Boston Marathon

Miles 3 - 4
As you hit mile three, you leave Hopkinton and enter Ashland. I realized that wow....I'm out of Hopkinton....there's one city done. Now I just have to get through the 3 miles of Ashland and I know that my family will be on my left just before the 4 mile mark.

As you enter Ashland, there is a bar on the left that has a live band playing outside. They were playing the Doors .... "Roadhouse Blues" .... not quite the same as the Rocky Theme and I still hear them yelling out .... "I woke up this morning and I got myself a beeeeer!". It made me laugh as I woke up this morning and I got myself some water.

Every mile marker had a digital clock and a bright yellow flag which you could see from a distance which was helpful to me as it would give me a point in the distance to run to. I typically would jog and run on and off until I saw the flag or saw the point where I knew someone I knew to be watching. I crossed the three mile mark and again started with the mental math. Another 11 minute mile, what time should the clock say at the next mark, how much money are we up to, how many minutes ahead of pace am I.

I crossed over the 5K mark and knew that my first time was being beamed to working Temple members and that they would see, for the first time, how I was doing. I was still jogging with a little walking, pacing myself and my knees didn't show any sign of pain.

Now that I was over 3 miles, I could start to look for relatives on the left. I am familiar with Ashland and soon saw the building in the distance that I knew they were at. What a great feeling to know that I have made it to my first check point! This is what I was greeted by!

Thank you to my family for your enthusiasm and encouragement! Left to right: Cousin Ivan (from San Francisco), Aunt Rhoda (taking a picture from Arizona), some lady, mom (from Florida), Uncle Merrill (from Arizona), Dad (from Florida), some boy, Cousin Josef, Cousin Cheska. (Missing from the picture....brother Jon from Virginia and cousin Jacob)

Out of Ashland and Into Framingham (next page)

Back to Hopkinton, Massachusetts - Mile 1-2 of the Boston Marathon

Other useful links about Ashland, Massachusetts......

Ashland, Massachusetts official site - The official website of Ashland, Massachusetts. The site includes community and school information as well as government and community information..

Ashland, Massachusetts Genealogy - If you are interested in genealogy research and you think you may have family in or from Ashland then this site may be useful to you.

Ashland at DailyHomeOwner.com - good site for new home owners in Ashland, MA

Find Restaurant discounts in Ashland (zip code 01721)