Today Calvin and I took the T out to Boston College and ran around Newton on the carriage path that runs parallel to the Boston Marathon course along “Heartbreak Hill.” We were told by the Boston Athletic Association that this would likely be one of the popular runs along with the Charles River path this time of year and we encountered many other runners putting in the miles in preparation for the main event.

Along our run we came upon the Johnny Kelley statue commemorating the legendary Boston Marathon competitor who ran the event a record 61 times, completing his last one at age 84. In that span, he won it twice and finished second seven times. A local hero referred to Bostonians as “The Elder,” his statue stands before “Heartbreak Hill,” which supposedly takes its name from an incident involving Kelley. In the 1936 marathon, Kelley is said to have patted the leader, Ellison Brown, on the back as he passed him leading into the hill, thinking Brown had run out of gas. This incensed Brown and motivated him to overtake Kelley on the hill. The statue is composed of a young and old Kelley running side by side, hand in hand raised triumphantly. It seems a bit ironic to have the Kelleys celebrating prematurely leading into the hill that was notoriously difficult for him, but perhaps I am being too cynical.

We are off to Needham tonight after spending the better part of a week in Cambridge. We had a wonderful time with our hosts, Hannah and Sara, and the rest of the gang at 'the hostel,' and we wish them all the very best.

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Follow our adventures at RunnerSpace.com/Travels! We'll be posting a blog update each day until "RunnerSpace Travels Season 1" is done at the end of June. You can also expect school visits and fun adventures to be posted along the way as we hit up many of the top meets from around the country to provide the RunnerSpace meet coverage we all know and love! Make sure to leave a comment below about this update or post on our guestbook to say hi!