By now, you've all probably heard from each of us about the horrors of running a damn marathon in temperatures north of 90 degrees. It was an eye opener for all of us, and by the end, a learning experience. I'm just happy that all of us made it out in one piece, pretty much no worse for the wear. So let's take a quick peek at the scenes before and during the race. Mercifully for some of us, we don't have any post-race photos to share here.
Here we are in Hopkinton joined by Larissa, who ran for the Matty Eapen Foundation this year, and ran in memory of her dad, who passed last year. Ignore the bucolic lake scene behind us. We did.
We got to the start early and staked a claim to some shade, one of the smarter moves we made all day, as we waited nearly two hours before we could actually step over the starting line
So what did we do during those two hours? Basically, pose for beefcake calendars on the grass. Take a look:
Almost makes you want to make a calendar, huh?
Here, Tommy and Ryan give us a preview of how they expect to finish the race. They were somewhat prophetic.
Waiting at the start, with temperatures ALREADY approaching 85 degrees, I look a lot more relaxed than I really am
Father-and-son MONSTERS
Once the race was underway, there weren't many pictures taken unlike past years, because it was too damn hot to go through the work! Don't try to adjust your computer resolution, Tommy and Barry are hazy because that's the steam coming off everyone's bodies
Yes, you're seeing this correctly - this is us passing Tedy Bruschi around Mile 3. Don't worry, he eventually passed us again.
Finally, we come to the highlight of yesterday's torture, the defeaning cacophany of Wellesley College. Here, I approach ready to hug my two favorite Wellesley Warriors
And of course, no stop at Wellesley would be complete without kisses from the girls. Here, Nicole gets ready to plant one on me.
They made it all worthwhile - huge thanks to Nicole and Alex for making it an unforgettable 2-3 minutes of sheer hysteria (captured nicely on video by Andrew, now running alongside me)
The father-son tandem prepares its final assault, bravado at its best
Another shot for the calendar. Poster boys for the reason to join a fitness club
I wish you could have heard the noise emanating from these women. I think they store it up all year long, waiting for Marathon Monday
Alas, the unrelenting sun would prove a merciless monster this Monday. Here's Andrew taking in one of the godsent misting stations outside the fire station in Newton. Trust me, we hit every misting station and water hose we could find, not to mention the water and Gatorade stops. And even those beverage breaks were heartbreakers, because the drinks got too warm from being out boiling in the sun. Unfortunately, we weren't able to secure one of our favorite treats on Heartbreak Hill, the delicious freeze pops.
True story: as we began the ascent on Heartbreak Hill, the song my ipod chose to shuffle for me? Don't go breaking your heart, by Elton John.
Thanks to the always reliable Jim Rhoades from http://www.jimrhoadescom/ on Heartbreak Hill, Andrew and I were able to pose for one more shot before the final melt. Andrew proudly represented Holy Cross and 'Sader Nation for the second half of his run, getting tons of shoutouts from Holy Cross alums on the course.
Sadly, getting to the finish in Boston wasn't meant to be in this year's record temps, at least not for a couple of us. But huge kudos to Tommy and Ryan for somehow creeping across the finish line on Boylston Street. To put things in perspective, I lost eight pounds during the trek. Somewhere around Framingham, I believe.
For Andrew's take on things, check out his truly creative Holy Cross blog post here: http://apcook15.me.holycross.edu/2012/04/17/marathon-inferno/
Once again, none of us could have done any of this - the months of training with long runs, the injuries, and the experience of a nuclear Marathon heat - without the support of our friends and families. 26.2 miles of thanks for all of the family members who braved the heat themselves, suffered their own sunburns, and supported us once again.
Time to take a couple of days off and soak the feet. We'll all be back hitting the roads again this weekend. Hopefully, the temperature won't be in the 90s.
Move on to a birthday party for a two-year-old princess
Complete with her own castle
While the princess' sister watches over all, nestled in the arms of Papa
Take a few minutes to check out the golf swings of some of the area's finest golfers
Including a new arrival on the LPGA circuit, my personal all-time favorite
The elite golfers aren't confined to the driving range either. They can be found wandering some of the toughest miniature golf holes outside of St. Andrew's in Scotland
And of course, what would a marathon primer be without the obligatory pasta dinner, complete with chicken parmagiana, or as Ryan would call it, chicken
So let's hoist a glass of water for this year's marathoners. Trust me, one glass won't be anywhere enough to get us properly hydrated for Monday's 90 degree onslaught
Keith O'Brien did his Tyngsboro running peeps proud with a terrific finish, and somehow managed to know where the camera was hidden in the woods
While many runners chose the easy path of the wooden bridge, true trail runners plowed through the mud. Cue: Scott
Sub-Four Sean did his part to represent the E Streeters well on the tough course, too
But we all know the real reason we show up for this race, and it isn't for Petey's prize YooHoo. No, it's the world-famous chili awaiting the top 10 finishers at race's end. Taking time out from running duties, Tom Hildreth plays lunch lady for the weary runners
Representing the Fourth Estate, two award-winning members of the Lowell Sun's running team
Great Scotts! One of these two runners finished in the top 10. You figure out which one. It isn't difficult.
Making sure everyone's getting credit for running their personal best, Petey and Dave Dunham pore over the results in the Swamp, but can still manage a thumbs up for followers of a Wicked Good Blog
Yes, the Boston Marathon is a prestigious race, arguably the most prestigious in the nation. But there was another race making the rounds at yesterday's Expo. Indeed, Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race For The Cure was in the house.
With the latest weather forecasts putting Monday's temperatures somewhere around the 90 degree mark, I'm looking for words of inspiration wherever I can find them
Ditto for Andrew, taking a break from the exhausting work of sampling energy sport bars, gel cubes, and sports drinks
Clif Bars and their energy gel pass the Andrew test 
You never know what you're going to see at the Expo. In this case, it was archangels beneath some pearly gates with heraldic cherubs floating overhead, a harpist playing nearby. And no, I'm not kidding. Here, Andrew stakes an early claim to getting in good graces with one of the angels.
And in the fairness of equal opportunity sexism, Andrew begrudgingly agreed to pose with a female member of the angelic hosts
I don't know when, I don't know how, but someday, I'm actually going to make it to DisneyWorld for their January marathon, if only to capture one of their kick-ass Mickey Mouse medals
He's so good at it, Andrew can pose in front of Boston Marathon photos with his eyes closed
Andrew was ready to start indulging in Powerbar samples
That is, until he was caught off guard and tackled by surprise by the Powerbar giveaway floor girl
Abe Lincoln. Vampire Hunter, is one of the few people who can beat Andrew in a race. Ghandi in the background barely squeaks by him. He refuses to get girled by the Mona Lisa
Forebodnig and dark, Andrew and I pose before the graffiti wall, where runners from all over the world leave their mark.
So how did we leave our mark? Like there was any doubt.....
Expo behind us, it's time for the pasta dinners, hydrating, and over-worrying about Monday's torturous temperatures!
Yes, I do know a New York supermodel, and she's a stunner in person, not just on film. A seasoned veteran of the New York talk show circuit and national and international fashion magazines, Bernadett and I used to work together at Congressman Marty Meehan's office.
Mothers and daughters, a powerful theme of the night, featured Bernadett and her mother, Klara, and her friend Barbara O'Neil, with her mom and my favoritest Aunt in the world, Helen O'Neil
Bern and some more members of Team MCC, Colleen and Maria
Bernadett, she of the incredible Hungarian cookie recipes, is now a model with Wilhemina models in New York and an image consultant, and has carved out quite a niche for herself in the wild world of fashion. Besides the work she does helping lead her non-profit, Curves for Change (
Sadly, in the anecdotes of her life-shaping moments, she neglected to include the stories of our wild and violent battles with the Sock'em Bop'em inflatable swords in Meehan's office, but those of us who were there can never forget.
She's come a long way from her days of show-and-tell presentations when her toughest question were "what kind of things do they have in Hungary," but we're all super proud of her. Take a peek at her work at 
Running off into the early morning sun, we catch a break from the steady stream of a.m. commuters
Wanting no part of Marathon mania and seeking to find safer roads for the city boys, Scott and John try to distance themselves from the pack
So, as Victoria would say, "the hay's in the barn," the distance training is done for the Boston Marathon. All that remains now for Barry, Tommy, Ryan, and I is a week of rest, decent nights' sleep, eating healthy, and staying focused. And all of that goes out the window when we wake up to 80 degree temperatures on Monday and realize we have 26.2 miles in front of us!