Out of the entire race, these 9 miles were the least eventful. There were still the crowds of people, the energy of those people and the other runners, and my own energy, but again, everything felt normal. It felt like I was on a casual long run, as though the Boston Marathon was still an intangible event that I was working towards. Granted, there were thousands of other people running this casual long run with me, but I experienced a nervous calm and I enjoyed the run. Passing the half way mark felt great and I passed it earlier than I had expected to. I walked at a couple of points, but never longer than for a couple of minutes. Oddly, when you’ve been running for over 2 hours, walking is more uncomfortable than continuing to run is. Even though my pace continually slowed a bit, each mile seemed to go by faster and faster. A few miles later I headed into the notorious “Newton Hills,” the most difficult part of the course, with the pack of runners around me and the crowds cheering.