‘Not my proudest moment’: 10 readers share their most embarrassing Marathon moments
“It is abundantly clear to anyone tracking you [in the race] the exact moment you had to stop to poop.”
Long distance running isn’t for everyone; it takes months of preparation to be able to build up endurance to run all 26.2 miles. It’s a challenge that’s especially hard in Boston, which is considered to be one of the more difficult major marathon courses.
With the 128th Boston Marathon fast-approaching, marathon runners are counting down until Marathon Monday on April 15. Some marathoners might also be reminiscing — or cringing — about embarrassing moments and memories from marathons past.
We asked our readers who have run, or are running, the Boston Marathon to share their most embarrassing race day moments. Ranging from dehydrating on Heartbreak Hill, to accidentally ingesting pain relief gel, to discreetly (or not so discreetly) sneaking off to the bathroom, our readers spared no details describing their most mortifying marathon moments.
Below, reader share their most embarrassing marathon moments.
“A great feature [of the Boston Marathon] is that all your friends and family can track your progress in the race. A not-so-great feature is that the tracking is extremely accurate, as is the graph of your pace that is generated at the end, so it is abundantly clear to anyone tracking you the exact moment you had to stop to poop.”
– Meg Z., South Boston
“It was my first Boston Marathon in 2008. I under-anticipated the length of the bus ride to Hopkinton and over-anticipated how much water I needed to drink. We were stuck in traffic as we approached the Athlete’s Village, and I REALLY had to go. Finally the bus stopped and I ran to the front to be the first one off, but the doors didn’t open and instead my bladder did. I peed completely through my race shorts. On the bright side, everyone in the Porta Potty lines pitied me and let me skip to the front.”
– Jess D., Westport, Connecticut
“This is really bad. Having to use my top layer long sleeve tee shirt to clean myself up after relieving myself in the back-yard garden of a home in Hopkinton. Not my proudest moment. Despite this brief stop, I was able to finish in under 4 hours.”
– Shaun H., Lowell
“In 1992, I came through Mile 22 in two hours and 12 minutes and was on my way to a big personal record. I was feeling great and thought it would be a good idea to down a big beer with four miles to go. My body got drunk and my mind stayed sober. I went from a six minute mile pace to almost not finishing, and then 15 minutes a mile from that point on. Dehydration from the beer set in about a quarter of a mile later. There was no recovering from that.”
– Ed T., Worcester
“I dehydrated on Heartbreak Hill back in 1992. I collapsed on the road as it felt like over 100 muscles contracted at the same time, and I could not move. Two medical personnel assisted me and carried me to a lawn/house on the course. I was taken to the hospital and needed 4 IV bags. The staff at the hospital were excellent but it took a while to locate a vein they could use. My hydration capacity has never been the same. It was my fifth and final marathon. I had trained for it (I ran five to six miles every weekday and 12-15 on weekends for months), but the heat of the day caught me off guard.”
– Randy K., North Reading
“In 1979(ish), I was running the marathon with a Greater Boston Track Club shirt and Boston College shorts on. As I approached Boston College, the crowd kept getting louder and louder. I was thinking they were all cheering for me as I went to BC. As I approached the front gate of Boston College on Comm Ave, someone whacked me on the rear end and she said ‘Let’s go Jack.’ It was Joanie Benoit, the winner of the women’s marathon that year.”
– Jack M., Marshfield
“During my first marathon, I took all the gels and fuel items I got from the expo, and hastily threw it into my runners belt pocket early in the morning without looking. At about mile eight, I unzipped the pocket and randomly took out a gel packet, ripped it open with my teeth and shot it. I was weirdly turned off by the minty flavor, but I thought that was just a new GU [energy gel] type. About a half mile after I ate it, I started to get a numb/cold throat, and realized as I passed the medical tents, that what I ate wasn’t some type of gel…it was a packet of Biofreeze [pain relief gel].”
– Boston.com reader on Instagram
“Not day-of the marathon, but pretty close. For Boston 2021, I came from NYC and was really itchy at the end of the day. I realized that I was allergic to the detergent I washed my clothes with, including my marathon clothes. I had to buy a completely new wardrobe to run in the day before (so much for ‘nothing new on race day’). Everything turned out OK but not a fun experience on my nerves!”
– Boston.com reader on Instagram
“You mean when I threw up on the finish line of my first marathon? 😂”
– Boston.com reader from Instagram
“Not finishing. 😢”
– Boston.com reader on Instagram
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