The Hopkinton Hop is a goofy little race I put together in 2009 when my wife had qualified for the Boston Marathon but I hadn’t. She categorically forbade me from running bandit in the race, so I caught the 4:06 a.m. train from Back Bay to Framingham, then ran to Hopkinton and turned around, running the rest of the course for the Boston Marathon. I had a great time, running about 32 miles and having time to take a shower and still sit and watch the elite runners pass through Brookline.
This year The Hop grew a bit, attracting six entrants, three of whom actually showed up and ran! I ended up running about 43 miles from Boston to West Natick and back, all before the leaders of the Boston Marathon caught up.
Next year looks more interesting, since I finally managed to qualify for Boston. Such has been the interest in the hop that I’ll probably end up running both marathons back-to-back. I can hardly wait!
Is it Patriot’s Day yet?