An Open Letter To The Boston Athletic Association...

Dear Head Race Officials (or whichever a$$ clown or clowns who decided upon the 2 wave start)-



My name is Athena Mericsko and finally, after competing in five marathons, I was able to obtain the qualifying standard of 3.40 to compete in The Boston Marathon for my age division. I was so excited when I hit the finish line in Columbus and learned that my dream of getting to run in the world's most prestigious marathon would soon be a reality. Honestly, it was probably one of the best days of my life.

My excitement did dim a little a few months ago when I noticed after sending in my registration money and booking my flight, that there would be a two wave start. I, like many of my fellow friend runners, was surprised that for the first time in one hundred and ten years the Boston Marathon would attempt to foster a two wave start as an attempt to create more order in the race and ease the amount of time that runners set up farther back would be waiting to hit the actual starting line.

After learning of this new tactic, I was a little confused by this new strategy but I accepted it because I held out hope that I would be in the same wave as all of my friends that were also competing. I learned on Friday, much to my dismay, that I am not in the same wave as them. I am in the second wave because my qualifying time was a few minutes slower. Thank you Boston Marathon for screwing me over and taking a big crap on something that I worked so hard to accomplish. Honestly, if I would've known this before committing to run the race I would've instead saved the money for a down payment on a new place.

One Very Pissed Runner,

Athena