I just got off the airplane from Boston... This was the first time on the real Boston Course (last year was virtual due toCovid) for my left BHR and the 4th time for my right natural Hip.
It took me quite awhile after surgery to make the qualifying standards, Yes, you have to qualify and be accepted into the Race to run in the Boston Marathon. Or pay a charity organization a lot of money to gain entry. The Baa makes no exceptions for hip replacements, so I had to qualify just like all the other "regular" athletes.
I wore a shirt with an arrow on the back of my shirt pointing to my BHR. At about Mile 15 someone ran up from behind and said ...Hey! I work for Smith and Nephew and your running on our device! ..she was faster and about 30 years younger than I, passed me and soon disappeared in the crowd ahead.
I've run about 28 marathons, 6 with the BHR and so far it's performing very well. I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I am older now too. I alway thought that Running in the Boston Marathon would be a good recovery Goal, because if I made it, it would mean I had totally (or at least to a high level) recovered.
This year was a hard year at Boston, the temperatures were higher than ideal for running. With much effort, I did manage to pull in a Sub 4 hour time. I was a little disappointed in my performance. I then was looking at my age group performance and was delighted to see that I finished in the top 30% (males 65-69) dang! not bad ... yea ..I think I have recovered!
For my gratitude in returning me to distance running, I gave Dr. Pritchett one of my earlier Boston medals. I would like to swap it out for the one I just earned as that was run on the BHR on the Boston Course ...next check up