How to make running a marathon fun
Plus: 🦃 Look out for turkeys!
It’s Wednesday, Boston.
😬 Got a friend who never Venmos you back? Thinking of combining $$$ with your partner? Struggling to bring up splitting rent with your roomies? We’re answering ALL your burning money Qs in our Money Smarter, Not Harder series this month. Drop your tea here!
👀 What’s on tap today:
- Boston’s turkey troubles
- The MBTA has a question …
- Boston’s own Benito
Up first…
BOSTON MARATHON
Training season’s over
Image: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe. Illustration: Gia Orsino.
Think running a marathon sounds hard? Try training for one. While a 26.2-mile race is no picnic, the 20-week road to the starting line is a marathon of its own.
With T-5 days until Marathon Monday, we asked first-time Boston runners the biggest lessons they learned during training. Here’s what they said:
🧠 The challenge is “80% mental.” That’s according to 26-year-old Southie resident Ashley Corcoran, who’s fundraising for Girls on the Run. Though a 26.2-mile run is a massive physical feat, when your body invetiably breaks down, it’s your brain that’ll get you across the line. “Once you get over that half-marathon marker … it feels like you have bricks tied to your feet,” she said. “You just gotta tell your mind that you can get there even though you’re in pain.”
🤪 Make your runs FUN. Emma Wightman, a 30-year-old Somerville resident also fundraising for Girls on the Run, always found longer runs to be “mind numbing.” But she discovered a secret weapon during this cold winter training block: Fun! Her top tips for jazzing up a run? “Cute sparkles under your eyes … your favorite pair of sunglasses, and … a crazy outfit.”
👭 Running isn’t a solo sport. 22-year-old Harvard senior Annabel Lowe “always thought running was a pretty lonely thing.” But the community she’s built fundraising for the Boston Public Library Fund has become the rock that’s kept her going while balancing classes and a senior thesis — especially her weekly run group. “I don’t think I could get out and run on a Saturday if not for them,” she said. “To know that someone else is going through the exact same thing you are is super helpful, especially [on] the Newton hills.”
🥳 Take the pressure off of race day. 32-year-old South End resident Emily Berg once heard that the training is the marathon and the race is just a celebration. Heading into her third marathon (she’s running for Pine Street Inn), she’s taken that advice to heart. That reframing has helped calm her nerves and manage performance expectations. “When you get to the starting line, the work is done,” she said. “You can’t go back and change it, so you might as well just have fun and smile the whole way.”
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TOGETHER WITH BOSTON POPS
Your playlist, with a little extra oomph
🎶🎻Some songs just hit differently with 90+ musicians behind them. The Boston Pops’ May and June lineup is bringing artists like Jon Batiste, Leslie Odom Jr., Ben Folds, and St. Vincent to Symphony Hall, plus a Pride celebration night, John Williams movie night, and live takes on iconic film, TV, and video game scores. It’s the same music you already love — just louder, richer, and slightly more goosebump-inducing. Tickets for the biggest shows are going fast, so don’t wait too long to lock yours in.
CITY
Quick & dirty headlines
Image: Boston Globe File
🦃 Boston’s streets are getting FOWL. Spring = turkey mating season in Boston, which means we can expect some extra spicy bird behavior now through May. See: A turkey chasing a Bluebiker. Per MassWildlife’s turkey troubles PSA, the aggression comes from turkeys getting too comfortable with humans, so rule No. 1 is to never feed them, and if one comes after you, stand your ground! Turkeys are all about pecking order, so get big, get loud, and don’t turn your back (no joke).
🚇 What should the MBTA fix next? Seriously, they wanna know. The agency wants YOUR feedback on its new long-term investment plan, which outlines its biggest priorities through 2050. So far, track maintenance, Green Line capacity, and commuter rail modernization are high on the list. You can catch the agency popping up at 20 stations this spring, or at its series of open houses, where you can weigh in. Pssst! There’s one downtown on May 7. Can’t make it IRL? Just shoot them an email.
🛵 Boston’s delivery drivers’ wild west is over. Over the weekend, a slate of new rules meant to curb unsafe driving by delivery drivers officially took effect. Now, companies like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash are required to register with Boston’s transportation department, get insurance, AND submit safety data, or pay $300 per restaurant daily or $300 per order. The goal? *Hopefully* limit the uptick in red-light running, sidewalk driving, and speeding (since 2022, 311 delivery-vehicle reports have increased 200%).
😋 It’s a BIG day for TikTok foodies. Today in local openings: All’Antico Vinaio, the viral Florentine sandwich shop, is getting a second location in Downtown Crossing; Blank Street is finally open in the Pru with a seriously gorgeous design; beloved Miami empanada shop, The Empanada’s, is opening its first non-Florida location in Fenway; and New Zealand ice cream spot Far Out is opening a new location in Cleveland Circle. Bone apple teeth!
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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT
🩷 💫 A room full of ambitious, empowered women? We’re in. Rise & Thrive Women’s Conference hits The Cyclorama on Sunday, April 19. Expect a keynote speaker and panels, shopping, networking, and cultural performances all day. Expect plenty of inspiration and new connections. B-Side Members enter for free.
Tickets are going fast — grab yours here!
ONE LAST THING
Boston’s own Benito
Image: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP. Illustration: Gia Orsino.
It’s safe to assume most Boston men you meet won’t look like Bad Bunny. (Respectfully.) But thanks to Blackbird Doughnuts, we have reason to hold out hope.
The doughnut shop recently hosted a Bad Bunny lookalike contest. And with a $50 prize pot and a box of free doughnuts on the line, Boston showed out. In our opinion, only one of the contestants actually resembled Benito, that said, all of them brought the energy.
And vibes seemed to matter more to the crowd than looks anyway, because while the lookalike they chose isn’t exactly a doppelganger, he had some serious moves.
You can peep the contest here.
— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario
🐰 Thanks for reading! Although we gotta say, the contestants at NYC’s version were slightly more convincing.
💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Boston Pops, for supporting local journalism and bringing unforgettable musical experiences to our community.
🚶The results are in: 46% of B-Siders said they’re taking a full-on vacation this summer. One reader said: “Mulling over a 100 mile walk depending on fundage!” I’m sorry … did you say walk?
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