Boston Marathon - on an Erg

[Ergmeister]

Trying to drum up interest in this fun event which is held on Patriot's Day at Newton Wellesley Hospital. Park your Erg in the front row at mile 17 of the Boston Marathon and we pull an erg marathon while watching the Boston marathon; lots of fun; for a good cause; big cookout afterwards. Fun day - BYOE (Bring Your Own Erg) What better way to spend a Monday could there be?

Come join me and members of our team "The Erging will Continue Until Morale Improves" and put a face to the forum names. You can do a team effort, individual effort, or anything in between.

http://www.nwh.org/your-community-hospi ... thon-2013/

2013 NWH ERG Marathon

On Patriots Day, April 15, 2013, row a marathon that begins and ends at Newton-Wellesley Hospital!

The 8th annual event, organized by
Fred Millham, MD, Newton-Wellesley’s
Chair of the Department of Surgery,
brings together a group of individual and
team rowers to raise money for the
cancer high risk assessment program at
Newton-Wellesley's Auerbach Breast Center.

Join Us for this Great Event - Have Fun and Make a Difference!

Row 26.2 miles by yourself or on a relay team
College, high school and community rowing club teams are welcome
Get a great workout
We’re right on the Marathon route at Mile 17 – watch the runners go by
Stay for a free barbecue
Pick up your ERG Marathon commemorative t-shirt and other surprises
Feel great about your contribution to the health of our community

The ERGs are placed along Washington Street in the front of the main visitor/patient parking garage. (In the event of rain, the event will be held in the living room of the Allen-Riddle Building.) Starting time will be 9:00 a.m. with most rowers covering the marathon distance in 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

A very special thank you goes to the folks from Olympia Moving & Storage who are our official "NWH ERG Marathon Movers" and to Gustin Advertising for our wonderful logo!

Be sure to "Like Us" on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ergmarathon.

Registering to Row
We welcome any and all comers and especially encourage local school and rowing club teams to use this as a training session. For information on participating, click here.

Supporting the Rowers
The goal for this year's event is to raise $15,000 for this life-saving program. All rowers are asked to make a minimum $100 donation in lieu of an entrance fee. In addition, we enourage rowers to collect additional donations from friends and family, and we welcome support from the community. There are several ways to make a donation and we provide tools for collecting gifts from friends, family, and co-workers. Please click here to make a donation today.

Last Year's ERG Marathon
The 7th annual NWH ERG Marathon in 2012 was held on a scorching Marathon Monday outside the Hospital along Washington Street. It was the largest group ever - with 105 rowers rowing on 39 stationary rowing machines. That's a total of 1.5 million meters or, in terms of energy generated, about 24 KWH of power! The event raised $10,000 to benefit the Breast Cancer High Risk Assessment Program. For 2013 photos, please visit http://www.facebook.com/ergmarathon.

[btb1490]

Nice! Not sure how I missed you guys last year, but I'll be looking for you this year! I think perhaps I was distracted by the smells of the BBQ that is also going on nearby at the same time.

[Gman_ROWS]

Wow! I would love to come to one of these!

[OarConsequences]

I'm sure that you have more important things going on right now but when things calm down could you give a recap of what happened with you guys? Was that hospital used for handling those injured in the bombings? Were people mostly done by then? Were you close enough to hear the explosions? Hope everyone's OK.

[Ergmeister]

I am happy to give a rundown of the NWH Erg Marathon. After decades of being a spectator at nearly every significant point along the route, this was my first time watching in Newton. What a great way to watch the Boston marathon go by.

For openers, the NWH is at Mile 17; 9 miles from the finish. I am unaware of any of the trauma victims being brought out that far. There are dozens of hospitals closer. The bombings happened about 20 minutes after I arrived back home and we first learned of this when we got a text from our son who lives in San Francisco. He's 3500 miles away and got a call from his girlfriend who was 100 yards from the first detonation and she was mentally rattled pretty badly, but physically unaffected. As of last night, we are aware of four people that we know that were wounded; two very seriously and one not as bad and one who was a runner and next to the blast when the first one detonated will have some hearing issues. All of them are friends of our kids - under 25. We had initially talked about going into the finish line because it is such a great party there, but I was smoked when I was done and ready to go home and sit on a cushion chair.

I arrived about 8:00 and unloaded my Model D w/PM4 right on Rt 16 at the curb without any incident. I setup just outside of the last tent on 16. Dr. Fred Millham, the organizer, just had a knee replacement and didn't pull this year. The weather was perfect with clear skies and about 48 when we started. I took off with a beanie and sweatshirt but it was not long before those were on the ground and I was in the groove.



There were many teams and they appeared to be mostly high school. My "team" had some issues so I was the team for our "The Erging Will Continue Until Morale Improves". I had planned to go the full distance anyway so it was only the companion loss that was felt, but my teammate John Ryan did show up along with my co-worker who both talked me through the last hour which is absolutely the most uncomfortable portion. I was very happy with my time at 3:02:50.3 which was a 2:10.0 split which puts me at 18 overall for 50-59 and #1 for my age (59) in the logbook rankings.

I sat next to Paul (?last name?) who was the impetus behind the event about 8 or 9 years ago. He said that he was a former erg marathon world record holder. He pulled a 2:47:?? which was smokin from my viewpoint - he sat on a 1:57 split. This was my first marathon so I approached it a little more cautiously and really didn't get on gas until about 45 minutes in. I take a long time to warm up typically so I was chasing my split down the entire race and pulled a 1:44-1:46 350 meter finish sprint after 3 hours so I was really happy with that.



I did wear my team shirt hoping that some of you would say yo but nobody said anything so I figured it was just me. On my flight plan, I had planned to stand up and just quickly pull my knees up in a quick stretch every hour as I had done in the practice runs, but I found that the excitement of the day and those around me fortified my resolve and I ended without ever getting up. I don't think that my left butt cheek will ever be the same - it still has a sore spot now two days later. It went numb about 90 minutes in and then got wicked uncomfortable at 2 hours but the determination of all the others around me and my friends that showed up prevented me caving in and I went the distance in one sitting without getting up. The team driver changes around me were distracting and a bit chaotic, but it all adds to the challenge of staying focused which makes it fun. It's easy to look around and get distracted and suddenly your split is off 5 seconds.

Here's a link to the full size iPhone group photo my wife caught in case any of you are in there.

I'll do it again, because I really want to break 3 hours while in my 60s. It was more manageable than I expected and the crowd, atmosphere, and adrenaline buzz all pushed me along really well. I did step off my vegan wagon for celebratory hamburger at the cook-out out back afterwards and I must admit that a dried out over-cooked burger never tasted as good as that one did! It all ended in 3 for me: 3 Clif shots, 3 liters of water, and 3 hours. A good time was had by all.

[Cyclingman1]

I sat next to Paul (?last name?) who was the impetus behind the event about 8 or 9 years ago. He said that he was a former erg marathon world record holder. He pulled a 2:47:?? which was smokin from my viewpoint - he sat on a 1:57 split.

Paul Flack, 56, 98 kg, Weston, MA, USA , 2:44:59.9, IND, Date Rowed: 4/15/2013

Member US canoe and kayak team 1978 to 1986. Best finish - bronze medal C2 team race. (C2 stands for canoe, 2 person, sorry Concept!) B.S. U. of Md. 1977, MBA Carnegie Mellon 1988. Now retired and raising two children. Started erging seriously July 2000. Gold Medal BIRC 2001 and Bronze medal BIRC 2002 45-49H. Former British 40+ marathon and half marathon record holder.

[OarConsequences]

Congrats on a fantastic finishing time. I couldn't even imagine. Glad everyone erging was alright. Sorry to hear about your friends who were injured. Here's hoping they pull through OK. Thanks for the recap. Sounds like an awesome event!

[TabbRows]

Thanks for the report and pictures. Always nice to read about this marathon. Inspires those of us not able to attend to get on with our training.