Runner's World July 2013

LONGTIME READERS of this page know that one of the traditions of Boston Marathon weekend for Runner’s World and Running Times staffers is to gather (sometimes more than once) at Bukowski Tavern for peanut-butter-and-bacon burgers. So on Friday, April 12, while on a train to Boston, I sent around a meet-you-there e-mail to 16 editors who would be in town to cover the race. A few hours later, a bunch of us were packed around a table in the back, licking grease from our fingers and ordering rounds of Sam Adams 26.2 Brew. That e-mail chain circled back to me unexpectedly on Monday, race day, at 2:59 p.m. I was at North Station, waiting to see what track my 3:15 train would depart from, when I checked my phone. One…

JOHN BRANT After watching the 2013 Boston Marathon from a unique vantage point—the back of the elite women’s press truck—Writer-at-Large Brant spent that afternoon on a six-hour flight back to Portland, Oregon, watching a video loop of marathoner Bill Iffrig falling down over and over again. Brant, who has covered the Boston Marathon since the early 1990s, discovered that Iffrig lives just two hours away from Portland, prompting him to get in touch with the runner, whose image became an iconic representation of the day. One week after the bombings, Brant met with the Everett, Washington, resident for the profile “Back on His Feet” (page 96). “In the TV interviews, Iffrig spoke in a calm, reassuring way, clearly a working guy. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, he’s really a cool figure.’…

See a slideshow of more tribute runs at runnersworld.com/tributeruns. RAVE RUN LOCATION Berkeley Street, Boston PHOTOGRAPH BY Joshua Simpson RUNNERS Gregory Soutiea (white hat, far right) and the Zoom Multisport team → THE EXPERIENCE On May 1, this triathlon training group took to the streets for a 5.5-mile tribute run that spelled out “Boston” on a map (here they cross the Commonwealth Avenue Mall). “We did it to support the city and each other, especially those in our group who didn’t finish the marathon,” says Soutiea, who ran 2:54 on April 15. FOR DIRECTIONS, RESOURCE INFORMATION, AND DOWNLOADABLE WALLPAPER IMAGES, VISIT RUNNERSWORLD.COM/RAVERUN.…

IT TAKES TWO I enjoyed “Fast Frenemies” (May) about Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. I can relate to their relationship because I have a training partner who is very comparable in speed, distance, and endurance. We hold each other accountable, and take it one step further by actually racing together. I tend to start off at a pace that is a bit quicker than my partner might like, but we typically finish within a second of each other. Both of our times have improved thanks to our partnership. —MIKE WALLACE, Shelbyville, Indiana I used to have training partners like Kara and Shalane. We worked hard, encouraged each other, and were good friends. But when the gun went off, there was no one we wanted to beat more than each other.…

START HERE Just getting into running, or know someone who is? Our new beginners’ program, The Starting Line, offers a simple five-step process that will help anyone—even people who’ve never exercised at all before—get off the couch and into a regular running routine. Visit runnersworld.com/the-starting-line to download the Stage 1 training plan for free. THE FAST LIFE If you enjoyed Lauren Fleshman’s piece in the June issue, you’ll want to check out our newest online column, The Fast Life. There, she’ll share snapshots from her life as a new mother and an elite runner, presented with a sense of humor. Read it at runnersworld.com/the-fast-life. ONLINE POLL Did events in Boston this year increase your interest in running that race in the future? Yes 62% No 38% Based on 3,161 respondents…

AMY PALMIERO-WINTERS HAD the same reaction as most people to the bombings that occurred near the finish line of the Boston Marathon—and to the victims’ loss of limbs: shock, anger, sadness. But she didn’t feel total despair. “When I saw this happen, I knew they were going to be okay,” says Palmiero-Winters, who was working in her Long Island, New York, office when the news broke. “When you’ve been through something like this yourself, you know that.” Since her left leg was amputated three inches below her knee in 1997 as the result of a motorcycle crash, Palmiero-Winters, 40, has been more than okay. She owns the marathon world record for fastest female below-the-knee amputee (3:04) and is the first below-the-knee amputee to complete the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run…