Here I am, typing this out from my hotel room in BOSTON! I cannot really wrap my brain around it all, but it’s slowly starting to sink in. (I snagged an official jacket earlier this afternoon (see below) – I feel so “official!”) For obvious reasons, this week’s Friday Faves is all about Beantown. I’ve included a bit of what I’ve seen today, too! Here we go!

• Via @whitrunsthis:
  
• While I waited to interview Serena Burla, I chatted with Kara’s husband, Adam, while he held Colt during Kara’s interviews. I told him how neat it was to finally “meet” Colt in person and asked him if Colt recognized his mommy on TV during her races. (He does! *Cue cuteness overload!*) It was incredible seeing the pro runner + motherhood dynamic – all I can say is Kara does it with grace.
  

  The reporters had a bunch of questions for Colt this morning (and a few for @karagoucher too). #BostonMarathon twitter.com/runRJR/status/…

  — Robert James Reese (@runRJR) April 12, 2013

• Insanity. Enough said.
  

  To understand @shalaneflanagan marathon speed: run a 400 in 82 seconds & imagine doing that 104 more times, in a row, no rest. #mindblown— mac {sarah} (@oiselle_mac) April 10, 2013

• Thanks to the ever-wonderful RW Facebook fans and Twitter followers, I pulled together this Boston Marathon advice-filled article full of insanely inspiring tips from Beantown vets. Gave me chills!
• I found out what’s written inside these amazing uniforms for Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher today. In Shalane’s, it reads “Dare to be different.” In Kara’s, “Courage to believe.” LOVE.
  

  Thank you NIKE for making @karagoucher and I feel special on race day! #superheropower yfrog.com/esoawibj

  — Shalane Flanagan (@ShalaneFlanagan) April 9, 2013

  

• THANK YOU TED! =)
  

  Cheers for those running #BostonMarathon Monday, especially @megrunnergirl + @rwtish. May your hills be small + your PBB burgers big.

  — Ted Spiker (@ProfSpiker) April 11, 2013

• I wrote about the awesome Americans flying under the radar on Monday, Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce and Serena Burla. Check it out here.
• This is sort of Boston-related, but I HAD to share: Lauren Fleshman is officially writing for RW! The tweet below includes a bit of the awesomeness (and click the link to read it, too!)
  

  Want a good lede? Try this by @laurenfleshman – ‘Confession: I wish I had a penis.’ Story gets better from there: ow.ly/jTojA

  — Brian Sabin (@BrianDSabin) April 9, 2013

• And here are some shots from the weekend so far!

Kara’s Boston Banner!

The finish line is being set up! So ridiculously cool.

The girls at the press conference. (Ignore the dude’s head!) This was the first time I’ve seen both of them together, and man, they giggled the entire time. It’s obvious how close they are!

The jacket. And yep, it is pretty schnazzy.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the weekend–probably more on twitter than here depending now how busy I am–and my race report early next week! To everyone running Boston, GOOD LUCK!

QUOTE OF THE POST: “Here’s my mantra: ‘Every mile is a gift.'” – Amby Burfoot, winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon.