Now that the unpleasantness is over with, for the time being anyhow (yay!), it’s time to get back to normal concerns. So…
As I might have mentioned once or twice, I ran Boston as the sighted guide for visually-impaired runner Mike M. (#21076). I’m trying to find a finish photo for Mike. It would make a nice reminder of the good parts of the day.
There are no finish photos of us from the official vendor, MarathonFoto, other than the one below, which only shows my head in the lower left corner. The photo does show the clock, so you can see our gun time at the finish (third wave, just over 4:02, about 7 minutes before the bombs).
Click image to embiggen
MarathonFoto missed us because we ran to the finish in the open space in the center of the road, between the areas covered by their automated cameras. The space was open because there was a media camera station directly in the middle of the road at the finish, and most runners went on one side or the other to miss them. Mike had worked up a full head of steam running through the clear space approaching the line, and I was hurrying to keep up. When I noticed the cameramen, there was no way I was going to be able to drag him to one side. I’m still surprised we didn’t crash into anyone. I’ll bet one of them has a good picture of a determined Mike and a terrified me 🙂
I’m hoping one of you, or someone you know, has a picture of us on Boylston St. This picture might help identify us:
Mike is the tall one. We both have sunglasses on.
Please share this with anyone you know who might have a picture of the approach to the finish from the appropriate time frame. With any luck we can dig something up and give Mike a pleasant memento of his time in Boston.
If you can help, leave a message in the comments or email me at writeray@y42k.com.
I hope you can find one. It is disappointing when you miss out. I ran a race last month and came across the line a leg length ahead of my nieces (I also had faster times than my daughters) and the official photographer missed us.