down a bit um so the marathon Itself is a point to point so you Actually start off about 20 mil outside
Of Boston it's a little bit different Than some of the marathon Majors where You run around the city the whole time So you start off in a town called Hopkington uh which is yeah about 20 mi Away from the city and you basically run Down uh one main road all the way to Boston the last few miles are in Boston Um but you don't get to see that much of Boston it generally just takes you takes You straight in on uh this road and you Eventually come to the Finish Line the Start area of the race so you get picked Up at the uh common in the center of Boston at about 6:45 my wife um was Picked up and they drive you out all the Way to tockington um and you're in this Starters area that only has Runners so There's no Spectators or anyone else There it's just Runners waiting to start Um it's not the most exciting start area The only thing it really has there is Some Gatorade and some water so you just Of sat around for a couple of hours Waiting for it to start I don't like That uh I didn't like that with the New York Marathon where you you spend a lot Of time at the start line um with Nothing to do so uh wasn't a big fan of That that that process and I don't like Getting a bust to the start line either Um the time the race starts so for my Wave it was about 10:00 in the morning Uh and it was starting to get quite hot
By that point um all of my training for Boston Marathon has been in the winter Months maybe a little bit uh as it's Warming up but I was not prepared for The heat it was getting quite High I Think it got up to about 22 degrees um And the race itself was a really Difficult one for me so I was planning To get a sub three in Boston uh I didn't I didn't have any plans to get uh a PB Because I know the course is a bit Harder it undulates quite a lot um and a Lot of people told me that it's a tricky Race to do so I didn't want to I didn't Plan to get a a PB but I did want to get A sub three mark because I have trained For it in a similar way that have done For Chicago and Berlin um the first 10k Of the route is largely downhill uh and I was pretty much running a fastest time For me for that part of the marathon so I think I got to 10K Mark at 40 minutes Uh which is pretty fast for me um and if I'd continued a similar Pace to that I Would have got a PB by the end of it but By about 12K the heat really really hit Me and I just did not feel good um I Definitely couldn't pick up the p Anymore I couldn't maintain the pace That I wanted to do um and I really Struggled so at that point I basically Just threw in the towel and just thought I'm going to just try and maintain a an All right pace to the end of the race U
And get as close to 3 hours as I could Even that was a struggle though so I by The time I'd got to about 30k I was Really in a lot of pain I was struggling To keep just keep going um at some Points towards in the last 10K I was Walking bits as you'll see from my straa Splits and it was a real real slug so I Ended up with 3 hours 24 by the end of It which uh 3 years ago is pretty good Marathon time for me but for now uh I Was a little bit disappointed with that But to be honest I got into Boston and I Did Boston because um I wanted to do Boston not because I was expecting to Get a really fast time in it so I wasn't That annoyed by it and I'm just pleased That I actually did Boston um the course Itself is really quite a tricky one to Get to grips with uh because it at so Much so I think there's a net downhill For the whole race um and you can really Feel that especially at the start There's some the first bit of the race Is a major downhill and it's actually Quite hard to pace yourself so I think The main difficulty with Boston is is The pacing uh because it undulates quite A lot it's very difficult to maintain a Pace because you've got lots of hills to Go up and then back down again very easy To speed up down the on the downhills Very difficult to maintain a pace on the Uphills so it's a very hard race to Pace
Um even if you're very good at pacing so With Chicago and Berlin I had really Really flat pacing or pretty pretty flat For uh berin but my Chicago on was Pretty much the same Pace the whole time Whereas this I just didn't know how to Pace it I definitely went out too hard Especially with the heat um but that Heat really hits hard um pretty early on In the race uh and I know there's a lot Of people at the sides of the um course Uh having medical attention things like That because it was um it was a lot Hotter than people had had been Expecting Um the race itself is really well Organized there's water absolutely Everywhere Gatorade everywhere um it's a Really nice course to run because you Get to see all of the spectators from All of the towns that line line the Routs and it's I was expecting there Would be gaps along the course of the 26.2 mies where there was no no one Living there so there'd be no Spectators But it was just wall to–all Spectators All the way which is really really nice Uh and it's quite it's quite fun to run Through all the little towns as well Because you don't get that with um the Big marathons obviously running around Cities and things whereas this was just Nice little um communities along the way That were just coming out and and
Cheering cheering us on so I really Enjoyed the race itself I'm really Pleased that I got to do it the Finish Line takes you right into the center um Of Boston um and it's a pretty pretty Busy Finish Line it's quite an Impressive one there's a lot of crowds There um and yeah so very much enjoyed It [Music] So the shoe I used and I was really Struggling to decide which shoe I was Going to go for uh I decided to go for The alphafly 3 in the end um it was CH a Choice between this and SOC endorphin Pro 4 now if you're a watcher of the Videos on the channel you will know that I used the S do pre 3 for a lot of the Races that I did um over the last couple Of years and I got quite a lot of PBS in That shoe um the new s Dophin Pro 4 Feels a bit different than that shoe it Feels to me it's not as soft it's not as Bouncy it's got a layer of HD foam in it Which just makes it feel a little bit Firmer for me and I just wasn't sure it Was right for me running Boston Marathon With the idea of getting a pretty good Time in it uh so I took um took the Choice of going for Nike alphafly 3 Again this shoe uh I've never used the Alphafly 2 I normally running the ALF One and I absolutely love that shoe uh This doesn't feel as enjoyable as thefly
One to me uh it just feels like uh it's A there's a little bit less to this shoe It feels a little bit more like the Vaporfly to me um so it was a bit of a Risk to wear this one because I I Probably should have worn the Ally one On the S doing Pro 3s on on on a good Day but I decided I need to I to try a New shoe out over Marathon distance um When I used this for Boston um I was Actually I I enjoyed it more than I Thought I would it's definitely a shoe That it's grown on me a little bit more Especially during that Marathon the First 12K 15K in it I actually really Enjoyed it it felt like a very enjoyable Light feeling shoe that had a nice Little bit of Bounce in it um as I got Into the later miles uh it was quite Difficult for me to actually uh enjoy The shoe just because I was feeling Really really bad and I was slowing down Quite a lot um but I would still say That I do think it's just a little bit Too soft in the heel section of the shoe For me I just feel there's not as much Bounce in this shoe and there's not as Much energy return I get from the Alphafly 1 um so I would prob I would Prefer to use the alphafly one than this But I was pretty pleased with this um And it for me it just feels more like The vaporfly um it's moving towards the Style of the vaporfly opposed to the
Alphafly 1 um but it was fine didn't Have any issues with it um it felt very Comfortable throughout the race the Other thing as well is I'm very worried When I wear Super Shoes these days Because I rip off the back of uh most of The super shoes that I test so I was Really worried that i' uh take these 285 Shoes out and and ruin the outsole on Them luckily um I didn't do that and It's absolutely fine on both of the Shoes so I've not ripped either of them Them out so I'm pretty pleased with the Durability um of the alphafly 3s Compared to some of the other shoes that I've tested um when it comes to the Outso rubber uh so overall pretty Pleased with this shoe I can see why People like it I think for me it's just Not um there's just not enough bounce And proportion in it for me in Comparison to the Ally one um but I Think I can see why some people would Prefer this shoe or like this shoe as Much as the Ally one or two um and I'll Probably be using it for some shter Distance races to see how it does in Those okay so that's it from me in my Roundup of the Boston Marathon I think I Said how much I got I got 3 hours and 24 Minutes is uh which for me Isn't a a Great time um but it's fine I I was I Wasn't planning on much and I've got London in two days
Uh which I don't think I'll be over a PB In either but um I wanted to do London Cuz I got a good forage so um we'll see How my legs uh do on Sunday but uh if You're looking to do Boston it's well Worth doing if you get into it it's it's A nice Marathon to do it's a great place To go to um and the marathon weekend is Just takes over the city everywhere is Just Marathon uh left right and Center Which is really nice it's a really Friendly City to go to uh and it was the Perfect weekend for it so well worth um Looking looking forward to if you can Get a qualifying time to get in thanks a Lot for watching I'll catch you next Time